Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Yeah, there you go everyone. Thank you. Thank you. I call to order the planning commission meeting of March 25th, 2026. I now call the role. Commissioner Sordy here. Commissioner Mayor here. Vice Chair Barnett present. Commissioner Bernett here. Commissioner Stump here.

I am here as well. And Commissioner Thomas is absent. Please stand if you're able as Commissioner Sordy leads us in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we get started, could I ask everybody to silence your devices?

All right. As the planning commission conducts the meeting this evening, we encourage active participation by the public, which is essential to the democracy and the important work of the planning commission. Public input is very welcomed and always considered. The public can participate in a couple ways. Prior to a meeting, written comments about agenda items may be submitted to the staff. During the meeting, there are two opportunities for members of the public to participate. First, during the verbal communications period, an individual may speak on any topic that is not on the agenda. And second, during the public hearing portion of tonight's meeting, any member of the public may speak about an agenda item, and you will be advised of the times when you come up. And to note, it appears that we have a lot of people here to speak tonight. And I would like to outline how this process is going to go and how to address the planning commission. Following the staff report, the applicant will have five minutes to address the planning commission. If there are multiple people representing the applicant, I ask that you either select one person to speak on your behalf or have each person prepared to speak within the allocated 5 minutes. After you speak, there can be questions for the applicant from the planning commission. Once the planning commission has finished with their initial questions to the applicant, each person wishing to address the planning commission about this agenda item will have three minutes to speak. Following public comments, the applicant will be able to return have an additional three minutes for closing statements and additional planning commission questions. If you plan to speak this evening and you agree with the previous speakers, but as they have said maybe previously, I would ask that you simply state that you agree and then provide any new information if applicable. That will allow everyone an opportunity to speak.

In addition, I ask that everyone is respectful of each other and the speakers. Disrespectful or intolerant language will not be tolerated in this meeting. Comments need to focus on the proposed land use and the impacts on the community. No clapping or booing after someone speaks. If you agree with a previous speaker, you can raise your hand instead of clapping. And I also want to let you know that we will be taking a short break at 8:00 this evening. If you do plan to address the planning commission tonight and you have not already done so, please fill out one of the yellow speaker cards and hand it to staff. have a hunch we have most of them but just in case when you are called to speak please come up to the podium and speak directly into the microphone as this meeting is being recorded state your name and indicate that you are speaking anonymously if you prefer and you will have three minutes to speak uh in addition the town council has amended the agenda policy missing

um yes I can provide a brief description of the changes to the commission um so rather than Robert's rules of order. Um, the town boards and commissions are now using Rosenberg's rules of order. The primary difference is that there needs to be a motion on the floor before any discussion ensues between the commissioners. Um, the other difference is that there can only be three motions on the floor at any one time. Um, and the remainder is very similar. There can still be formal amendments, friendly amendments, and substitute motions. Thank you. We will now begin with the verbal communications portion of the meeting during which members of the public are invited to address the planning commission on issues not on the agenda and with a reminder that we have three minutes. I have the first is Captain Seuss. Testing. Testing. Is it on? Okay. Um, not on the agenda. 10day rule. I, this was earlier. I, you know, I always say 10day rule because I think I bet there's a lot of people here and there usually not that many people here. Um, I'm not a public speaker. Um, traffic, uh, issues that I, uh, sent you a picture. I don't know if you got that. Um it's on 85 in Lascatus Boulevard. It was taken March 20th, 2026. The planning, you know, you it's it's concerning the north 40 project and it's it backs up all the way

to 85. You can see the the red the red and the yellow line. And I, you know, that was taken at 3:53 p.m. You know, I think that there should be a study done because there's a be, you know, they're worried about, some people are worried about traffic, but the traffic I see is over there because you're building this uh, you know, there's no parking over you. What they said was uh 768 uh, parking spaces, but the the code said 922 and you know, I tried to put that on on the record. Uh um uh let's see what else. There's uh March Madness. That's what I was pushing. You know, the three things. Hey, it's here. It looks like madness is here. So, that's why I'm wearing this. Hey, let's go. March Madness. Uh DEI. I I uh I want to bring up uh the march for No Kings Day. You know, I think that you guys should be planning something for that, too. Um, one other thing was uh let's see signed signed oh the signed documents or that but that's on on this but I don't know if I was a agenda too. So I I was just curious because this does how I got started in in on this was on um Lynn Avenue project in uh Pinehurst and um they people signed a document and they said that we signed it and we didn't sign it. So you know it's one of those things where I don't know who who fact checks who's signing documents. It says 43 people signed it. 50, you know, but 50 people because of stuff like that. So, before you do anything, you know, because it it's it seems like there's issues here already, legal issues. And I um one of the things that I wanted to bring up was uh um the the senator sent in or know

congressman sent in under you know, I don't think that's fair. You know, unfortunately, we have to keep this to not if you thought another speaker. And the last thing was I wanted to present this to the the thing because not too many people come but I can I give this to you. Is is that okay? I think it's up to them. Public officials can't accept gifts. It's not to him to this gentleman here. No. Yeah. I hear I hear he's the head guy. So, all right. You know, we have a lot to get through. So, thank you. Thank you.

Yeah. All right. All right. I have one other speaker card. Um, I'm gonna ask that we quiet quickly. Um, and if I misspeaked last names, please accept my apology. Um, Courtney. Okay. Thank you. Um, a few years ago, I actually put in a request for speed bumps in on our street in Flint Ridge, and unfortunately, it was declined. Um, however, um, it was it was deemed safe at the time. However, in March 20th, which was last week, I got a report from the town clerk um indicating that there were actually 13 collisions within 5 years in that area. Um now, according to the Federal Highway Association, anything over five and five years is deemed high risk. So, I'm here to ask that that number with 13, that's almost triple the amount there. Um, tonight I'm asking the town to reconsider uh to put speed bumps in in and around Flint Ridge. I followed the process. I got our neighbors to sign the petition. Over 50% agreed, waited two years for the study. Um, so I'm here to ask that we re-evaluate that and at minimum put in speed bumps in the streets of Flynn and Farley and Sho.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Seeing none. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, Vice Chair. Uh, are you continuing to work with the public works department with respect to that petition and the requirements of the town? I'm sorry, are you asking if I'm continuing to to work with the department? Yeah, to pursue the petition with the public works department.

Definitely. So, um, I I was losing hope. I said, okay, you know, if the town says safe, it's safe. But then we thought about it and so we we asked for the town to provide the records to indicate you know that the traffic there. Um so we responded back to the I think the the town engineer street engineer. Um so we are in communication. We haven't heard back yet but I wanted to bring it here to just to put it out there that you know it's documented that is considered a really high-risisk area. We have kids that bike and go to school.

I think you answered his question. Thank you so much. Are there any other questions? No. All right. Thank you. All right. We will now move on to the consent calendar tonight. We have one item. Sorry, real quick. We have Do you have one hand raised? We just need to check and see if they want to speak about items that are not on the agenda. Okay. Thank you, Rusty. Uh, no, actually I'm speaking about the agenda. Thank you. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Pollson. All right. Now, we'll move on to the consent calendar. Tonight, we have one item on the consent calendar, the approval of the draft minutes of the February 25th, 2026 planning commission meeting. Before the planning commission acts on the consent calendar, do any members of the commission or the public request that this item be removed? Are there any? Seeing none, do we have a motion to approve the consent calendar? Commissioner Sorty, is there a second? I'll second. Vice Chair Barnett. All right. Uh, are there any other questions or discussion? Seeing none, all in favor?

I. So, through the chair and town attorney can correct me if I'm wrong. Since Commissioner Stump is remote, um, I think you have to do a roll call vote. That's correct. A roll call vote is required. Oh, thank you for letting me know. All right. Well, then I will uh call the role then. Commissioner Sordy, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Vice Chair Barnett, yes. Commissioner Bernett, here. Commissioner Stump, yes.

Right. Uh, I also agree. So, it passes unanimously with one commissioner absent. We will now move on to our public hearings starting with item number two. And um I'll just announce were you going to announce that um Commissioner Thomas is absent this evening? She's recused because she lives within a thousand feet of the project. Sorry, I said she was absent the beginning, but I did not state why. Oh,

thank you. Item number two, consider a request for approval to modify an existing conditional use permit for expanded hours of operation in an institution for rel religious observance, the West Valley Muslim Association on property zoned R-18 located at 16769 Barley Road, APN 424-21-062. two. This is categorically exempt pursuant to SQUA guidelines section 15301 existing facilities. The property owner is the West Valley Muslim Association Omar Guff President. The applicant is Razi Mo Headen. I think I got it. And the project planner is Jocelyn Scheman. Before the staff report, could I have a show of hands of the commissioners who have visited the property? Do I need Actually, I'm so sorry. Do I need to do that via roll call also?

No. Okay. Um, are there any disclosures? All right. Miss Shun, you'll be presenting the staff report for us this evening.

