Islamic Center request is met with opposition
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on April 19, 2016 1:46 PM
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Dr. Muhammad Bhatti speaks at Monday night's Goldsboro City Council meeting in support of a proposed rezoning.
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News-Argus/ETHAN SMITH
Mayor Chuck Allen, left, and other members of the City Council listen to William Pearman, right, as he describes a map being presented during Monday night's meeting at city hall. Pearman spoke against the approval of a cemetery being proposed by the Islamic Center of Goldsboro.
A public hearing regarding a rezoning request from the Islamic Center of Goldsboro that would allow for the construction of a private cemetery on the center's property met with opposition Monday night during the Goldsboro City Council meeting
The issue was first brought to a public hearing in July of 2015 and many of the same players returned again to voice their concerns about the cemetery.
William Pearman and Johnnie Barnes, residents of Fedelon Trail near where the cemetery would be constructed, who spoke in opposition to the measure last year, again protested the measure at Monday night's meeting.
Opponents of the measure have said a cemetery would decrease property values, cause environmental damage, encroach on long-standing property rights and tarnish the character of the Fedelon Trail community.
Dr. Muhammad Bhatti, who spoke in support of the measure in July 2015, again spoke in support of the rezoning proposal and attempted to clear up what he felt was a wealth of misinformation about the proposed cemetery.
"Objection number one, Muslims embalm their deceased and that may contaminate the groundwater -- definitely, we don't," Bhatti said. "Embalming is not allowed in our religion. Secondly, the bodies of the deceased are thoroughly washed, cleaned, dried and wrapped in cotton. Even the feces are removed before that. There's a special way of doing it so -- I'm a doctor -- there's no way you can get any gastrointestinal disease from this. That was not credible information. Graves are dug above the level of the water table, hence there is no direct contact or communication of the corpses with the water table."
Bhatti also contested the notion that a cemetery would cause a decrease in property values in the neighborhood, and also said no property rights were being encroached upon.
"False allegation, again, based on no facts, figures, evidence or proofs," Bhatti said. "You can go online and get different reports, that doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is, that a number of cemeteries are scattered all over the city in different areas, both commercial and residential, and their impact on the value of the respective areas has never been heard of. It may be worthwhile mentioning here that some of the biggest cemeteries are located right in the middle of the downtown, not far from here (City Hall)."
Pearman claimed to have documentation -- which he presented and gave to the council -- that showed a road called Edwards Avenue that runs along the proposed site for the cemetery construction. Pearman said he uses that road to access a portion of his land, and would lose the ability to access his land if the cemetery was built. Both sides acknowledged that there is an alternate way for Pearman to access his land.
"An adjacent property owner claimed the right of way through private property, for which he could not provide any proof at that time (in July)," Bhatti said. "His so-called right of way is mentioned nowhere in the official documents (of the property), secondly, he has a much better alternative route via paved public roads that provide him ready access to his property, without any hindrance or inconvenience of going through the mud road. In fact, he has been trespassing (on) the private property."
Residents in the area that spoke against the measure also said they simply did not want to see a cemetery every time they looked out their back windows. Pearman presented a petition to the council protesting the construction of a cemetery on the site that he claimed was signed by all the property owners immediately surrounding the site where the cemetery would be built.
To this point, after being asked by the council about the layout and appearance of the cemetery, Bhatti said the Islamic Center of Goldsboro would be glad to construct a barrier of trees around the cemetery.
"The proposed site is far away from the main road, mostly surrounded by trees and thick shrubbery," Bhatti said. "Indeed, it could be further barricaded by trees and shrubs. Even as such, it is not going to change any scenery or topography of the area."
Bhatti also said, in a rebuttal to a claim by Barnes that hundreds of burials would happen at the site, that the Islamic Center of Goldsboro expects a maximum of five to 10 burials per year.
Only one new person who had not spoken at the first public hearing in July 2015 spoke during Monday night's hearing.
That person spoke in protest of the proposed rezoning.
"Me and my wife, Evelyn Jacobs, we oppose the graveyard highly," said Richard Jacobs, who owns a piece of property directly adjacent to the proposed site for the cemetery. "If I clear that property back there for one of my boys, my boy's not going to want to walk out and look back dead in a graveyard, and I don't want to look at it. I mean, nothing against the Islamic (community) or nothing like that. I just would appreciate it if they find somewhere in the country where there's no residential area, where if somebody wanted to build that's their choice. But we already live here, we don't want that in our backyard."
A vote on whether or not to approve the rezoning and allow a cemetery to be built on the site will be held at the next City Council meeting on May 2.
There were four other public hearings held at Monday night's City Council meeting. One was in regard to a proposed events center; one was in regard to locating a craft beer store, named Goldsboro Brew Works, downtown; one was in regard to allowing the sale of storage sheds at an existing property that was formerly a used car lot; and one was in regard to the city's annual action plan.
Each of the four hearings passed without incident, drawing only supportive comments from the applicants on two occasions during the events center hearing and the hearing for Goldsboro Brew Works.