Muslim group’s permit in industrial park appealed
Company says religious use could scare off firms
An appeal has been filed against the Milpitas Planning Commission’s decision to allow a Muslim faith organization to relocate from its site of nearly 30 years near the Great Mall to a part of town zoned for industrial uses that include high-tech.
On Oct. 25, the Planning Commission approved the Ismaili Cultural Center’s conditional use permit to operate as an assembly inside an industrial building with shared parking at 691 S. Milpitas Blvd., east of Gibraltar Drive.
But before the vote, Eric Clapp, a vice president with El Segundo-based CTC Property LLC, objected to the move. His firm redeveloped the campus of the now defunct medical equipment supplier Lifescan, which closed on the 1000 block of South Milpitas Boulevard a few years ago.
Clapp said his firm invested more than $10 million for a future high-tech campus at the former Lifescan property to “try to bring a world-class employer into your city.”
That may not be possible with a religious facility next door, he added.
“There is a concern that when you allow an assembly use into an area like this that it can drive away some companies,” Clapp said, adding that a future chip manufacturer — where hazardous materials may be used — is considering a move into the former Lifescan site. “And it’s important for us really to think about those things now…I hope that (Ismaili) can find a place in Milpitas, but I’m concerned that there’s a risk with that.”
On Friday, Adrienne Smith, an associate planner, said via email that Clapp’s company filed the appeal on Nov. 6. She said the City Council’s appeal hearing on the matter is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 19.
In its written appeal, CTC Property states it is “strongly opposed to allowing religious uses in the industrial areas of Milpitas; and especially in close proximity to the newly to be opened BART Station.
“Adding such an incompatible use will change the perception of the area in the minds of potential tenants and users. We do not believe this is a proper interpretation of the general plan,” the company’s appeal reads.
CTC Property further asserts that “Milpitas has already lost a very significant amount of its industrial uses to residential conversions surrounding the new BART Station and Great Mall….the General Plan states that it should ‘Maintain and expand the total amount of land with industrial designations that would allow non-industrial, employment uses within industrially designated areas.’ The allowance of the approved assembly use contradicts with the General Plan.”
City staff reports state that in April, His Highness, the Aga Khan Shia of Imami Ismaili Council for the Western USA, submitted an application seeking approval of 9,667 square feet of ground-floor space in an existing 104,000-square-foot industrial building for a religious, educational and cultural center, or Jamatkhana, on a parcel totaling 6.36 acres.
Located in a heavy industrial zoning district, the two-level building was constructed in 1998. Its current tenants include Quantros Inc., Sagent Management Corp. and Esgyn Corp. The space the group wishes to occupy is vacant, reports state.
The Milpitas Ismaili Jamatkhana currently meets in a tenant space in the Centre Pointe Business Park at 224 Great Mall Parkway. But because of a forthcoming residential development near the Great Mall and the future Milpitas BART Station, the group needs to vacate that address by 2019.
On Oct. 25, those who favored the project included Commissioner Zeya Mohsin, who stated she appreciated that the congregation “left such a huge area for office space.”
Likewise, Vice Chair Rajeev Madnawat said the project was small enough to be accommodated on that site.