Thank you, and good evening. Before you tonight is a request for a modification to an existing conditional use permit to allow for expanded hours of operation in an institution for religious observance. On January 10th, 1990, the planning commission approved a conditional use permit to allow the improvement and expansion of an existing institution for religious observance. The property was occupied by the Jehovah's Witnesses until 2019 when a certificate of use and occupancy was issued to the West Valley Muslim Association. On March 11th of 2020, the planning commission approved a modification to the conditional use permit to allow for expanded hours of operation from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. for 30 days annually during the month of Ramadan. The applicant is now requesting approval to modify the hours of operation to state that the hours of operation shall not begin prior to 1 and a half hours before sunrise or extend past 10:30 p.m. 7 days a week to accommodate indoor morning and nighttime prayer services. as well as during the 30-day month of Ramadan, indoor nighttime prayer services shall not extend past 11:30 p.m. whenever sunset is prior to 7:30 p.m. or until midnight whenever sunset is after 7:30 p.m. The applicant's request is limited to the hours of operation. No additional requested modifications to the conditional use permit or the existing structures are proposed. There were two addendum reports provided with additional public comments received after the distribution of the staff report as well as a desk item report that was circulated this afternoon with supplemental information from the applicant, the applicant's legal counsel and additional public comments. In addition to planning staff, staff from the parks and public works department are also in attendance this evening. This concludes my presentation and I will now turn it over to the town

attorney. Thank you. Thank you. Um I'm Gabrielle Wheelen, town attorney, and I have a brief PowerPoint outlining the applicable laws to this application. Um there are two laws to keep in mind. The first is uh regarding the town code and conditional use permits and the second is the religious land use and institutionalized persons act and that's commonly referred to as RLUPA. And so I'll start with conditional use permits. Um they are permits that allow uses um that would not otherwise be permitted by right in a particular zoning district but that could be made compatible if restrictions were imposed on the use. Next slide please. Um a conditional use permit uh runs with the land. Um and so uh future buyers of a property um get the benefit of the existing conditional use permit and then the idea is that conditions are imposed on issuance of the permit that are intended to mitigate the impacts of the use on the surrounding area. Next slide, please. Um, per the town code, the planning commission needs to make four findings in order to approve a conditional use permit. The first is that the proposed use is essential or desirable to the public convenience or welfare. The second is that the proposed use would not impair the integrity and character of the zone. The third finding is that the proposed use would not be detrimental to public health, safety, or general welfare. and four, the proposed use of the property is in harmony with the various elements or objectives of the general plan and the purposes of the town code.

Um, applicants can seek modifications to approved conditional use permits and a modification is required whenever there has been an intensification of use, commencement of new activities that could have a material adverse impact on the surrounding area or any change that is a substantial departure from plans which were the basis of the original conditional use permit approval. Next slide, please. And when approving a modification to a conditional use permit, the deciding body needs to make the same four findings that I described previously. Next slide, please. Um, are there any questions on conditional use permits before I move into a description of RUPA? No. Okay. Um, so RUPA is a federal law um that was enacted in 2000. Next slide, please. It prohibits the government from imposing or implementing a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise unless next slide. Um the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. Next slide. Um now the statute does not define the term substantial burden. Um however the Ninth Circuit um has defined a substantial burden to mean one that imposes a significantly great restriction or onus upon religious exercise. Next slide please. Um and so when deciding whether or not a government has imposed a substantial burden on um a place of worship, a court

will consider the following factors. The court will consider the size and resources of the burden party, the actual religious needs of an individual or religious congregation, the level of current or imminent space constraints. Next slide, please. Whether alternative properties are reasonably available, the history of a plaintiff's efforts to locate within a community, and whether zoning authorities are acting in good faith. Next slide, please. And once um a plaintiff has established that there is a substantial burden on religious exercise, the next question will be whether or not there's a compelling governmental interest at stake. And the cases describe a compelling governmental interest as an interest of the highest order. And examples that are given are public health or safety concerns. Next slide, please. And once um that decision has been made, then the court will decide did the uh town or city's actions constitute the least restrictive means to address that compelling governmental interest. And that means that the government needs to prove that there's no alternative, less intrusive regulation that would achieve the government's compelling interest. Next slide, please. Um in addition to the substantial burden analysis, uh RUOPA has an equal terms requirement and that means that the government cannot impose or implement a land use regulation um such that a religious group is treated on less than equal terms with a non-religious um assembly or institution. Next slide, please. In addition, Raulupa contains a non-discrimination requirement and that

means that the government cannot um impose a regulation that discriminates against any assembly on the basis of the particular religion. Next slide, please. In addition, Ruupa requires that a government not impose or implement a land use regulation that would totally exclude a particular religious assembly from the jurisdiction or unreasonably limit that religious assembly within the jurisdiction. Next slide. And so that concludes the information I wanted to share regarding uh conditional use permits and RUOPA. Are there any questions from the commission at this point? Doesn't look like at this point. Thank you, Miss Gen.

We will now open the public portion of the public hearing on item number two and give the applicant an opportunity to address the commission for up to 5 minutes. I have a speaker card for Razi Moiaden.

Thank you. Can I have the slide presentation? Thank you. My name is Razi Mohiudin. I'm the founder of the West Valley Muslim Association or WVMA and the applicant uh for the CUP today. Uh first of all, I want to thank the planning commission. Uh I served as a planning commissioner myself for the city of Saratoga for 8 years just until about a year ago. So I know what you have to deal with especially these days with Reena with uh builder's remedy with SP330 with SB4 and a whole bunch of other things that require a lot of things to come to the planning commission and also additional things for the staff as well. So thank you for your service. Also want to thank the staff. We had to go through about five rounds of discussions in order to finalize the conditions of use. So really appreciate the staff uh to to work through with us. And I also want to thank our neighbors as well. uh our neighbors uh have been really great in terms of providing their feedback and that has helped us fine-tune kind of what we do overall. Next slide please. We are requesting three things. I think the staff went through this already. The clock is not running. So um we're requesting three things. Uh these are to offer congressional prayers at their appointed times. A mosque cannot be a mosque if it cannot offer congressional prayers. This is fundamental and it they have to be offered at the time. These times cannot be changed by individuals or institutions. Next slide please. Uh these are a copy of plans that were part of the due diligence materials that we received when we purchased the facility in 2018. They clearly show that this facility was approved in 1990, 36 years ago, to have three auditoriums that can be simultaneously held about 700 attendees and with about 200 plus vehicles driving down Farley

Road on this street in this neighborhood and in this R18 zone. So this was approved 36 years ago. This was a material fact that we based our decision to acquire this facility for over $11 million of our community's funds. These plans are part of the laserfish records of the town and you can look them up here. Next slide, please. We have not added a single square footage to the building. The only thing that has changed is the religion here from Jehovah's Witness to the Muslim religion. And the only question before you today is whether extending hours creates new impacts. Next slide, please. When you separate separate out the hyperbol such as stadium scale and other search terms that have been used, there are three things that are possible impacts that I'd like to focus on. One is noise, traffic, and safety. Noise. You have in front of you a professional noise report that says that we are within the town's noise ordinance and one of the conditions of approval that is part and parcel of the cup uh that uh the city has uh uh drafted is that we will continue to operate within these ordinances at all times including at night in the during the quiet hours period. So that is a condition of approval that already is built into the conditions. Second, traffic. Concentrated arrivals and departures are inherent to a religious facility and this was deci decided 36 years ago. And with our traffic management plan, we have streamlined this even more. Third, safety. We have continuously reached out to fire and police departments and asked them to monitor our facility and our use. There have been zero concerns highlighted to us and there have been zero incidents related due to our

services. And there is also on your desk uh a public records from the police as well as the fire that show that there's been no reports of our uh uh issues in Ramadan. And we have a 2-year track record of Ramadan services to prove that we can operate safely and quietly. Next slide, please. Let's look at a statement from a neighbor here that is in your packet on page 432. This was unsolicited comment that we received uh that is in your packet from Miss Retita Scubis who lives three houses down from our exit driveway on Farley Road. She says we have been respectful, orderly, consistent with the zoning and any impacts are brief, predictable and limited. These are unsolicited comments as I mentioned here from my closed neighbors. There is no better testimonial than what we could provide here. Next slide please. We have done extensive outreach reaching out to 60 plus neighbors and we will continue to do so and we have listened to their feedback and taken 20 plus actions to make it even better and we are open to even more actions as long as they are reasonable and not cost prohibitive. Next slide. Finally, as I mentioned, we have gone through five rounds of discussion with staff to come up with 25 comprehensive conditions of approval. These are comprehensive conditions more than any other religious institution in in Loscaros. They require us to operate within town ordinancings for noise, parking, lighting, building occupancy, and many others. And we have agreed to a compliance review one year from now to assess any additional impacts. Next slide. Staff recommends approval, and we respectfully request yours. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker, Vice Chair Barnett? Thank you for your comments. Is it I think I read this in the packet but is it accurate that you wouldn't need the closing time until uh 12 p.m. and for the next like 10 years?

That is correct. Uh the Ramadan goes in a cycle that rotates about 33 uh once every 33 years. So right now because of the uh we are in daylight regular time uh the prayer the sunset is before 7:30 p.m. So the next time the sunset goes past 7:30 p.m. will be in the year 2041. So that will be almost 14 to 15 years from today. So until then we would need it until 11:30 p.m. After that for the next 14 or 15 years it'll be until midnight and then it'll go back to uh the the same cycle again. Thank you. Understood. Um, would you as the applicant agree to a condition that would require at least quarterly newsletters to the neighbors concerning events and hours? Uh, I understand you already have that on your website, but people some people may not have access to that.

