The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has sued the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen in Shelby County for denying construction of a mosque despite support from the city's economic development director. (Photo: Getty Images)
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed a religious discrimination suit Friday against the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen for turning down plans by the Bartlett Muslim Society to build a mosque.
Nashville attorney Daniel Horwitz joined the ACLU-Tennessee in suing the city board for rejecting a special-use permit for mosque construction, even after the Bartlett Planning Commission required an extensive traffic impact study that found the building would have no adverse effect on local streets.
“This is a clear case of interference with religious freedoms cloaked in bureaucratic language,” said Stella Yarbrough, ACLU-Tennessee legal director, in a release. “The facts don’t support the permit denial, but they do reveal something deeper — an attempt to restrict a community’s religious practices based on who they are.”
Bartlett’s Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend denying the Muslim Society’s application for a special-use permit to build the mosque on eight acres it purchased. The group wants to move out of a leased building that doesn’t have enough space to accommodate the congregation’s worship needs or those related to Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer and reflection in the Islamic religion.
The rejection came even though the city’s planning and economic development director backed approval and the commission approved similar permit requests for Christian churches.
ACLU-Tennessee’s lawsuit says the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.
“We have tried very hard to work with the city and have responded to any and all concerns raised, yet we were still denied a permit,” said Badrul Hossain, Bartlett Muslim Society board president. “Sadly, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit in order to continue practicing our faith.”
Horwitz said “targeting” one faith group through zoning without subjecting other groups to the restrictions is illegal.
Bartlett officials had not been served with the lawsuit Friday and had no comment, a spokesperson said.
The lawsuit says residents who spoke against a special-use permit for the mosque expressed animosity toward the Islamic faith. It also says Vice Mayor Jack Young, a member of the planning commission, admitted his decision to vote against mosque construction had nothing to do with traffic.
“It doesn’t matter to me about a study. I actually live through it,” Young said, according to the filing.
The Muslim Society bought 8.2 acres on Broadway Road for $167,000 to construct a 5,000-square-foot mosque with 165 parking spaces. The group also spent $36,000 on land improvements and paid $20,000 for the parking study, in addition to agreeing to reduce parking to 52 spaces, before being rejected.
Bartlett mosque complaint_redacted
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