Scaled-down San Martin mosque requested

Santa Clara County Planning Commission supports project but says it’s too large for rural community

SAN JOSE >> A proposal to build a mosque, community center and Islamic cemetery on a grassy field in San Martin has been sent to the drawing board for some possible downsizing.

Although most members of the Santa Clara County Planning Commission said Thursday night they support the project, four of the seven indicated it’s too large for a rural, unincorporated community and directed staff to explore a smaller version.

“This is a precedent. If this is approved at this size, we’ll have major issues,” Commissioner Vicki Moore said, adding that the size conflicts with guidelines in the town’s general plan.

As proposed, the Cordoba Center would occupy almost 30,000 square feet on a 15.8-acre site at 14045 Monterey Road. The complex would include a 9,000-square-foot mosque, 14,500-square-foot community center, 15,000-square-foot community plaza and 3,380-squarefoot caretaker’s building. A cemetery with about 2,000 graves also would be developed at the site.

The proposed facility would accommodate as many as 300 people at regular events and host four special events a year with up to 500 people. The center would also hold summer camps for children.

A different version of the project, about a third the size of the current one, was unanimously approved by the county Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in 2012, but withdrawn after a community group sued the county demanding a full environmental review.

The current proposal, introduced in 2016, has been a lightning rod in rural San Martin as residents have not only complained about its size but also claimed it would deteriorate well water. A small but vocal group has opposed the project based on its backers’ Islamic faith.

Aimee Escobar, one of three commissioners who liked the project as proposed, said the size makes sense for a church.

“Any church or place of gathering is going to be at least 300 people,” Escobar said. “I don’t feel it sets a dangerous precedence for anything.”

But the majority of the seven