Vote on Muslim cemetery might be delayed
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 2, 2015 1:50 AM
Goldsboro's city planning commission has recommended to delay a vote on a proposed rezoning near Fedelon Trail that would allow the Islamic Center of Goldsboro to construct a cemetery next to its place of worship.
If Goldsboro City Council follows the planning commission's recommendation on the consent agenda item, there will be no vote at Monday night's council meeting.
Planning Department administrative assistant Sally Johnson said action on the matter was deferred due to the large number of objections to the cemetery's construction at its July 27 public hearing.
Residents near the proposed site said they were worried about their property values decreasing, embalming fluid leaking out of the bodies and contaminating the ground water and some went as far to say the cemetery would impact the "integrity" of the community.
Muslims who are part of the Islamic Center of Goldsboro's congregation rebuked the notions, saying they do not embalm their bodies and the outrage over the cemetery's construction is due to the fact that it is being proposed by Muslims for Muslims.
Ms. Johnson said the planning commission, of which she is a member, felt that the council meeting where a public hearing was held and the council meeting on Monday where the issue would be voted on were spaced too closely together to give the commission enough time to think about the matter and to arrive at a recommendation.
Ms. Johnson said the rezoning vote to allow the cemetery construction has been moved to the first council meeting in September. But, on the agenda packet provided to the public online at www.ci.goldsboro.nc.us/documents/city_manager/agenda.pdf, it only says the vote will be deferred and does not provide a future date for a vote.
Because of the protest petition against the rezoning, when the council does decide to vot, the city's four-fifths rule has been invoked, meaning six of the seven council members will need to vote in favor of the rezoning for the rezoning proposal to pass.
The proposed rezoning is taking place in District 1, which is Councilman Michael Headen's district.
"At this point I have no comment," Headen said. "I'd really like the chance to go out and look at the site before I comment, which I was planning to go out there this weekend. So I'd like the chance to go out and look at the site, and then I'll be able to get a statement together."
District 2 Councilman Bill Broadaway said he cannot yet say how he will vote, but added that he would like to "walk the ground" where the cemetery has been proposed to get a feel for how close it is to private property owners' land and "to gain a better understanding" of the property's layout.
"What I can say is that we cannot summarily deny the proposal just because they're Muslim," Broadaway said. "They have just as much of a right to build their own cemetery as anybody else does."
District 3 Councilman William Goodman did not attend Monday night's council meeting because of an illness, and therefore was not present for the public hearing.
"Right now I'm opposed to it," Goodman said when reached by phone at home on Friday afternoon. "I don't think it fits with the other types of properties that are already out there."
Goodman also added that he had not yet had the time to fully study up on the circumstances surrounding the issue, as he has been between hospitals and clinics recently because of his illness.
District 4 Councilman the Rev. Charles Williams Sr. said he is leaning toward voting for allowing the rezoning to proceed so the Islamic Center of Goldsboro can build the cemetery.
Williams has a mosque in his district that was built for the Islamic Center of Goldsboro on the corner of Elm and Slocumb streets.
"I'm leaning toward supporting them and their right to build the cemetery," Williams said. "They have the right to (build it). They have a mosque right down from where I live, and they've never caused any problems. Some people don't like Muslims, but I don't have any problem with them."
District 5 Councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem Chuck Allen said he could not say for sure what his decision on allowing the rezoning would be.
"I think there is some merit to them needing a place to bury their dead, but I think we have to consider if the proposed location is the best place for it or not," Allen said. "I'd like to go back to the site and look at it again and talk to all the other council members to see where they're at with it. If it comes down to it, it might not be the right place for it, and I think we have to consider that."
District 6 Councilman Gene Aycock said he was glad the vote was postponed by the planning commission, as he felt the council would not have had enough time to think about the issue from every angle before voting if the vote would have been taken on Monday night.
Aycock said he rode out to the site of the proposed cemetery Friday morning and feels that his vote will come down to the rights of the Islamic Center of Goldsboro to build a cemetery weighed against the rights of private property owners near the proposed site.
He has not yet decided how he will vote.
"Any decision made by me will be made by considering their right to bury their dead close to home, and by considering how close it is to private property," Aycock said. "I've talked to (council member) Broadaway and I've talked to (Mayor Pro-Tem) Chuck Allen, and we're all in the same quandary. We all think they have a right to bury their dead, but we aren't sure if the proposed site is the best place for it."
Aycock stressed that no matter how he voted in the end, it would not be influenced by who is seeking to build the cemetery.
"Any decision I make will not be influenced by their religion," Aycock said. "They could be Christian, Jewish or anything else, and it wouldn't matter. Our constitution says we must remove religious considerations from our decision-making processes as a local government and I can promise you, no matter how I vote, my vote will not be influenced by their religion."