We we absolutely will and we can even uh but keep in mind that many of our uh activities may not be scheduled a quarter in advance as an example. So, but we can certainly agree to a quarterly newsletter to our neighbors. Okay. Thank you for that. And my last question is um with respect to shuttle service and I I carefully read your comments about why that is something that um uh the mosque does not want to proceed with. But um one of the concerns was a place for gathering for uh embarking and disembarking. And I guess my question is if the town itself could provide that space would some reasonable shuttle service be acceptable?

Uh sure let me answer that question. I think thank you for bringing up I think because it's a very important part of the discussion over here. Generally what happens uh the answer is uh no we would not consider the shuttle service and I'll tell you why. Um what happens is the way Ramadan works is you typically break your fast at sunset and about an hour and a half later you start the nightly prayers. So we have about hour and a half in order to do the following things. We have to break our fast. We have to pray the sunset prayer. We have to eat dinner. We have to prepare our families and especially if we have young children and others to get ready and then we have to drive over to the facility in order to do that all in a matter of 1 and a half hour. That is very very difficult to do even today within that period of time. When you add a shuttle service, then that adds at least a minimum of half an hour if not more because you go to another location, park there, get in in the vehicle, come over, wait for the shuttle, and then repeat that process. Imagine, for example, this meeting is starting at 7:00 p.m. every evening. Imagine 30 days of these meetings and you are working as an example and you have 1 and a half hours from at 5:30 you have leave your work and you have to do all of the five things that I mentioned and then come over here using a shuttle that will be a substantial burden on our community and it would not work for us.

Okay, I understand your comment and thank you for uh your comments in general. Thank you chair. Commissioner Stump has his hand raised.

Commissioner Stump. Uh, thank you by the way, chair. I've got my video turned off in case I have um issues with bandwidth. Um, thank you very much for speaking with us this evening. I've got a question, some questions about use and occupancy, obviously back in uh 2020. Um, and you've explained this in your desk item today. you anticipated 10 to 25 members using the facility until 11:00 p.m. during Ramadan. Also know from your desk item that it seems like your high attendance for this Ramadan period was 850. Um what growth in attendance have you experienced and what growth do you continue to think you will experience as it relates to your mosque? Yeah, Commissioner Schum, thank you so much for that question and I think it's an important question over here. Uh, our community has definitely grown since 2020. The uh when uh this was actually proposed uh at this point in time. The facility always has had 682 seat capacity. Over here when we talk about the 850, we exceeded that only on two nights this Ramadan. only on the what is the 23rd and the 20 uh sorry the 25th and the 27th night of Ramadan uh which I don't remember the exact March dates uh on that one but for the remainder portion of the the Ramadan we did not exceed that capacity of uh the seats uh that exist uh over over there now what happens typically in a Ramadan service is that keep in mind and I'll have uh one of of our resident scholar explain this in a little bit more detail about what happens on the Ramadan uh time later. Uh but typically what happens is is our Ramadan service if you have to imagine the following people are standing for two and a half hours

straight in order to listen to a Quran recitation and people get tired and they leave over a period of time because they have to go to work, they have to go to school, they have to do variety of different things. So there is natural attrition or decrease in the number of people that attend a Ramadan prayer. So, as it starts, let's say at 8 8:00 p.m., by the time it goes to about 9:00 p.m., you'll see about 60 or 70% of the people drop off. And then by the time you get to about uh near the last quarter, you have about 90% of the people depart and only about 10% approximately remain there. So when if you read the the text of the the 2020 application described the attendees who would remain for the remainder of the Ramadan nightly prayers during extended hours and that's the number that was referred to was 10 to 25. So that was the drop off. Of course we could have said it much better in terms of explaining it but that's what we meant when we said that that at the end of the services you will have fewer people uh there. Now obviously uh with the increase in our overall capacity there will be an increase from that 10 to 25 number but nevertheless it will be smaller than what when people start off with

and sheriff if I might continue. Yes. Um I wanted to ask you um as you take a look at 850 attendees on that high night, um do you have any estimate as to how many cars would have been driven to your mosque or around your mosque to support those 850 people?

Yeah, we did. Uh in fact, I personally myself counted uh the number of cars uh that were there uh on that uh evening. Uh there were approximately 280 cars uh that were there at the beginning of of that. We accommodated close to 200 of them in our parking lot and we accommodated another about 35 vehicles at the affordable treasures at the corner of Loscatos Boulevard and Farley Road uh by special permission with affordable treasures over there. The rest of them were on the street park on the street. I understand one of your challenges has been for people to park in your lot and I know you're going to be doing some parking lot work. Maybe there's some configuration challenges etc. But how full is your parking lot on those nights understanding that you can park up to 180 cars currently without reconfiguration. So, how full is your on-site parking lot uh on any given night?

Uh on and we we first want to fill up the parking lot as much as possible before any kind of off-site parking uh to to utilize that. So we actually uh use uh fill in about 200 cars in the parking lot on busy nights by essentially uh taking advantage of without actually having any kind of fire uh access blockage over there. We did submit a parking lot reconfiguration for 207 vehicles. uh that is uh part of the our original submission over there and in some time in the future we'll plan to actually uh implement uh implement that.

Um chair if I again because I am remote um I really have a number of questions but I don't want to keep droning on. If there are other commissioners that have questions you certainly could come back to me. All right. There are and then I will probably ask my fellow commissioners if we want to hold the balance of our questions until the end to allow for public testimony. Okay. But um thank you first. Commissioner Bernett.

Thank you chair and thank you for coming and thank for all the attendance. It's very interesting learning about your religion and I I grateful to understand it more. So thank you for that. So my question to you is of the eight total mosques in the area all of which except the Lascatus mosques is on an arterial thoroughfare. Um are any of them in a residential zone as the Lasatis mosque or you call it the hub the regional assembly center? Um are any of the other mosques in a residential zone like R1 col 8? Um most I found are in a CH zone which is a commercial highway zone. So there is a difference there and I think that might be um some of the issue.

Sure. There are number of uh there are a number of mosques that are actually in residential zones. Um some one of them is for example in uh Evergreen uh in the San Jose evergreen area called Evergreen Islamic Center. Uh they are uh a number of them in Fremont uh in San Mato as well. They are all in residential residential areas. Um there's also one of the primary the the first mosque that was here in the Bay Area when I first came here was actually called Masid Deor. It's on Katherine Street in Santa Clara. It is in a residential zord and it still exists today and it's part of the Muslim Community Association MCA.

Yeah, just to follow up. So, but uh the position of the mosque is is on a main highway more of a thoroughfare instead of in a residential neighborhood is what I looked at and and uh sort of examined. I didn't find any in deep in an a residential zone, but the Katherine Street one is in a residential zone for sure. Yeah. St. Katherine Street. Yeah, it's Santa 1755 Katherine Street in Santa Clara. Yes, I looked at that. Uh, it's a wide boulevard and there's plenty of lights. No, it's in a purely residential neighborhood. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. Are there any other questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. So, obviously I have a a lot of speaker cards and so what I'm going to do is I'll read out three names at a time just so you're prepared for who will be coming up next. Again, you have three minutes. Our first card is G. Brown. The second is Linda Swingberg. And the third is Lon Allen. Okay. If you looked at your card, that would be agenda item one. and I wanted to speak on the minutes, but I'll I'll uh you know, it was it was just a quick uh thing because I came in as brown act and and I was saying the ice and stuff like that. But um I'm going to go right into some of this other stuff. uh the part the the basic thing is um that I see is uh you know if it overflows and and um and since my experience with Lynn a I don't know if you know this but Lynn Avenue uh we live right close to that and um there was the town sent out or somebody did flyers and they they posted that we you know people uh said that we want we were you know for the project and it and the town was for it and a lot of people the the residents weren't the local residents weren't and it's an easement and uh they want to walk where where safety and I'm saying that the you know the safety issues are on the street first and it's a big thing but you know honesty is one of the biggest things and and I like I looked at some of the the the videos online and they showed uh you traffic and stuff like that and it kind

of I mean there's traffic on Lynn and and when you back it up and I don't see the product what I'm trying to say is you know like your parking there was uh saratoga had the parking I'm not a public speaker but Saratoga had extra parking and so if they can have extra parking lot someplace far away and bus them in you know uh would be a a deal thing um and have maybe a a one-way uh uh for that that those hours have a oneway um because it's only that that little road is you know really small have it one way coming in and then going out just quickly and having a a crossing guard person right there and you can get it in and out and and you know it's it's like at school and dropping off school stuff. So if you can do something like if they can agree to something like that, another concern would be eventually if they get over things they might sell the property and what I you know if it sells we we talk that's what I wanted to bring up they're to put three stories in this there the people that are complaining now are to complain 10 times more when they put three stories or four stories or or 10 you know seven stories for for for this stuff. So you guys got to think about that stuff. Um, those are just some of the issues that I brought up because nobody follows the rules. The project require the one down the street fort north 40922 required. You only got 768. So, I'll leave it like that. Thank you for my time.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right. Linda Sweenberg.

