WALKERSVILLE -- The Board of Zoning Appeals of this Frederick County town turned down last night a request by a Muslim group to put a mosque and retreat center on 224 acres of farmland.
Though the request has raised issues of religious freedom and tolerance, the board mentioned much more mundane reasons -- problems with traffic and water and the details of the town's master plan and wording of its zoning regulations.
The decision came on the third night of the board's public deliberation on the second floor of Walkerville's Town Hall, an event that attracted about 100 residents each night.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was asking for a special exception to put its facilities on land zoned for agriculture. As it became more and more evident that the decision would go against them, the number of Ahmadi at the hearing decreased each night.
"We are very disappointed," said Roman P. Storzer, an attorney for David W. Moxley, the landowner who wants to sell the property to the Ahmadi. "The town of Walkersville has decided to declare war on this group."
Storzer argued that the board relied only on local regulations for its decision and did not consider federal legislation that protects groups that want to use land for religious purchases. Storzer said the group was considering its legal options. "The next stop would be an appeal, either to state or federal court," he said.
The Ahmadi Muslim community started in Pakistan but came under persecution there for doctrinal differences with mainline Islam. Eventually, the government there ruled that Ahmadi are not Muslims.
The American branch of the Ahmadi -- most of whom fled the persecution in Pakistan -- has its headquarters in Silver Spring. The group had hoped to put a small mosque for regular use by local followers on the Walkersville tract. But its main use was to be for an annual gathering of Ahmadi from across the country. Two gymnasiums and other facilities were to be built.
Though officials of the community said this gathering, called the Jalsa Salama, would attract about 5,000 people, the zoning application said it could attract up to 10,000.
That was the figure the appeals board used in its consideration of the request -- and which led it to determine that the Ahmadi gathering constituted a convention, a use prohibited on agricultural land even by special exception.
The board also noted problems with an estimated 2,000 cars that would arrive in the area for the annual convention.
Board member Vaughn Zimmerman said a proposal to use 16 temporary traffic signs during the annual convention "would only confuse local residents as well as those coming from out of town."
There also was a discussion of the potential for dust and cooking fumes, as well as the effect on nearby property values.
The appeals board was clearly trying to make sure of its legal ground, taking more than six hours to go over the evidence presented at previous public hearings. It often received advice from the town's lawyer as it neared its decision.
One reaction to the Ahmadi request was a bill introduced by a member of the Town Council that would ban places of worship, as well as private schools, private clubs and other uses, from land zoned agricultural.
That was not under consideration last night.
michael.hill@baltsun.com