Contra Costa Supes Consider Sufi Sanctuary Project
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) -- The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Tuesday are hearing concerns from residents of an unincorporated neighborhood surrounding the proposed site of a $20-million, 3-acre Sufism sanctuary.
During the special meeting in Walnut Creek on Tuesday, attended by hundreds of area residents, the board is hearing from homeowners living near the proposed site of the "Sufism Reoriented" project in the 1300 block of Boulevard Way and from the project's directors.
Those homeowners are appealing the county planning commission's recent decision to approve the religious sanctuary project's environmental impact report.
The board is set to decide whether to approve the environmental impact report for the project, which includes a 66,000 square-foot building housing a 20,000 square-foot prayer hall, offices, library, classroom and performance space, according to a county staff report.
Board members are considering whether to deny appeals from the Saranap Homeowners Organization and other area residents who say the project would overburden the neighborhood with additional traffic, noise and air pollution and out-of-place architecture.
KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:
Since the proposed sanctuary would have just 74 parking spots for its roughly 375 members—with a pledge that many will rely on alternative forms of transportation—several residents said Tuesday they worry their streets will be used for overflow parking, especially during weddings and other major events.
If approved as is, area homeowner Mark Redmond said the project "would set a dangerous precedent" for future large-scale projects that choose to offer minimal on-site parking.
Another Saranap homeowner, Terrence Barnham, said the project will likely take longer to build than projected, creating noisy conditions for area residents for at least two years.
Many of the homeowners who spoke in opposition to the current project said their appeals have nothing to do with accepting Sufism and are based on concerns that the sprawling site would be too big for the neighborhood.
Marvin Rasmussen, another homeowner living close to the proposed sanctuary site, said the board should consider neighborhood residents' health and well-being, even if "Sufism Reoriented seems to have unlimited wealth."
But Sufism Reoriented representatives told the board Tuesday that county documents show the proposed new spiritual center has "unprecedented support" from surrounding residents, many of whom belong to the religious organization, which is now housed less than a mile from the proposed site.
Bob Carpenter, the project's director, said the congregation needs a larger spiritual center and grounds in order to house all of the organization's religious activities on one site, following a key tenet of spiritual unity across the organization.
Now, he said, "Our current activities are squeezed together in overlapping spaces" with worship services held in a multi-purpose room and many other activities at leased space at a nearby school.
Carpenter said the spiritual center's proposed design, with its central domed building, carries sacred religious symbolism and cannot be changed.
"Our application seeks only what is essential for our religious practice," he said.
He said the project designers have tried to avoid impacting the surrounding community by building much of the center underground and by laying out a garden-like space around the building to create a buffer between surrounding homes, many of which are inhabited by Sufism Reoriented members, he noted.
"We comprise a core part of this neighborhood," Carpenter said of the organization's parishioners, 50 percent of whom he said live in the Saranap area.
And to protect residents from high noise levels, the project will include a sound barrier and construction hours on the site will be limited, he said.
Tuesday's special meeting began at 9:30 a.m. and as of 4 p.m. more than 120 residents and parishioners had addressed the board.
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