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Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Muslim group sues Hilliard over development denial
HILLIARD, Ohio (WCMH) — The Noor Islamic Cultural Center filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Hilliard after the city rejected a zoning change for a vacant building the center purchased. The building in question is the former BMW office space on Britton Parkway, which has been sitting empty for nearly two years. Joe Miller, the attorney representing Britton Parkway Holding, said that in no way did the Noor Islamic Cultural Center want it to come to this, but Noor leaders decided it was time they stood up for themselves. Watch: JD Vance fumbles Buckeyes' national championship trophy 'You can imagine the Muslim community in central Ohio doesn't want to be in court,' he said. 'They want to be practicing their faith and enabling their members to have successful businesses and other enterprises at this building. That's been their only intent all along.' According to the 128-page court filing, the Noor Islamic Center is suing Hilliard for discrimination and violation of constitutional rights. Nearly a year ago, the Noor Islamic Center and Mosque invested millions of dollars to buy the former BMW Financial building on Britton Parkway, a building that had been vacant for two years. 'They want to rejuvenate the building in the city of Hilliard for both their benefit and the benefit of the residents of Hilliard,' Miller said. 'It's the most egregious example of overt discrimination in land use that I've seen in my over 25 years of practice. It's inexplicable.' Noor leaders said they have the vision to turn the 220,000-square-foot building into a mixed-use facility. That plan was rejected by the planning commission. What yes or no vote really means for Ohio Issue 2 in May election Miller said the city has tried to obstruct the project from happening at every turn. 'What the Noor Islamic Cultural Center has proposed conforms in every way to the city of Hilliard zoning code, and yet they were still denied and still don't have the free use of their private property,' he said. Back in November, after council members denied the proposal, they sent out a statement saying that the city embraces diversity in the community. The statement goes on to say, in part, 'Hilliard leaders negotiated diligently with Noor for the past ten months and have worked hard to accommodate their evolving plans, including allowing up to 56,000 square feet for school and event space… These efforts to accommodate were rejected by the applicant.' Hilliard City Councilmember Les Carrier said that while the lawsuit doesn't come as a surprise, he feels that this is a failure on the city's part. Polaris Fashion Place, other Ohio malls to be sold; corporate staff face layoffs 'I've always been proud of who, because we're unique,' he said. 'Look at old Hilliard. I mean, there's no density down there in old Hilliard, but we still have everyone coming there and it's a destination, you know, and I think we just do it a little differently and we could have with the Noor, we just chose not to. And I am concerned, you know, this attack on the religious piece of it. So very unfortunate.' While a court date has not been scheduled, Miller said Noor is seeking recovery of substantial damages as well as attorney's fees. Hilliard City Manager Michelle Crandall said she wishes she could comment on the lawsuit, but added she couldn't because it's pending litigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Noor Islamic center sues Hilliard for discrimination, violation of Constitutional rights
Attorneys representing the Noor Islamic Cultural Center previously warned Hilliard city council that they would be vulnerable to legal action if they didn't approve the mosque's plans to transform a vacant office building in northwestern Hilliard. An entity of the cultural center followed through and filed a federal lawsuit April 14 against the City of Hilliard, city council and City Manager Michelle Crandall alleging discrimination and violation of First Amendment rights. The lawsuit in federal district court follows an administrative appeal Britton Parkway Holding Inc. filed late last year in Franklin County District Court after the Hilliard council rejected their plan for transforming a 220,000-square-foot vacant office building. The city's decision not only violated Hilliard's own zoning code and long-term plans, but also violated federal law and 'trampled on BPH's rights protected by the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions,' the lawsuit alleges. Ronney Abaza, the chair of the Noor board, told the Dispatch in an interview that the local legal action that is still pending does not include any financial damages or penalties, which is part of the reason the federal lawsuit was necessary, he said. 'We've been injured financially by the discrimination that the city has pursued against us,' Abaza said. 'We've been harmed financially and so we want to be compensated for that.' Joe Miller, an attorney representing BPH, told reporters at an April 14 press conference outside U.S. District Court in downtown Columbus that Hilliard put up barriers to Noor despite multiple attempts from the mosque to work with them. 'The city hopes that the Noor Islamic Cultural Center will go away and just relinquish the building — federal civil rights laws, however, exist for situations such as this,' Miller said. 'Never in my over 25 years of practice have I ever seen such overt discrimination and clear violations of a property owner's civil rights and right to express their faith.' Miller said that the financial damages will be measured in the millions of dollars. And the longer this goes on, the more lost revenue will accumulate, Abaza added. BPH purchased the building at 5550 Britton Parkway in February 2024 out of foreclosure with funds raised from the Muslim community in central Ohio. The building, once the site of BMW Financial Services, has been vacant for years amid the downturn in demand for office space following the COVID-19 pandemic. Noor's plans for the building include keeping some office space and adding a school, STEM center, community event space and some worship use. City officials refused to negotiate with BPH and its attorneys, the federal lawsuit alleges, and imposed 'completely arbitrary and unprecedented restrictions' standards on how they could use the building. 'Every time BPH addressed and satisfied a contrived demand of the city, defendants divined yet another baseless and unfounded obstacle to deny BPH's rights,' the lawsuit says. Crandall previously said at a council meeting that the building is in an ideal location for economic development and high-income jobs that help the city, but the lawsuit says that the planned uses for the building would generate far more income tax than it does today. The city has also approved other overtly Christian projects without fanfare and allowed other developments along the I-270 corridor that are not as lucrative to the city's income tax coffers, the lawsuit states. 'The lack of any rational basis for denying BPH's application reveals the true reason that defendants have fought BPH's redevelopment at every step: defendants simply want to limit Islamic worship in Hilliard,' the lawsuit says. '(City officials) are targeting and discriminating against the Central Ohio Muslim community behind a thin veil of nonsensical and standardless judgements.' A spokesperson for the City of Hilliard referred the Dispatch to the most recent statement the city has made about Noor: Hilliard followed existing land use regulations and that staff 'worked hard to accommodate their evolving plans" proposed for the office building. 'Noor has the opportunity to submit a new development plan for the site that aligns with the community plan,' the city's statement from November 2024 says. 'We remain committed to reaching a resolution so the building's potential can be maximized for the benefit of our entire community.' Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the western suburbs for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@ This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Noor Islamic Cultural Center suing Hilliard in federal court