Good evening, commissioners. Thank you for your time tonight. I'm concerned that the staff report and draft resolution for the WVMA cup modification may be missing some of the findings that the general plan explicitly requires. These are not only required but um it's my understanding that the policies of your general plan which are applied without discrimination are your compelling interest. The 2020 land use element, still in force for land use today, includes goal LU6 to preserve and enhance the existing character and sense of place in residential neighborhoods. Its policies actually prohibit uses that may lead to the deterioration of residential neighborhoods or adversely impact the residential character of a residential neighborhood. and they state that non-residentidential activity should be allowed only when the character and quality of the neighborhood can be maintained. The draft resolution finds that the proposed use would not impair the integrity and character of the residential zone in that because it has conditions of approval that will be included. I respectfully note that this appears to be more of a promise of future conditions than these specific analysis and findings the general plan calls for. This is especially important given the proposed hours which you're all aware of. And please look at also the pre-dawn hours because that has a huge impact on the character. The 2040 noise element in the environmental in in the environment and sustainability chapter speaks to protecting our quiet residential

community. Peace and tranquility and noise sensitive uses like residences and sleeping areas. It calls for a full acoustical analysis and additional protections beyond the basic noise ordinance. While a basic study was provided, the saltter noise study is not the acoustical study that the noise element requires. It does not fully address these stronger requirements at all. I believe the general plan policies explicitly require findings on residential character, quality of life, peace, and tranquility, and protection of sleeping conditions. And those detailed findings seem to be missing here. I respectfully ask that you consider denying the modification or continuing the item so staff can provide the proper compatibility study and the explicit findings the general plan calls for. Thank you so very much for your service and for listening.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you, Lon Allen.

Uh, thank you, uh, Lon Allen. Uh, even though I hold elective office, I'm here speaking in my personal capacity, and I'm speaking in favor of granting the conditional use permit. Uh, I also should point out that, uh, well, I think a lot of people speaking in favor of this or of the Muslim faith. Uh, I'm Jewish. My grandfather was a rabbi. I really don't think it has anything to do with anybody's particular faith, but we're all Americans and we facilitate the free exercise of uh of religion. I don't think that uh having this mosque in a residential neighborhood is a problem. In Monty Serenino, where I live, we've had the Baptist church on Davis Avenue. It's 100% residential. We have an elementary school across the street. Uh the traffic in and out of the church hasn't been a danger to the students and uh Mary and I have lived there for 47 years just off of Dave's Avenue. It hasn't been a problem. I think that, you know, as the Supreme Court said, we really have to go out of our way to allow what is necessary for the mosque to operate the way a mosque is supposed to. I've read the um conditional use permit. I think that they've bent over backwards to be accommodating and uh I would just respectfully ask that the council uh grant the conditional use permit. Thank you very much. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right, next three I've got Musa Tarik. Again, if I've mispronounced that, I'm very sorry. Um, Hiba Hammed. Is that on? And Bisma Jaffir.

Hello, commissioners. I'll keep it brief. My name is Musa with care of the Council on American Islamic Relations and we want to echo our Losto's friends in urging you to approve the modified conditional use permit so the West Valley Muslim Association can continue to serve its congregants in the community. The right to gather and worship should be applied equally and consistently. This project is not introducing something new. It accommodates a growing community to access necessary religious services just as other faith groups in Los Gatos do. We also hope that WVMA will be evaluated under the same standards and expectations as any other institution. The mosque has worked extensively with the city in good faith, following the same process required of anyone else, if not considerably more stringent. The Muslim families who attend WVMA are an integral part of this community. They work here, go to school here, run businesses here. They are your neighbors. The right for a group of people without undue burden to exist, gather, and worship belongs to everyone in Loscatos. That includes its Muslim residents. Please approve the conditional use permit. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? No. All right. Haha. Good evening andalamu alalayikum. My name is Hiba Hammuda and I'm on the civil rights team at CARE, the Council on American Islamic Relations. We strongly urge you to approve WVMA's request to modify their conditional use permit. These modifications are critical to ensure that WVMA is able to serve their congregates in Los Gatos. The leadership at WVMA has gone above and beyond to ensure that they are not only abiding by the law, but by being considerate of their neighbors. WVMA is the reason that there was a speed radar pa placed on Farley Road. They consistently checked in on their neighbors throughout Ramadan for feedback and received an extremely positive response. This just goes to show that they have been operating in good faith and in collaboration with their community consisting of both worshippers and neighbors. By denying the request for the modification, you would be placing an extreme burden on your Los Gados Muslim community who would be barred from praying certain prayers and practicing during Ramadan which we have a spiritual obligation to do. The Muslim community in Lascatos deserves to be supported and nurtured. We should not have to fight for the right to pray and worship. Also, Muslims and the practice of our religion do not deteriorate the integrity of your or quality of your neighborhoods. These are worship sorry these worshippers are the neighborhood. They are integral members of the community regardless of your intolerance for our religion and practices. Thank you.

There's any questions for the speaker. All right. Bisma.

Hello. Good evening. Eid Mabarak. Uh my name is Bisma Jaffer and I'm a civil rights attorney at CARE the Council on American Islamic Relations. It is the largest um Muslim civil rights organization. Um so I'm speaking from that point of view. The WVMA community members are part of the Loscatos community as much as they are the Muslim community. And Muslims have been operating here for years as community members and law-abiding people. And from a legal standpoint, WVMA applied for a permit, was granted a permit, and then also uh applied well, they were inherited the religious land use and institutionalized uh persons act that was um created specifically in our legal system to address a pattern of discrimination against minorities. And given the rising anti-Muslim climate, the act should very much be respected here. Uh, let's honor that purpose tonight and keep Lascatos a community that welcomes all. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker?

All right. Uh, Mitra Z, I'm probably going to say it that way if that's all right. I can just go. Oh, okay. Hi, I'm Mitra. I'm also with CARE. Um, if you could guess. Um, as you can see, the Loscatoos Muskid is a place of community. Every place of worship has their first amendment right to pray and convene. Therefore, I'm in favor of this item as it will give practicers the ease and time accessible for worship. WVMA has been in the Loscatoos community for over 30 years and is an example of what it means to be a good neighbor. Truly, neighborhoods benefit from having third spaces and a place of worship enriches the cultural fabric of the community, actually increasing its integrity and quality of life. If I were to take this reasoning against the ordinance, then why are we not making public comment about garbage trucks in the morning? That wakes me up every night, but yet they're still legal as they have a duty. Um, as Islamophobia in the country is at the highest it's been in over 20 years, it is essential we can come together to practice our faith. To reject this proposal would undoubtedly hurt this practice. I urge you all to support the well-being of our community and improve the modification. Spaces like this are essential to a fruitful and welcoming society and it's crucial we support our South Bay Muslim neighbors. If this is rejected, I can assure you this will hurt the health of the city as an entire community will not be available to properly pray where we live. Again, I speak to you with urgency and encourage you to approve this permit. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions? All right, the next two speakers will be Jeffrey Wang and Diane Fischer.

Good evening. My name is Jeffrey Wang. I'm a civil rights attorney with the Council on American Islamic Relations. Um, I'd like to provide some additional context on why approving this permit request is important. For those who don't know, the Council on American Islamic Relations is our nation's largest Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization. Our work and research has shown that for over two decades now, American Muslims have increasingly been the target of hate incidents and hate crimes, discrimination in schools and workplaces, and even hateful rhetoric by public officials. In the past year, officials at the highest level of government have tried to redefine what it means to be American by using discriminatory language by intim by by implementing exclusionary immigration policies and attempting to roll back civil rights protections for for minorities. Essentially, their message was if you don't look, speak, or worship a certain way, then you don't belong. And just a few weeks ago, Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles posted online that quote, "Muslims don't belong." Florida Representative Randy Fine called for all mainstream Muslims to be destroyed. These manifestations of anti-Muslim animists have real life consequences. Complaints made to care stayed at all-time highs last year. And it's not just discrimination in the workplace or at school or being victims of hate crimes. We've seen pretextual zoning or permit denials weaponized by municipalities across the country as a mask for anti-Muslim discrimination. At bottom, such denials prevent American Muslims from being able to fully exercise their constitutionally protected right to practice their faith. Now, the town of Loscados has stated in its 2040 general plan that it wants to increase diversity and inclusion um to

