Officials in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, have rejected a 15-acre development featuring an Islamic center and mosque. The city council voted 4-1 to deny a rezoning request for the development.
According to reports, those in support of the development said it centers on religious freedom, while those against the zoning request said they are concerned about traffic and resources.
Broken Arrow City Councilor Justin Green said during the meeting, as per KOCO News 5, “We are not here to discuss freedom of religion. We are not here to discuss which religion is right and which religion is wrong.”
The Tulsa County Democratic Party condemned the vote, stating, “Regardless of what you think of the merits of the infrastructure claims against the proposed Islamic mosque in Broken Arrow, it is a FACT that the majority of the opposition’s concerns were overtly tied to the religion of the applicants.” The Democrats claimed the city council “laughed and snickered” as they “butchered the names of Muslim Broken Arrow residents.”
Meanwhile, Republican State Senator Christi Gillespie asserted that the proposal “did not comply with the Comprehensive Plan’s clear designation of this corridor for commercial and employment-focused development, nor did it adequately address serious concerns related to infrastructure, traffic capacity, stormwater, and floodplain management.”
“Speaking from my previous experience on the Broken Arrow City council, cities rely on thoughtful land-use planning to sustain public safety, infrastructure, and quality of life,” she said. “Preserving key gateway areas for commercial development is essential to maintaining a strong sales tax base that funds those core services.”
Similarly, Texas put a halt to the construction of EPIC City, a 400-acre Muslim-centric community.
