Editor,
Reading the story about The GOAT and what has been going on around that property reminded me of what the Al Salam Foundation had to go through to build a mosque.The GOAT, despite being on property zoned residential, had to obtain no type of zoning approval. It was allowed to open despite obviously not being to code for the zoning of the property, which is residential. The zoning has only become an issue several months later now that residents are complaining, even though the city was well aware of the zoning beforehand.
In contrast, the Al Salam Foundation was dragged to two different zoning board meetings for approval for a permitted use within residential zoning in an area that already has several religious congregations. During one of those meetings, a Carmel city councilor attempted to pressure the zoning board in saying that if this was a council matter, the council would vote down the proposal. It just seems strange that one development, which is a permitted use, had to go through every step of the process, whereas a for-profit business, operating against the zoning of the property it occupied, did not.
Will we ever hear a convincing explanation as to why that happened? I doubt it.
Matt Stone, Carmel
