Nearly two months after Santa Clara County officials approved a permit for the San Martin Cordoba Center, a group of residents has asked the court to stop all planning and construction of the Islamic mosque and community center due to the project’s possible harmful impact on the environment.
The residents, known as the People’s Coalition for Government Accountability (PCGA), filed a lawsuit to that effect in Santa Clara County Superior Court Nov. 20.
The suit claims that the County (1) did not take a full account of certain aspects of the mosque project that might harm the surrounding environment during the review process, and (2) ignored evidence that such impacts could occur before approving the project which generated strong community opposition, according to the lawsuit and the PCGA’s attorney Rachel Mansfield-Howlett.
The proposal for the Cordoba Center, submitted by the South Valley Islamic Community, should have been subject to a full-blown environmental impact report, rather than the lower-level study known as a negative mitigated declaration that the County performed for the site, the complainant says.
“An agency cannot approve a negative declaration if there’s any evidence in the record that there may be impacts,” Mansfield-Howlett said. “The other issue is the proponent clearly wants to expand their use” of the property.
Named in the lawsuit are Santa Clara County as well as the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission.
The PCGA is asking the court to “void all approvals relating to the Cordoba Center,” and stop all preparation for construction before it causes “significant irreparable and irreversible environmental impacts in San Martin.”
The five-member Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the San Martin Cordoba Center Sept. 25. At that meeting, the board also denied three appeals to the site permit granted to the project by the County Planning Commission Aug. 2.
The Cordoba Center was proposed by the SVIC in 2011 as a worship and events center for the area’s Muslim population, as well as a site for special events for the surrounding community.
SVIC spokesman Hamdy Abbass said the SVIC’s attorney advised him not to comment on the lawsuit, nor on what if any future plans the Cordoba Center might have for expansion.
The mosque project is approved for a 15-acre site on Monterey Road, just north of the intersection of California Avenue. Included is a 5,000-square-foot prayer hall, 2,800-square-foot multi-purpose hall, a two-acre cemetery and children’s play area.
At the Sept. 25 Board of Supervisors meeting, the SVIC, in an appeal, asked the County to allow them to increase the size of the multi-purpose hall to 5,000 square feet. The board denied that request, but County staff said the SVIC could submit future applications for expansion if they choose to, and those applications could be subject to further environmental review.
“That’s called ‘piecemealing’ under (state environmental laws),” Mansfield-Howlett said.
Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents the South County district on the board, said he “obviously” disagrees with the PCGA’s complaint.
“They’re entitled to their opinion. The whole application went through a process – the way our government is set up, it has a process. If somebody doesn’t agree, they can file a lawsuit, and it’s their right,” said Wasserman, who voted in favor of the project’s use permit when it was up for approval at a supervisors’ meeting in September.
The Planning Commission’s permit restrictions include a daily attendance limit of 80 people, with a maximum of 150 four times a year for special events. The limit was imposed to minimize the facility’s impact on groundwater, septic system, traffic and other concerns, County staff said.
The supervisors approved the project after County staff conducted studies on the potential impact of the project. Those studies found that the SVIC’s proposal would have no significant negative impact on the environment, roads, utilities or surrounding neighborhood.
The approval also followed several public hearings and planning advisory meetings that drew hundreds of South County residents who voiced passionate displeasure with the SVIC proposal, claiming the project might hurt the environment and disrupt the rural quality of life of the 7,000-person San Martin community.
“The record contains substantial evidence supporting a fair argument of potentially significant site-specific and cumulative environmental impacts,” including violations of the county’s general plan and inconsistencies with county land use practices, the PCGA complaint added.
The PCGA’s complaint does not list specific evidence of the potential impact, or provide counter-studies to refute the County’s findings. Rather, the PCGA suggests the County’s studies were not thorough enough.
Mansfield-Howlett said it’s “too early” to get into the details of any evidence of potential impact, but in its appeal to the project in August the PCGA submitted stacks of documents and exhibits that allude to possible harm.
SVIC and PCGA:
Opposing agendas
One of those documents is a petition signed by 75 San Martin residents refuting the County’s claim that storm water from the site flows south-southeast.
“The water will leach into the Llagas Creek and then it will flow south-southwest,” says a letter from Don and Lynne Bonino, which was submitted with the PCGA’s appeal.
County staff said the project did not meet the California Environmental Quality Act’s requirements for a large-scale environmental review.
The County Counsel’s office is currently reviewing the PCGA’s complaint, according to Assistant County Counsel Orry Korb.
“We believe the process employed by the County in reviewing and ultimately acting on the project was proper under all relevant laws, including (CEQA),” Korb said.
SVIC members, who reside throughout South County and San Benito County, have gathered for prayer and religious services at a privately owned barn in San Martin for about 20 years.
The Cordoba Center is their effort to establish a permanent facility for religious services and events.
The PCGA describes itself in the complaint as “an unincorporated association formed in the public interest to promote open, fair, well-informed, and responsible land use planning in Santa Clara County.”
PCGA members, according to the lawsuit, “include community residents and concerned citizens who personally enjoy and appreciate the significant environmental resources in the unincorporated area of San Martin.”
The PCGA submitted one of the three appeals to the project that was ultimately denied by the County supervisors in September.
Maria Mello, who is listed as the contact person for the PCGA on its appeal documents, did not reply to an email requesting comment before press time.
The San Martin Neighborhood Alliance also submitted one of the appeals, citing concerns similar to the PCGA’s. The Alliance is not involved in the PCGA’s lawsuit.
The SVIC filed an appeal to the planning commission’s permit, claiming that some of the restrictions unfairly limit their freedom to practice their religion. These include the daily limit of 80 people on the property, as well as the size of the 2,800-square-foot multi-purpose hall.
The multi-purpose hall should have been permitted for a maximum size of 5,000 square feet, the SVIC’s appeal said.
The supervisors rejected that appeal at the Sept. 25 meeting as well, and the County has not yet filed a response to the PCGA’s lawsuit.
Wasserman added that since the Sept. 25 board meeting, he has heard only positive comments from constituents regarding the board’s approval of the mosque project.
“The only comments I’ve heard were applauding the board for applying the law, and not being discriminatory or prejudiced,” Wasserman said.
