The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission Monday night said no to a plan to transform an office building into a Muslim school and community center in the Meadowbrook area off Highway 119.
The Hoover City Council chamber was filled with an overflowing crowd as residents gathered to show, voice and sometimes shout their opposition to the plan to move the school from Homewood to Hoover.
The commission unanimously denied the request to rezone the property after citing concerns about traffic, the long-term land use plan for the area and other questions about the project on Corporate Drive.
“There’s a lot of perspective, but not a lot of accuracy,” board member Nathan Reed said after hearing the report from the staff recommending the denial.
While traffic and the city’s land use were heavily cited, religious and cultural concerns were also voiced. Residents lining the walls to speak and holding signs opposing the project offered additional reasons why they did not want the K-12 school and center in Hoover.
People sitting in the back held signs illustrating their disapproval. Some signs compared the project to a move to transform Hoover into a Muslim society.
“Stop the 100 year plan,” read one sign, referencing a conspiracy theory of a grand plan by Muslims to take over American institutions.
“Give an inch – Dearborn Michigan” another read, referring to the community with a large Muslim population and Arab-American-majority city leadership.
Hoover resident Bruce Davis said the presence of the school would also deter desired business development in the area.
“You’re going to have real problems with this community, I’m just telling you now,” Davis said. “There’s going to be an influx of other people that are going to create a problem for this community and we might as well just face it.”
“Go to Homewood,” one woman said from the audience. “Stay in Homewood.”
The Islamic Academy of Alabama has been in Homewood since 1995 and has about 260 students, said Lucas Gambio, a lawyer who spoke on behalf of the school organizers.
“Our plan was consistent all along,” Gambino said. “We’re not here to trick anybody. We’re not here to mislead anybody.”
Other residents said they were against adding additional traffic to an already high-density area. They worried about property values and setting a bad precedent of changing zoning for other projects.
The property is currently zoned Planned Office development. The school requested a change to Conditional Use to allow the school to locate there.
The final speaker drew the loudest applause as she took to the lectern to read a prepared statement that castigated Muslims whom she accused of a “long-term cultural takeover” in Britain.
Commission Chairman Mike Wood finally interrupted her, saying she was off topic. Others in the crowd yelled back in her defense.
“We are here to look at whether this school was appropriately placed,” Wood said. “We’re not here for that. I’m sorry. We’re not going to listen to that.”
The commission’s denial is advisory. The zoning request now goes to the full city council for a final vote.
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