The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it is reviewing a complaint that a Muslim school’s constitutional rights were violated when it sought to build a school earlier this year.
The request by the Michigan Islamic Academy to construct a school in Pittsfield Township in Washtenaw County was turned down by township trustees in October. The institution wants to expand the school on land it owns in the township. Township officials said the request for a zoning change by the school was turned down because of neighbors’ concerns over traffic congestion.
A rezoning request was needed because the school would be built in a residential area. The 200-pupil school is on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor.
School officials want to build the school on a 26-acre site on Ellsworth and Golfside roads.
“We are reviewing the matter and whether to proceed with a formal investigation,” Judith Levy, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, said recently.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan, a Muslim civil rights organization, has taken up the issue, citing a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights.
CAIR officials have said traffic could be an excuse to conceal prejudice, and legal action might be pursued.
“We believe this is a blatant violation of the MIA’s constitutional right to open the school on their property,” said Lena Masri, the staff attorney for CAIR-Michigan.
The school’s request also could be protected under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protects individuals, churches and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning, said Bloomfield Hills attorney Daniel Dalton, an expert in religious law cases.
Zoning laws have been cited during the past decade by township and city officials across the country where requests to build mosques and Islamic centers were challenged. Zoning laws were used in cases in Bridgewater Township, N.J., and in Murfreesboro, Tenn., to deny the construction of mosques.
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro eventually received permission to build a mosque after a court battle. A lawsuit has been filed in the New Jersey case.
Efforts to reach Pittsfield Township officials for comment have been unsuccessful.