A long-vacant former Minnesota School of Business building in Blaine is the latest front in a battle that forces developers of Islamic schools and places of worship to defend themselves against public opposition that some say is rooted in prejudice and Islamophobia.
The East Blaine Mosque and Academy purchased the 46,800-square-foot Blaine building at 3680 Pheasant Ridge Drive and is seeking a zoning change to allow for the planned new uses, which include a mosque with capacity to serve up to 300 people and an Islamic private elementary school.
City documents note that the site is currently zoned “Planned Business District,” which does not allow elementary schools.
Supporters say the project would address growing demand for Islamic places of worship and education in the increasingly diverse city, where churches outnumber mosques 30 to one, and bring a productive new use to a building that has been sitting empty for seven years.
During a public hearing at a recent planning commission meeting, most speakers voiced support for the project.
But some opponents pushed back on the grounds of noise and traffic impacts, and questioned the need for the project at a time when Lino Lakes which is about an 18-minute drive from Blaine is considering an unrelated development anchored by a mosque and housing.
In Lino Lakes, hundreds of people have flocked to city hall to speak for or against that project, known as Madinah Lakes, which would also include a day care, grocery store and retail. Opponents and some council members are calling for a moratorium on residential development a move that would put the project on hold.
“It’s really shaping up to be a highly visible line in the sand, because the Muslim community believes that if they fail here, it’ll set a precedent that will go around the nation,” said Dean Dovolis of DJR Architecture, the Lino Lakes project’s architect and master planner.
Since restrictive land covenants have been abolished, people have used zoning as a way to keep certain populations out of their neighborhood, Dovolis said. Similarly, he added, project opponents use density and traffic concerns as code for saying, “We don’t want you. Stay away.”
From a design standpoint, Dovolis said, the Lino Lakes project is less dense and triggers less traffic than previous proposals for the site.
For its part, the Blaine City Council held a “first reading” Tuesday of a proposed ordinance granting the rezoning for the East Blaine Mosque and Academy and is expected to hold a second hearing on the matter later this month. In May, the Blaine Planning Commission recommended approval.
At the planning commission meeting, project supporters stressed the need for a second mosque in Blaine. The only existing mosque in the city, MAS Blaine Masjid, is “unable to handle the demand” and conducts “several services on Fridays” to keep up with the needs, an attorney representing the applicant said in a letter to the city.
As of 2020, Minnesota’s Muslim population totaled 140,000 people, up from 70,000 to 80,000 20 years earlier, according to a project narrative.
But not everyone is on board with the project.
An 18-year resident of Blaine, for example, told the planning commission that there’s “already a school [for Muslims] across from Wells Fargo here in Blaine. And now you want to add another one. And then they want to add another huge area in Lino Lakes. That’s a lot of area and a lot of new building just for one kind of religion and people.”
In both Blaine and Lino Lakes, residents have cited noise and traffic as reasons for their opposition. But advocates say the opposition is rooted in prejudice and goes beyond the typical nimbyism associated with new developments.
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Center for American Islamic Relations, said 90% of “mosques, schools and cemeteries” proposed by Muslims in Minnesota have faced opposition.
“That opposition oftentimes is masked through language that seems logical when it talks about land use. In fact, there is a book out there online that says, ‘Talk about traffic, talk about light pollution, talk about these things,’” Hussein said at the planning commission meeting.
Chris Heinze, an attorney representing the applicant, told the planning commission that there are “no nimby issues” for the Blaine project.
“These folks just want to be able to worship their god and raise their children in the same tradition, which is no different from those families who send their children” to other religious schools, Heinze said.
In April, the East Blaine Mosque and Academy paid $4 million for the former for-profit college building in Blaine. The seller was M5 Built Holdings-Blaine LLC. Built in 2006, the three-story building has been vacant since the now-defunct business school departed in 2017.
At the time of closing, the building had been on the market for 2,265 days, according to Catylist.
Heinze said in an interview that the building will need some internal improvements, such as changing the configuration of the classrooms and making sure everything is up to code and ADA standards, but it will not require a major renovation.
From a location standpoint, the building is a good fit in part because it won’t have a big impact on residents, he said, adding that the new use will generate less traffic than the Minnesota School of Business did.
“They simply wanted to find a place where they could worship and instruct their children while affecting the least number of people,” Heinze said.
RELATED: Just Sold: East Blaine Mosque buys former for-profit college
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