Neighbors in McKinney express concerns over size, parking and traffic regarding proposed mosque

During a McKinney Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on July 9, more than 60 people expressed their concerns and opposition to a proposed Mosque. Many referenced the size of the building, parking and traffic concerns. A few people expressed issues over religious beliefs, while other said religion has nothing to do with it.

The McKinney Islamic Association said it has outgrown its location on Eldorado Parkway which has 45 parking spots. They purchased a 5-acre lot of land in 2022 at the southwest corner of Virginia Parkway and Crutcher Crossing with the anticipation of constructing a larger mosque.

"Our community is excited about it just because of the parking issues that we have currently in a very small space, so we are looking to overcome those issues," said Samad Syed, the president of the McKinney Islamic Association.

Currently, the plan is to build a 37,000-square-foot mosque in three phases which would include a prayer space, a meeting space, a gymnasium and classrooms.

The zoning restrictions for the land limit the construction of a building to 15,000 square feet and that is why the McKinney Islamic Association placed a request with the city to get permission to build the larger facility.

At the Zoning and Planning Commission meeting earlier this month, dozens of people said they were against the current project and didn't want the city to accept the rezoning request.

Many residents were from the Stone Brooke Crossing neighborhood which backs up to the site.

Several people said they're worried parking and traffic would be an issue.

"I'm concerned that even with the best intentions, when people are trying to find a place to park, they're going to go with what they can get and it's going to be down the street and into our neighborhoods," said Jay Schwegman during the public meeting.

"I have children in elementary school, in high school, I’m very concerned about increased traffic about what kind of impact that facility is going to have on our life," said Ksenia Ray, another neighbor.

The architect for the project, Richard Brown, spoke at the beginning of the meeting and said there would be about 300 parking spots. He also said they planned on conducting a traffic study.

The busiest times would be on Friday in the afternoon with two sermons. Every day some prayers are held five times a day, but the number of people who show up to each daily prayer is low.

The plot of land includes part of a floodplain that backs up to the neighborhood. It's filled with mature trees and serves as a barrier to the road and the surrounding area.

Brown said there would be a 100-foot buffer between the property and the flood plain which has a small creek that acts as a barrier between the neighborhood and the proposed site.

Some neighbors said they worry their view will become a parking lot, especially during winter months when trees thin out.

“As part of our religion, we want to make sure our neighbors are happy. The trees are important to us, we’re not looking to take down those trees," said Syed.

There is a memory care facility right across the land on Crutcher Crossing and some residents brought up that property.

"We did see increased traffic, commercial traffic just from that which has a population significantly less, so we would expect a religious center to have a significant increase in traffic," said Doug Salisbury.

The same neighbor continued, “The population of the neighboring community and Stone Brooke Crossing I myself was also a former HOA board member, but it's predominantly Christian based, so I think a lot of the community residents would find this I don’t want to say an eye sore, but an eye sore.”

"I don't want to put my words negatively, but if my kids were walking down that road, I would not want them going to a space where there could be a risk of them getting some information which might be a misrepresentation of facts," said Akash Singla. "I'm strongly in opposition, when I moved into this if I knew even one percent that there was going to be a mosque built in this neighborhood, I would have never moved here."

The long list of speakers opposing the project stunned Syed.

"Well, that was a huge surprise for us because we met with the HOA a day before on a Zoom call to discuss if there were any concerns from the neighborhood and there were about 5 to 6 neighbors who showed up to the meeting. They had a few questions, similar to what we heard at the meeting we answered those questions and we didn't think there was going to be so much opposition into the meeting of the day. It was a big surprise, to be honest with you," said Syed.

Other than people connected to the McKinney Islamic Association, there was one person in favor.

"The McKinney Islamic Association are my literal neighbors because I live close to their present location and they have been very conscientious neighbors there," said Rev. Mally Baum, a senior pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in McKinney.

She continued, "To my neighbors who are concerned about having specifically a mosque there, I would say if your concern is because you're frightened about the unknown or the unfamiliar, I can promise you your lives will be enriched by the addition of these gracious and conscientious citizens and neighbors."

Ultimately at the end of the meeting, all the commissioners except one who was absent, voted to recommend denial of the request. The decision was met with cheers.

“I think that big of a building definitely doesn’t fit in with that [space], I’ll make the motion to deny it," said Planning and Zoning Vice Chair Steve Lebo

“It’s just too big of a building for that site," said Planning and Zoning Chairman Bill Cox Chairman.

The decision will go before the city council on Aug. 6, but Syed said they want to table the request for now.

"[We're going to] Take a step back, go back to the neighbors, educate them on what actually goes into the building, what are the logistics through the weeks and months and try and answer their concerns," said Syed.

He said they're hoping to break ground next year.