Members of Howard County's only Muslim congregation who expected a respectful first public hearing on their plans to build the county's first mosque got a rude awakening yesterday with comments about terrorism and religious zealots.
"I was absolutely insulted," Zakia Mahasa, attorney for the Dar-Al-Taqwa congregation, told the county Planning Board.
Ms. Mahasa's reaction -- delivered after, she said, her conscience won out over her impulse to ignore the insult -- was aimed at the proposed mosque's next-door neighbor on Clarksville Pike just east of Manor Lane.
The neighbor -- a retired Christian minister, the Rev. Richard Rodes -- began by saying he had signed up to speak in favor of the mosque's request for a special exception to the area's zoning, but then he said he was worried about religious extremism, regardless of what religion might foster it.
"If this were a Jewish, or a Christian institution, I would say the same thing now that I'm going to say about a Muslim group," he said as a few eyebrows rose in the meeting room in the George Howard county office building.
"Every religion that I know of has extremists, every one. Hamas [an Islamic fundamentalist group in the Middle East], the cult out in Waco, Texas and so forth," Mr. Rodes said. "They're exceptions, actually, rare exceptions, but they sometimes are exceedingly violent."
As a frowns turned to grimaces in the hearing room, Mr. Rodes continued.
"I'm concerned that there be some kind of . . . process by Howard County [to assure] that this particular religious facility would not develop training grounds for Muslim terrorists," he said.
"This has happened all over the country in various mosques and facilities," Mr. Rodes said, adding, "and I say that, again, respectfully. I'm not angry at anybody.
At that point, board Chairwoman Joan Lancos tried to dissuade Mr. Rodes from continuing by whispering to Vice Chairman Theodore Mariani, "Jump in, Ted."
Mr. Mariani then informed Mr. Rodes that the board's function was to consider only land-use issues. "If someone were to get out there and have a grenade training ground, we could stop them," he said.
Ms. Lancos quickly interrupted: "Yes, because it's not an approved use."
"But if they want to lecture about extremism within the mosque," Mr. Mariani continued, "that's their privilege."
Besides, he added, "I look at these people, they don't look too extreme to me."
"None of us look extreme, but we could be," Mr. Rodes warned.
Several among the audience chuckled at the board limiting its respond to mainly technical grounds. But at no point did anyone on the board formally counter the content of Mr. Rodes' remarks, though members said later they said they would disregard his statement.
Ms. Mahasa, the congregation's lawyer, said she also was insulted by another neighbor's comment that he might have to prohibit his children from playing in the woods behind the proposed mosque site. She said the implication was "almost child molestation."
But the neighbor, James Sagmiller, had testified that he feared the mosque's proposed parking lot would provide easy access to his yard not for congregation members but for trespassers from Route 108.
Members of Dar Al Taqwa sat quietly through Mr. Rodes' testimony. The congregation, which numbers about 200 Muslim families, opened in August 1992. It now meets in office space at the Wilde Lake Village Center. Local Muslims previously had to go to Baltimore, Laurel or Washington for services.
Four other prospective neighbors had relatively pedestrian concerns about the group's plans.
Scott Grice, an architect and planner who lives nearby, said the area's rural character is systematically being stripped away by separate commercial rezonings and special exceptions. The changes have brought a veterinarian, a beauty salon and approval for a convenience store, he said.
Dar Al Taqwa's proposal calls for Muslim assemblies each evening, Sunday religious classes and Friday prayer services inside an existing house on the 6.8-acre property. A second phase would involve building a 20,000 square-foot mosque building and 34-foot minaret in about five years.
Mr. Grice and other neighbors raised concerns about increased traffic on an already dangerous section of Route 108, bright parking lot lights disturbing them at night and the loss of woodlands to make room for septic and storm drainage systems.
Several who spoke to the board said they wanted to see more detailed plans.
Because of those concerns, board members gave Dar Al Taqwa members the option of delaying the board's decision so they could return with more specific plans. Members decided to come back in two months with more detailed plans.
After the Planning Board hears the case again, it will make a recommendation to the Board of Appeals, which will hold its own hearing and rule on the special exception.