ensure that all members of Little Lascow's community feel quote valued, safe, respected, included, and secure. And Lascados wants to be a special place for community gathering. So, our request is thus a simple one. Approve this modified permit request and let Lascatos continue to be a place where Muslims can gather in community. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? No. Diane Fischer. And following Miss Fischer, we will be taking a short break. Hello, my name is Diane Fischer and I serve in the faith seat on the diversity, equity, and inclusion commission for the town of Lascatus. Although this evening I am speaking in my own capacity. I'm also a congregant at Congregation Shirhadash, a Jewish synagogue here in Lascatus, where I serve on the board of directors and have been a member for over 30 years. I appeal to the planning commission to approve the requested conditional use permit with extended hours for West Valley Muslim Association for three reasons. First, for legal reasons, the Religious Land Use Act states that local governments must accommodate religious practice in good faith and are specifically prohibited from imposing a substantial burden or restriction on the land use of religious institutions. Secondly, approving this request supports our value of religious freedom. Beyond the first amendment to the constitution, the 1993 religious freedom restoration act focused particularly on safeguarding religious practices for minority groups. As a member of another minority faith community which has faced significant discrimination, I've had the good fortune of being supported by Muslim allies, especially from West Valley Muslim Association, and likewise, our Jewish community here has stood with our Muslim brothers and sisters at the West Valley Muslim Association. I previously ran a teen interfaith program with Jewish students from Congregation Shiridash and Muslim students from West Valley Muslim Association. This Star of David necklace I'm wearing was a gift from a Muslim students parents to me to demonstrate our mutual appreciation. We know that Lascatus is culturally enriched by its minority communities and this land use will pro will profoundly demonstrate our genuine welcome and

appreciation for all. The third reason I want to highlight for supporting the conditional use permit request is that West Valley Muslim Association is a vital incubator for democracy just as all of our Lascatus faith communities are by creating social capital and forming meaningful networks of people who care about each other and mobilize for community needs. Lascatus has the opportunity with this request to provide for appropriate prayer opportunities for the Muslim community and thereby reducing negative stereotypes and building bridges and social capital increasing the well-being for us all. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker? Right. Seeing none, we are going to take a a brief break and we will return at 8:15.

All right. All right. Perfect. Perfect. All right. Um, thank you everybody for the quick break. We'll probably need to take another one in a couple hours, but in the meantime, I'm going to go ahead and keep going through the speaker cards as we have quite a few. Um, again, I will call the names three at a time just so you're prepared. Um, the first one I have is Gareth Williams. Um, and then I have u I think it says David Kunan and Karen Karen Yamamoto, but I think she just stepped out. I'm going to save her. And Javeed

E. I'm sorry. I It doesn't have the phonetics. So, is Gareth Williams here? He's in the Oh, no. All right. Of course. All right. Well, we'll hold on to him for a second then, too. I love it. All right. What about uh David? Is it Kunan? K U N I N. Excellent. And then um Jabid Yah. Thank you. Thank you. I apologize. I really will try my very best.

My name is Rabbi David Cunan. I'm the rabbi of Congregation Beth David. Um, and we have members both in Saratoga, Loscatos, and all through the area. And our members all value our very close connection with the West Valley Muslim Association. Um, they actually use our parking lot when they have services nearby. And we are actually thrilled when the parking lot is thrilled is filled on Ramadan and the like. We believe that freedom of religion is goes to the cornerstone of what it means to be American democracy and the free um expression of that religion is really what's being asked for in the changes that the West Valley Muslim Association is asking for allowing them to worship as is necessary within the Islamic faith and in order that they can fulfill those religious obligations which they have no power to change. They come from God for the community and we share with them that obligation and the sense that they need to be able to fulfill their religious obligations just as our community and many other religious communities all can fulfill. You never turn the clock on by the way. Um

the clock isn't working. I'm keeping time.

As well as other religious communities are allowed to fulfill their religious obligations. And we think it goes to the essential aspect of American democracy. We also value and think very that it's very important that we value all parts of our community. We the Muslim community brings a very important aspect of religious diversity, cultural diversity to um Loscatoos, to Saratoga, to the whole Silicon Valley. and we would be all diminished if that community isn't able to be able to fulfill its religious obligations and be able to live here as members of a community of the United States. So we call on the commission to make the waiverss that are necessary so that the Muslim association and all the Muslims in this area can worship as is necessary. We think rather than being detriment to Los Gados or the community, we think that this change will enhance the community and enhance cooperation between religious communities in our area and we think that's hugely important. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Seeing none. All right, Yaveid.

Oh, no. You know, is it Yave? Is it all right if Gareth goes ahead and goes? Um Gareth can go ahead and go. Um I had called your name a moment ago and then Yaveid will follow.

Okay. Good evening and thank you very much for your attention to this matter. Um I have lived in onorway uh block of folly since 1967. At that time the property now occupied by the WVMA MMA was a Baptist church which after a number of years changed hands and became Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. I have no recollection of any traffic problems during this period of almost 60 years. However, things have changed. Um, Aora was once a relatively quiet street, but now sees much more traffic than before, both moving and parked. However, I will say that parking is not my main concern, though many times when crossing Farley, I can't see around parked cars, so I have to be very cautious. I cross Farley at least four times a day, typically around midday and in the evening. I frequently have to wait for a dozen or more cars to pass before I can cross. On a recent occasion, after dark, a friend was good enough to stride out into the street to hot traffic for me to cross. Our neighborhood is a friendly one. And over the years, my wife and I attended weddings, graduations, garden parties, visited homes for 40 years, sang carols to our neighbors. And now I stand here in support of my neighbors endeavor to curtail the extension of operating hours proposed proposed by the West Valley Muslim Association.

the I have been invested in this community for a lifetime. I came here when I was 32 and I'm now 90 and feel so sorry to see it ruptured. I sincerely hope that all sides can come together to repair it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker?

All right. Thank you, Yaveid. Thank you uh honorable chair Kendra Burch, Vice Chair Jeffrey Barnett, and honorable members of the planning commission. Thank you for providing the WVMA and its neighbors opportunity to address you today. Thanks are also due to the staff who engaged in an extended effort with the community and neighbors so that this matter is now before you addressing the concerns as best as possible. living next to a facility approved for religious activities. I thought it was 1990 but I just hear it was even before that. Uh the WVMA appreciates neighbors concerns as this same facility now provides an opportunity for an American Muslim community of Los Garis and adjoining city cities such as Montino to perform the required prayers where none existed before. I am from Montino and all Monty Serinians enjoy the sisterly relationship we share with the town of Los Gatis as the shop and dine and share the loss Monte Cerino police department which has provided cities with excellent service. I also want to thank Montter Serino's mayor Ron Allen who was who spoke before and who has served this community for more than 30 years for coming here to express support for Loser in providing a prayer facility for Monteino residents. As you know, Monteino has one Baptist church and Dave school. When I was mayor at of Montesino, I had the pleasure of visiting Pastor Roger McCarthy at the first Baptist church and was moved by the Easter service and the participation of the congregation. Prayer brings a tranquility and peace that surpasses all understanding. American Muslims find this tranquility and peace at the Los Garis mosque. I appreciate those neighbors who have civily pointed out items of concern to them and to a large extent WVMA has addressed almost all of these concerns. What we WVMA cannot do is to take

actions directly opposite to the mandates of its religion and understand this results in car lights through blindless windows. But to appreciate the overall time impact, consider the following. You're stuck at a traffic light in Los Garas that refuses to turn green. You wait and wait. You start praying it for it to turn green. You get sidetracked. It finally turns greens, but you do not move. Does the car behind you start honking, honk, honk, honk for you to move right away? Or does the driver give you a few seconds to collect yourself? I believe the Los Garis people are the ones who care for others and are willing to satis sacrifice some of those minutes. There are 524,160 minutes in a year. And the 20inut traffic rush that happens for 30 days in Ramadan if annualized over an entire year would only come to 1.64 minutes a day or less than 1% of the total yearly time effectively just a minute or two each day. Even if you double that becomes 3 minutes a day this is a time when American Muslims are praying for America gathering charity for those in need praying for the health of their parents and grandparents for those who are sick for patience to those who have loved ones and to guide them. Recite God's commandments to do good to parents, kins folk or orphans, those in need, neighbors who are near, neighbors who are in str who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wafer you need. So we ask our lost guest neighbors, give us a minute or two of your time so that we may pray. Hopefully not while sitting at a green light.

Thank you. There any questions for the speaker?

All right, the next three is Basil Farooq, Juned Bayat, and Dr. Amina Darwish. Good evening. I am Imam Basil Farukq and I serve as the resident imam and religious director, religious leader of the West Valley Muslim Association, the WVMA. In Islam, we have five obligatory prayers every day whose timings are determined based on the position of the sun. We start off with the pre- sunrise prayer. Then we have the noon prayer, the afternoon prayer, the sunset prayer, and the night prayer. The mosque is the spiritual center for Muslims and is required to have congregational service for all five daily prayers. But now out of these five daily prayers, the two that provide the most significant spiritual grounding for an individual are the first and the last ones. The pre- sunrise one and the night prayer. So let me walk you through a typical congregants experience. You wake up a little bit earlier than you would just for work. You want to start your day in a positive, intentional, and grounded way. You join your fraternity in congregational pre-rise prayer, turning your focus to the force holding up the universe. You hear the melodious verses of the Quran. You speak to your creator with your heart, grounding yourself before the difficult day ahead of you, with work, family, and all other responsibilities that we all shoulder. After a day of stressful work in the heart of the Silicon Valley, you again need a space to unwind and discharge all of that accumulated stress and weight on your shoulders. You join the congregation again, this time for the night prayer. You leave after worship feeling grounded, humbled, and healed. This is the experience of a congregant who attends the pre- sunrise and the night prayers every day, centering their day around God, allowing his mercy and his love to carry them through the difficulties and challenges of life. We would like to request your approval for

hosting these critical daily prayers in congregation at their religiously mandated times. I would like to ask the Lascatos Planning Commission to adopt the staff recommendations in approving this proposal. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you. Unade Jun Bay. Thank you.

