The “IPray House” is planned for 225 Colfax Road in Wayne, and would be a multi-level worship and community center with a large prayer room, offices, classrooms, and a café, according to submitted plans. Plans show seating for 320 people on the first floor and 148 in a second-floor mezzanine, for a total of 468 seats, according to the documents.
Renderings submitted with the application show a large structure with a central dome and towers, along with landscaped grounds.
Residents filled the municipal building for the high-interest application, requiring overflow space, Zoning Board Attorney Jason Hyndman pointed out at the start of the meeting.
Hyndman told the crowd the application must be reviewed under legal standards and highlighted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which protects houses of worship from unfair zoning restrictions.
“It is not based on the general public opinion…it is whether this application meets statutory and municipal standards,” Hyndman said.
Attorney Mark Semeraro, representing the applicant, addressed opposition ahead of the hearing, saying some messaging circulating in the community raised concerns.
“These are exactly the type of activities that members of the public that are engaging in that very well could influence a court decision should an application of this nature be denied,” Semeraro said.
He described some of the materials as “nothing but dog whistles and hysteria” and said they could be prejudicial to the application.
During the hearing, Imam Gazmend Aga, also known as Imam Gazi, was introduced as a consultant for the project and a potential future leader of the congregation. Gazi, who has been in Wayne for four years, is the director of the North East Islamic Community Center and a member of the Wayne interfaith clergy. He previously served as a key religious figure within the Albanian American Muslim Community of Greater Hartford.
Gazi said he moved to Wayne four years ago and wants to help create a welcoming community, inspired by his son’s favorite mosque in Waterbury, CT, which felt like home to him.
“It’s an instinct as a Muslim leader I have, it pushed me toward trying to establish a house of worship for kids… where they can call home,” Gazi said.
Gazi said the primary leaders of IPray House are Turkish Americans living in Wayne and that a seven-member board of trustees includes five Wayne residents and two from nearby towns. He said the mosque would be tailored to the needs of Wayne’s Muslim community and is expected to be part of the township’s interfaith network.
When asked about a potential call to prayer, Gazi said there would be no sound or music that would disturb neighbors. Much of the questioning from Semeraro focused on religious practices and events before residents were invited to speak.
Public comment opened from neighbor Cosmo Fantozzi, who said: "I don’t know much about the Muslim religion but it seems to me they don’t respect their women."
He was quickly cut off by Wayne Zoning Board Chairman Steve Toth: "We're done. That's not a question, that's a statement."
"I want my wife next to me when I pray," Fantozzi continued before being ushered away from the microphone.
"An outburst like that, you will be removed," Toth said.
Other residents raised concerns about parking and traffic impacts in the neighborhood during the public portion of the hearing, and asked questions about weddings and how other religious events might impact the neighborhood.
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