The San Joaquin County, Calif., board of supervisors has blocked the construction of an Islamic school and community center, citing neighbors’ concerns over traffic.
The Farooqia Islamic Center wanted to build a worship hall and a K-4 school serving 50 children on roughly four acres of an 18-acre site between Lodi and Stockton.
The five-member board of supervisors voted unanimously on Sept. 26 to uphold an appeal by a neighbor opposed to the project, overturning a July decision by the county’s planning commission to issue the Islamic center a building permit. The board’s decision cannot be appealed.
The Farooqia Islamic Center gained national attention this past summer when federal lawyers alleged that the center may have been used to recruit and train American Muslims for war against enemies of Islam. Center supporters deny those claims.