Good evening, Planning Commission members. I'd like to thank you very sincerely for facilitating this hearing and this evening. My name is Jun Bayat and I speak in my own personal capacity. I am a classically trained Islamic scholar. I memorized the entire Quran, 600 pages at the age of 12. Completed seven years of advanced study in theology and divinity in Canada and earned a master's degree with highest honors in Quran and Sunnah studies from the International Islamic University of Malaysia. And this year, I had the honor and privilege of leading the Ramadan nightly prayers at the WVMA. And I only share all of this as a backdrop so you know that what I'm about to tell you is not opinion. Rather, it's for it's over 1400 years of settled religious practice. Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe that the first verses of the Quran were revealed onto Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him during this blessed month. In response to that gift, the prophet himself, peace be upon him, established the practice of extended nightly prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. his companions and every generation of Muslims ever since have continued this practice in an unbroken chain. The full Ramadan nightly prayer, if I may explain so you have a good picture, consists of 20 cycles and it has been the standard in mosques around the world for over a thousand years. Each night one full chapter of the Quran is recited and over the course of 30 nights the entire scriptial scripture all 30 chapters uh are completed together as a community. So picture the scene for a moment. For two to two and a half hours, the congregation stands in rows listening to one person reciting the scripture. There's no conversation. There's no celebration or socializing. It is a time of deep reflection of quietly absorbing the verses that call

us to serve humanity, to care for the poor, to be honest, to be patient, to forgive. Each person is alone with God even while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their neighbor. When the prayers conclude, people leave in the same spirit, quiet, contemplative, at peace and it is among the most peaceful gatherings that one can imagine. So I respectfully urge all of you and request that you support the full 2 and 2 and 1/2 hours of the Ramadan nightly prayers. so we can continue our religious tradition of reciting one chapter of the Quran every night of Ramadan. Thank you so very much for your consideration.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you, Dr. Amina Darwish. Yes. Okay.

Good evening everyone. Uh my name is Amina Darwish. I often lead services and special programs at WVMA. For my day job, I serve as the associate dean in the office for religious and spiritual life and adviser for Muslim life at Stanford University. I'm speaking here today in my personal capacity as a community member. So, I've served as a Muslim chaplain in higher ed for the past 12 years, and I've been working with youth in Muslim and interface spaces for almost two decades. If you think I don't look old enough to have had a 20-year career, thank you. You can be my best friend after this. But because of despite being 20 to 30 minutes away from campus, WVMA is my home mosque. The executive director has my number in her phone and when she calls I say she says jump, I say how high. It's been a challenging time to be Muslim in America. In a post 911 America and with the loneliness pandemic that was exacerbated by COVID, building community is more critical than ever for everyone. A Stanford study from our psychiatry department actually showed that Muslims, Americans who identify as Muslim, had twice the suicide attempt rate as their peers of other faiths. Both faith and community are protective factors that decrease mental health crises and save lives. Students who have struggled with belonging often share feeling at home at WVMA. This mosque has been a highlight for me personally, for my Stanford students, and for the community at large as a safe space to make friends, build community, and create belonging. So four years ago, I started a special program with the WVMA board members that became a really popular class on campus for students of all faith traditions to design design their spiritual lives. WVMA support was critical to facilitate the first ever class and track. I've seen tangible benefits for the Muslim students and students of other faith have a sense of agency belonging on campus and has resulted in service projects that have expanded on and off campus. This is the beautiful healing effect of WUVMA. For Muslims to be able to practice their faith freely, as is a core ethic of the pluralism of Lascatos and America at

large, they need to not just be tolerated, but celebrated for their community building. My hope is that my regular meetings with rabbis, reverends, Zen Buddhist masters, Hindu priests, Bahai worship leaders is not just a really long setup of a joke, but actually a really awesome celebrated thing that we do in our community regularly. Thank you for listening.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker? All right. Uh, Johannes Swenberg, Sahir Nojang, and Anus Sed. Hope I did those. All right. Thank you. Um, my name is Johannes Sweenberg, and you said it right. Thank you very much. Um, ladies and gentlemen of the council, the staff, and um, town council, I appreciate your service. I'm a 30-year resident of the town and I'm speaking on probably something a little bit different from what I've just heard been hearing and that's specifically about noise. Um my concern even though I live on the other side of town is um excessive noise doesn't just annoy it can possibly harm the community in profound and lasting ways. It shatters a piece that makes the residential community a true home. 12 years ago, I suffered a traumatic brain injury. The world became overwhelming and loud sounds triggered intense pain and set back my recovery. Fortunately, a quiet neighborhood was a blessing in the town of Loscatos. A gentle space where healing could happen without constant assaults on my senses. Simple things like resting, concentrating, or even sleeping became possible. I think of the residents in Farley and those around there and others like them who may be suffering from noise and the loss of a quiet neighborhood. I have a great deal of empathy for that situation. For some, it's not just discomfort. It's isolation. People who are vulnerable, living alone or dealing with their own health challenges, have no one to share the burden with. They endure the constant intrusion of in their silence. Their quality of life can be eroded. their sense of safety and comfort stolen. Noise disrupts sleep, raises stress, worsens medical conditions, and

drives people indoors, away from their neighbors and community life. It can turn evenings into endurance tests. I think we deserve better. Our existing noise ordinances exist to protect exactly this, the right to reasonable quiet in a residential area. Enforcing them fairly and firmly isn't about stopping activity. It's about preserving the livable, healing environment that drew all of us to Loscatoos. This is a main element of the town plan. Please stand with the residents, protect our community, and I ask that you at least lay and do further study on this topic. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker? Thank you. Zar,

good evening everyone. Um, also I'm so sorry for your uh injury. Um, a few weeks ago I visited one of our neighbors. They smiled at me and said, "Hey, it's you again, Sahar, right?" And that's when I knew our efforts were making a difference. I'm Dr. Dr. Sahar Nojan, a sociology professor at San Jose State University and a board member at the West Valley Muslim Association, where I support spiritual growth in neighborhood outreach. In both my work and my faith, my purpose is simple. To listen, understand, and help build stronger communities. Last year, I was honored to receive the Congressional Recognition Award from Congressman Sam Licardo for my community service. I believe this. When people feel heard, communities change. For the past couple of years, I've personally visited over 60 houses in our neighborhood. Knocking on doors, talking to people multiple times, having conversations on sidewalks, even in living rooms, porches, garages. We listened, adapted, and followed up. One conversation stayed with me during last year's Ramadan check-in. Our neighbor Michelle asked, "Is this the new normal?" She noticed Ramadan was quieter that year and wondered if we had moved it to our other facility. I said, "No, we're still here. We're just making changes. This is being good to our neighbors is part of our faith. Those changes mattered. Many told us it was noticeably quieter and more respectful. A few weeks ago, I revisited nearby homes on Farley and Flint Ridge. Neighbors asked me how we were doing. One shared, "We don't want you to feel unwelcome here." John even offered his driveway for us to park whenever we needed. Beyond our community cafes, that's the true speed of Loscaros. Beyond beyond our community cafes, we've begun sharing meals with neighbors through small gatherings and communitywide dinners, both at our facility and as box meals during community nights. It's been a joy to serve dishes like butter chicken and briani with our closest neighbors such as Kim, Bill, Leangs, and others. Our faith calls us to spread peace,

nourish others, and strengthen relationships. These simple acts produce genuine connection. This is the community we believe in. Not just simply coexisting, but truly caring for one another. Today, I'm asking you for your support to extend WVMA's hours. This is more than just a building. It's about continuing to listen, adapt, and give back. Our conversations do not end here tonight. We're committed to being thoughtful neighbors and long-term partners here. And I thank our neighbors for making us better Muslims and caretakers of our neighborhood. Help us build trust, foster belonging, and strengthen our neighborhood together. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right, Anas. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Anas. I've been an engineer at Google for the past eight years and oversee their financial operations. I serve on the board of directors at WVMA, but today I'm here on a personal capacity. Dr. Saher talked about our outreach. I will talk about the actions that we have taken as a result of the feedback that we received. We have prioritized taking action often at our own significant expense based on the feedback we have received from our neighbors. To date, we have executed over 25 specific actions in response to neighbor input in four key areas. One, privacy and noise. We replaced aging fences with new good neighbor wood fences and lattes. in some cases covering the full cost. And we've planted 10 trees to provide natural light and sound barriers. We've even carefully considered the impact from falling foliage during the colder months. Acoustic adjustments. We temporarily removed our 50 our own $50,000 gate track simply to eliminate noise for immediate neighbors while sacrificing the security of our

community. Three, light and traffic. We redirected and dimmed parking lot lights and hired traffic safety guards during Ramadan to ensure an orderly order orderly quiet departure. Proactive communication. We provided neighbors with direct phone and email contact for board members and initiated mid Ramadan check-ins to address any emerging issues in real time. Our commitment to this community is shown in our willingness to adapt. Even holding our Eid holiday prayer off site for the past few years in a cold concrete Velco parking garage to minimize neighborhood impact during our busiest day. At WVMA, being a good neighbor is more than a plight phrase. It is paramount. It is a paramount virtue of our faith. We recognize that for our presence to be a benefit to Losatos, we must not only listen to feedback, but be intentional about executing on it. We are not just asking for a permit modification. We are asking to contribute building a partnership based on transparency, mutual respect, and a proven track record of addressing the concerns of those who live alongside us. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? I do have one. So, it sounds like you you went through four main points of um I guess what feedback you've gotten, some concessions or or changes. It's not really the right word, but changes that you've made following these. Have you had follow-up conversations with your neighbors to discuss the changes, the the landscape, the change in the lighting, um the removal of the gate to see if those have been positive changes and are they making in your opinion progress?

