Expansions sought for Macomb houses of worship
Plans for the expansion for houses of worship in two separate Macomb County recently took a step forward.
Both the Clinton Township and Sterling Heights planning commissions approved the preliminary proposals and sent them to the higher legislative bodies for review.
The Clinton Township Planning Commission approved a site plan for an addition to the Islamic Center on Hayes Road, south of Clinton River Road.
According to commission documents, the center is looking to build a 35-foot-tall, 5,200-squarefoot addition to the existing 11,100-square-foot site on six acres. It will be made of brick and cultured stone to match the center’s exterior look.
Fejlem Salkic of the Islamic Center said the addition will include room for praying and education facilities.
Salkic said the center has about 500 members who left Bosnia and Herzegovina about 30 years to establish a new life. They first met in a garage in Hamtramck before purchasing the former Riverside Fellowship Church in Clinton Township in 2020 with the hopes of making improvements to the property.
“We need that space as we’d like to give the next generation room for education and protect them from anything bad like drugs, alcohol and prostitution,” he said. “This will be our legacy for the next generation.”
But some residents of nearby Pebble Pointe Condominiums said they “are not very happy” about the center’s existing basketball court and outdoor activities. They said young men sometimes get loud while playing basketball, disrupting their otherwise quiet enjoyment/
Salkic said the Islamic Center’s personnel would be willing to discuss the noise issue with property owners because they want to be good neighbors. A possible solution would be to add plants and shrubs to act as a screen.
“Maybe we can sit down and drink the coffee together and talk about it,” he said. “We have to get back to community and talking.”
The center will also need variances for the height of the building and a setback variance. Those items will be reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 16.
Meanwhile, the Sterling Heights Planning Commission has granted special land use approval for an expansion of the American Muslim Diversity Association’s (AMDA) 6,000-square-foot building on Ryan Road, south of Dobry Drive.
According to attorney Amy Doukoure, representing the AMDA , the association wants to add a women’s prayer area, gymnasium, classrooms, and other ancillary uses. The expansion bring the total building square footage to 34,000 square feet and a maximum height of 52 feet.
Also proposed is an expansion of the parking lot, along with plantings or a wall to act as a screen from nearby homeowners.
But neighbors on Honeysuckle Drive said the AMDA has violated a previous commitment made when the structure was originally built in 2011 to take measures to control parking and headlights shining into homes.
“The parking is horrendous,” said homeowner Joan Knapp. “They don’t have enough parking spaces for what they have now.”
Doukoure said the addition of a wall and landscaping should mitigate the light
The issue now advances to the Sterling Heights City Council.