Excerpt:
Hundreds packed the City Hall concert hall Wednesday night for a contentious public hearing on a proposed mosque that drew emotional reactions from opponents and supporters.
The proposal submitted by the Al Madany Islamic Center was first submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission in the spring of 2010. It calls for a 27,000-square-foot building at 127 Fillow St. that would include a prayer hall, classrooms, community center, 80-foot minaret and 89 parking spaces on a 1.5-acre lot where a 159-year-old home now sits.
So many came out to speak Wednesday that commissioners continued the public hearing shortly after 11 p.m. to allow all those who signed up an opportunity to speak.