Yeah, I I think like Dr. Sahar said these discussions are always ongoing. So once you know an action is taken it's not like we're we're gone right that feedback loop is still there. The the opportunity to provide feedback is still there. We are constantly knocking on doors. That is a part of just the regular cadence of what we're doing. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Sorry. The next three speakers I have Osman Gaffur, Dr. Omar Ali and Dr. Muhammad Subet. So, Chair Burch, chair Baret, commissioners, my name is Usman Kapur. I am the president of West Valley Muslim Association, but I'm here in a capacity talk in this session here. And I really want to address a question that has surfaced in the public uh discourse, and that is, does this facility belong here on Farley Road in this neighborhood? That question was answered more than 36 years ago. Um, we we searched the archives here at the town and we can actually see evidence of a stamped approval for a 682 seat religious assembly facility with 186 parking uh, spaces at the address at this address in an R18 residential zone with um, that was that came with the application of U8911. The planning staff and commission knew exactly what that meant. hundreds of cars possibly coming in whenever there's service, whether it's evenings, whether it's holy days, um into the property. They approve that and and uh that suitability was a settled matter. so settled that that's what got us to purchase in this property in 2018 where the community invested over 11 million to purchase this facility specifically because that approval existed at that scale for a relig religious assembly. We didn't create this footprint. It was already there. We just relied on the town's own determination when we made that investment. Further to that in 2020 when we um had

the modification in U20001 we explicitly recognized well sorry the the council here the commission um recognize that Ramadan warrants extended hours. Tonight we're asking for a modest extension of that same recognition. But what we didn't have then at the time we have now. We've done a sound survey uh a study by Salta, a qualified acoustical consulting firm which confirms that our use meets all applicable town noise standards. And this is a firm that is so reputable in this area that many many municipalities actually use SLA. These same vehicles making the same sounds that are lawful at 9:00 p.m. remain the same noise standards at 10:30 or 11. The science confirms it. The history of a town supports it. And our right to gather for congressional prayer is not merely a preference. It's a fundamental uh religious obligation that federal law recognizes and protects. The only question tonight is whether that modest further extension creates new impacts. The evidence shows it does not. We respectfully ask for your approval.

Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? Thank you, chair. This is Rob. You probably can't see my hand. I'm so sorry. Nope. Thank you, Mr. Stump. Do you have a question for the speaker?

No problem. Yes. I I did want to ask about the noise study and um it sounds like you've got a pretty good command of this subject. You commissioned a noise study through Salter in early 2025. What time frame does this study cover? So we this was prior to Ramadan if you're if you're asking for that but however it covers all of our fa uh daily prayers. I don't know if we have the exact dates. It covers the juma the Friday prayer which is actually one of our peak times. It covers a the morning prayers and the evening prayers and we also made sure it covered a an event. So yeah, here's the answer here. So it was between January 31st and February 11th. if the study was not done um during Ramadan at all, what what was your thinking? Especially when you would know that as we've already been told tonight that at least this year there were as many as 280 vehicles coming into the neighborhood uh in March on one evening. Um that would seem to be a peak period. again what was the thinking for not doing this noise study uh during Ramadan itself. Okay. So, one thing to be clear, sound science is very different in in terms of it doesn't matter if there's 1,200 cars coming in, which where there never are, or people, but if even if there's uh 600 cars, the same cars go by, right? Whether it's a period of 5 minutes or 10 minutes, the the noise level never goes above the loss uh standards. And that that's something that very clear. So, but just to just to go back on what your question was. Um we we could actually redirect. We do have somebody coming who can actually talk more on the science of this. Um so I've just been alerted he'll be talking

later on. Um but just to just to say that if you remember we applied some time ago. We just wanted to make sure we got this noise study in. We were hoping this had come through before we got to Ramadan. So that was the main reason why we wanted to do this prior to having that prior to Ramadan because I know the neighbors also wanted to have this resolved before Ramadan came in. So that that's the actual direct uh response for that. Uh thank you Commissioner Stump. Do you have any follow-up questions? No. All right. Thank you. Dr. Omar Ali.

Good evening. My name is Omar Ali and I'm a resident of Lascatos. My family chose to move here because of the welcoming culture and diversity that Loscatoos represents. The mosque is an important part of that fabric and is the only mosque serving this area. I was born and raised in Minnesota and later lived in Michigan and Boston. And in each of these communities, I regularly attended mosques and residential neighborhoods and saw firsthand how they can positively contribute to the community life. In Lasgatos, I lived as an immediate neighbor of the mosque. The mo the home that I lived in uh was adjacent to the entrance of the mosque itself. So, I experienced the traffic and activity directly. We would regularly walk to the mosque as a family through the entrance and never felt unsafe. My younger boys would also walk there being mindful of traffic and were able to do so safely. Attendance for the early and late evening prayers were hardly noticeable. During Ramadan, I observed activity that was temporary, predictable, and managed with care. At the mosque, a significant portion of the announcements are about our neighbors and how we can be respectful to them and how we can help mitigate concerns around traffic and noise. That message is consistent and taken seriously by the congregation. In my opinion, the neighbors concerns are being taken seriously and actively addressed. I respectfully ask that the town continue to support reasonable mitigation efforts while allowing the mosque to operate in a way that serves its community. Thank you for your time and service.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker?

Thank you. In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful. Good evening, uh, commissioners. Uh, my name is Muhammad Sub. I'm a local ER doctor here in Los Gatus. And, um, I'm speaking not only as a local doctor here tonight, but as someone whose ability to continue doing my work depends in part on spaces like WVMA. Recently, during a busy ER shift, I took care of a 75-year-old woman who came into the ER with severe abdominal pain. She was, I noticed, more concerned about getting home quickly. So, I asked her why. She told me she's the sole caregiver for her husband who has advanced dementia. After imaging and labs, I discovered she had metastatic ovarian cancer. It was advanced. I knew her time left on Earth was likely short. I took her to a quiet area of our ER and I sat with her, explained the diagnosis and the unfortunate prognosis. She listened quietly. Then she began to cry, not because she was afraid of dying or the pain she was experiencing. Her first words through her tears were, "What will happen to my husband? Who will take care of him when I'm gone?" I held her hand tightly, knowing this was a profound, lifealtering moment for both my patient and her husband. In that moment of connection, I felt helpless. I left the hospital that night emotionally drained. The decision to carry that weight, to share in the grief and the suffering of others is something we do in the ER every single day. But that night, I found myself unable to shake the emotional heaviness. I knew I needed a space to process. So, I drove over to WVMA. I entered the prayer hall, a tranquil space that has become a sanctuary for me. And I sat there in the stillness reflecting on my existence and my mortality. I prayed for my patient. I prayed for her husband. And I put myself

in her shoes and found myself crying from a deep innate need to release the emotions I'd been holding in. It was at that moment I realized how crucial WVMA is. Not just as a place of worship, but as a place of emotional healing, a refuge where we can ground ourselves and confront our grief, our fears, and our pain. By approving the cup, you're recognizing the vital role that spaces like this play in the mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of your community. This space provides comfort and a sense of belonging, especially for those of us who give so much of ourselves to others. It allows us to heal so that we can continue to serve our community and to be there for those who need us most. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? No. All right. Um, I have I believe it's Manel Khan, Amber, and Adam. It says Adam and Amin. So, good evening, commissioners. My name is Menel Khan. I'm a resident of Los Gatos. I am a board member of uh Haven Federal Credit Union. I'm a data scientist and I am a proud member of WVMA. Before moving to Loscatoos, my family and I lived in Mountain View. I remember the day my husband came home and told me about this incredible mosque he just discovered. He described it as a place where people gather, not only to pray, but to reflect, share ideas, and engage in thoughtful conversations. I distinctly remember his saying, "I think we might have we might have found our home." When I came to Los Gataros to see the town for myself, something immediately stood out to me. I saw the banner downtown that reads, "You belong in Loscatoos. For many people, it may simply be a banner, but for our family, it was a promise." Between that message and the community we found at WVMA, that sense of belonging became very real. As a family, that feeling of belonging has inspired us to give back to our community we now call home in numerous ways. One of which is a small Ramadan tradition where our 10-year-old daughter Sophia and I bring cupcakes from icing on a cake to the staff at the Loscatos Library and the staff and teachers at her elementary school, Alta Vista. It's a small way for us to share the spirit of the month and to say thank you

to all the wonderful people who helped make Los Garos such a great place to raise a family. In our faith, some of the most important prayers happen early in the morning and later in the evening. Extending the hours would simply allow our community to practice our traditions in a way that aligns with our faith while continuing to be good neighbors and respectful neighbors. For our family, that banner in downtown that says, "You belong in Loscatoos really meant something. Approving this request would help ensure that promise continues to be real for families like ours. Thank you so much for your time and for your service to Lascatos.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for the speaker? No. Thank you. Amber.

