Garden City planning commission tables special‑use request for mosque at Marquette Avenue

The Garden City Planning Commission on Sept. 10 tabled a special land‑use application to reestablish a religious institution at 27500 Marquette Avenue after commissioners said the filing lacked key operational details needed to evaluate neighborhood impacts.

Planner Mister Ortega told the commission the site is a 2.05‑acre parcel with an existing 11,500‑square‑foot building that was previously used as a church and school and that the prior legal nonconforming religious use lapsed after a period of vacancy. Ortega said the proposal would not add building footprint and "would redevelop a vacant building, with minimal impact because of minimal with no change to this previous site conditions," but that the commission could impose conditions as part of a special‑land‑use approval.

Applicant Nasser Choucair described the planned use as "an Islamic institution" with a primary prayer room and smaller gathering spaces and estimated the largest gatherings would fit "60 to 70 people max." Neighbors who spoke during the public hearing urged caution: Mike Buckle told the commission he feared "noise" from call‑to‑prayer and large celebrations and said he expected traffic would harm neighborhood safety.

Commissioners repeatedly asked the applicant for a more detailed narrative that specifies hours of operation, expected days and frequency of any public banquet/gathering use, and an occupancy diagram so staff can calculate parking requirements. Commissioner (motion maker) said commissioners were not comfortable approving a special land use without those details and moved to table the item; the motion passed 3‑1. The commission separately tabled the associated site‑plan review and asked the applicant to provide additional materials including parking calculations for a place of assembly, landscape calculations, trash‑enclosure details and light‑fixture heights; that site‑plan tabling passed 4‑0.

What happens next: the applicant was asked to submit a narrative letter addressing hours, banquet use, typical occupancy, and other public‑use details and to work with Mister Ortega on the four outstanding site‑plan items so the commission can consider the matter again at a future meeting.