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4 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes June 12, 2012 Page 4 food sharing. He stated during the month of Ramadan, there will be activity from sundown until 11:00 p.m. or 12:00 midnight and at the end of Ramadan, they have the Eid celebration where people come to pray at 8:00 a.m. with some celebration during that day. Councilmember Roth asked if there will be daily prayer on other days. 7 Mr. Giarushi stated there will be people at the Islamic Center but there will not be other people 8 driving there and there might not be activity on days other than Friday. He expressed 9 appreciation for everything the City has done and stated that a lot of people were worried about 10 parking issues and tax exemption and he wanted to assure the community that there are 349 11 parking spaces on the entire site and they will own both parcels. He stated the only portion of 12 the building that will be tax exempt will be what the Islamic Center will use and that is what the 13 law allows, and is not even 10-12% of the building. He indicated the location of the building in 14 an industrial park is away from everything and is not in the way of anyone. He stated they 15 welcome comments from the neighbors and indicated this is a house of worship not just for 16 Muslims and is a community project. 17 18 Councilmember Gray presented a document about the proposed Islamic Center and recited the 19 wording on the document that says the program of Abu-Huraira Islamic Center has been an 20 initiative to establish a center that provides for the needs of Muslims in Minnesota. Ile stated the 21 area that the CUP will cover is 12,940 square feet and the CUP permit request says the rest of the 22 building will be tenant office space and will remain unchanged. Ile indicated the document also 23 says the Abu-Huraira Islamic Center will include a mosque, library, school for all ages, 24 conference halls, gymnasium for all ages, offices for solving community needs and many other 25 programs to fulfill the needs of the Muslim community. He asked if all this will be done within 26 the 12,940 square feet proposed in the application. 27 28 Mr. Giarushi stated that the document referenced by Councilmember Gray is not correct. He 29 indicated when the City told them a school was not allowed and that they would have to apply 30 for a zoning change, they took out the school. 31 32 Councilmember Gray expressed concern that it appears there may be a request later on to expand 33 and change the zoning of this site. 34 35 Mr. Giarushi stated at this time they are not asking for a zoning change or for a school. He stated 36 if a school was allowed and the City allowed the zoning, they may or may not have a school. He 37 added they do not know what the future is and they will not use the Islamic Center for other 38 purposes without the City's permission. 39 40 Mr. John Murlowski, 2405 39°i Avenue, appeared before the City Council and questioned 41 whether a church and an assembly was the same thing. He felt this was the Christian equivalent 42 of a church and he had a problem with that. He stated he does not want to see a mosque in the 43 City. 44 45 Mr. Rob Lundeen, 3912 Fordham, appeared before the City Council and urged the City Council 46 not to allow this in the LI area. He felt the Islamic Center would not be beneficial to the City and