Yeah. Hi commission members and the town of Loscatoos. My name is Amber and I'm so proud to say that I grew up in Loscatos, California. Go Cats. Lost Gatos shaped me as an individual. It was part of my foundation. My first job was at LGSRC as a lifeguard. Later became a swim instructor and then was promoted as a swim coach for their club team. I went on to complete my education at UC Berkeley. And now I'm currently a PM at one of the world's leading cyber security companies. as an athlete who participated in NJB at Calvary Uptown, swam water polo, swam competitively every summer at the high school and even swam club at LGSRC during my adolescent years. And now still very active and a member at Bay Club, uh, Yoga Source, and will do dropins at X2O Studio. If you see me at any of these places, please feel free to say hello. Unless I look like I'm fighting for my life or completely out of breath, let's pretend like we didn't make eye contact. I mention sports because sports and community are deeply connected. They create spaces that teach teamwork, discipline, resilience. It gives people a sense of belonging, which allows them to grow into strong contributing members of society. Sports have been a place where I take care of my body, but WVMA is a place where I nourish my soul. Just like we invest in physical spaces for health and growth, we need spaces that support our sense of belonging, identity, and community. The mosque is just that. It represents belonging and identity, something I did not have growing up, but something that has now made me feel whole. I ask that we continue to support spaces that foster a sense of belonging for all as that has well as that is what Los Gatos has always stood for. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? All right. All right. Yeah. State your name and then if you guys can just make sure you speak into the microphone. Okay. Good evening members of the planning community. My name is Adam and my name is 11 years old and

we are here today to share our experiences growing up in this community and to explain why the WVMA is important to our families and many others. I was born and raised here in Los Gatos. My parents always tell me how lucky we are to live in a town where people care about their neighbors and support each other. Oscaros. This town is where we are learning how to become good members of society. The WVMA is one of the places that helped us grow. It is not only a place where we pray. It is also where we learn about kindness, respect, helping others, and being responsible members of our community. We learn about the teachings of prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad peace be upon them. and how these teachings encourage people to care for others and do good in the world. At WVMA, we also meet friends, attend educational programs, and participate in activities that teach us how to give back through charity and service. This is a place where families come together, and where children like us feel safe and welcomed. And one of the best parts is that they let us play Pokémon and eat ice cream with our friends. Please allow WVMA to continue serving families. Oh, uh, the ice cream of our friends, which makes it even more fun to spend time there. Please allow WVMA to continue serving families in Lascados. It helps many kids grow up with strong values and sense of community. Thank you for listening to us.

Thank you, boys. Do we have any questions? No. All right. I have um Ahmed, Zaffron, Omeay or I think Ali and Zahara.

Good evening, commissioners and fellow neighbors. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. My name is Dr. Ahmed Zaffron. I'm a practicing clinical anesthesiologist and entrepreneur in our community. You'll often find me at a bustling surgery center down the street taking care of patients. I've been honored to take care of medical and surgical patients in Lascatos for the past 14 years. Initially at Stanford serving surgical cancer patients, then with Palo Alto Medical Foundation focusing on women's health and now in private practice. My days are quite long, often 14 plus hours, typically starting before the sun rises and ending long after it sets. This is time away from family, so WVMA is often my first stop before work and my lo my last stop before heading home. It's a rigorous and demanding schedule and accordingly I need a refuge, a safe haven of worship where I can seek spiritual and emotional strength. West Valley Muslim Association is that place for me. From seeking comfort and centering myself to start the day to breaking bread with fellow worshippers late into the evening, WVMA consistently fills my cup with joy and peace and the motivation to take better care of my patients. What I gain at WVMA directly improves my well-being and subsequently improves patient care. I know that after a long day at the hospital, I can count on WVMA to be a place of solace and tranquility for me. It is full of loving, comforting, diligent, and warm-hearted people that

earnestly seek to serve the community. I am grateful for that because not all communities have that privilege. I certainly don't take it for granted and I feel a strong sense of pride, urgency, and peace sharing that with you tonight. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker?

Miss Millah, good evening, commissioners. My name is Omar Ali and I've been a Sunday school teacher at WVMA for the past three years, which has been one of the worst decisions of my mental health and self-esteem because I teach teenagers. Just a few weeks ago, a student asked me to take off my glasses so they'll see what I look like. And the moment I did, she said, "Ew, you can put them back on." Which I did. I have not recovered since. My morning affirmations no longer help me. But what has helped me is this community. It's the moments after the early morning prayers, sipping coffee with other parents, talking about life, our teenage kids, back pain, and what it's like to be born in the 1900s. That's what WVMA is for us. And that's why the morning and evening prayers are so important to us. They're not just rituals. They're anchors in our day. They give us a place to reconnect, reflect, and build real relationships with people trying to be better parents, neighbors, and members of this community. As someone who works closely with youth, I try to instill one thing above all, empathy and respect. Respect for others, including our neighbors. And I try to live that myself. I have a 700 horsepower BMW sitting at home that I have not bring to the mosque because I know it will disturb the neighbors. So, I adjusted. I now drive a Tesla. And honestly, a lot of us in this room do too because we care. We listen. We adapt. Last year, I took my students to meet our neighbors. We dropped off sweets and cars during Ramadan just to introduce ourselves and give some smiles. We are not asking for something unreasonable. We're asking for the ability to observe something deeply meaningful to us in a way that is

already quiet, respectful, and mindful to those around us. WVMA is where I teach my students not just through words, but through actions that being a good Muslim also means being a good neighbor. and I'm grateful to Lascatus for allowing us to be part of this beautiful and diverse community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. There any questions for the speaker? No, Zara. Good evening.

My name is Zara Casam. I live in Lascatos, just a few houses away from the WVMA. I run an educational farm in Pescadero where we teach about regenerative organic farming and ecological restoration as solutions for the challenges facing our climate. Before living in Lascatos, we lived in Oakland where our 7-year-old son was bullied at school. He was targeted because he's Muslim. Sadly, a very common problem for Muslim students these days. The situation got so bad that his mental health suffered and we ended up moving to Half Moon Bay for a complete change. Living by the beach was lovely, but there was no mosque and we felt disconnected from our faith community. We began researching options, visiting mosques all around the Bay Area. When we found the WVMA, we found our home and rearranged our lives to move nearby. The WVMA is a very special place. It's the perfectsized congregation where you can have a diverse community and everyone still knows each other. We have no extended family in the Bay Area, but it feels like we now have the village we need to help raise our children. Because of the WVMA, our son is now thriving. Congregational prayer at the five fixed times of day is the most important part of being a mosque and the primary way we keep connected to our faith. With work and school during the day, the morning and evening prayers are the only ones we can attend. Our Ramadan prayers are also extremely important as this is the month when we focus most on cultivating faith and community. Without morning, evening, and Ramadan prayers, a mosque is not really a mosque anymore. I implore you to allow us to practice our faith freely and to keep our community intact. I

implore you to support a rich and diverse Lascatus. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? All right. The next three speakers are Umar Shahid, uh, Hammed Shahid, I think, and Lucia Contreres. Good evening, members. My name is Omar Shahid and I'm a student in the seventh grade. I am a young Muslim who's proud to call WVMA my local mosque. You may ask, how does a small building of this size bear this much importance to a young child like me? Well, this is where I can work on my relationship with God. Every single time I come to WVMA, I learn something new about my faith, what it means to be Muslims, the blessings that God has given us, and how we should share those gifts and blessings we've been given with those less privileged in society. These learnings help me. And as my father said when I was a much smaller kid, small steps, big progress. I'm sure you guys love hanging out with your friends. For me, there's no way there's no better way to start the day and end the day than seeing the smile on my friend's face. WVMA is the perfect place for that. Another thing I love about WVMA is oftent times after the daily morning prayer before sunrise and the daily nightly prayer there's lectures, talks, activities, food which is a lot of fun. I learn a lot of things from these and I have a good time. In short, it is the best place to learn to enjoy connect to God. My father takes me to the nightly prayers every day and whenever given the opportunity, given that I don't have school, I go to the morning prayers as well. I ask for a simple offer to extend the WVMA's nightly hours because within these walls is more than just a building. It's our home away from home. Thank you for listening to my speech.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? No. Thank you. Um Hamid Good evening. My name is Hammed Shahed, a staff engineer at Netflix here at Loskettos. Over the last seven years, I have had led many challenging initiatives that have resulted in significant growth for the business. But here I am in my own capacity as a father. As a father of two beautiful kids, I want my kids to excel in all walks of life. I've always dreamt that my children would be raised in a community that embraces plurality, harmony, and mutual respect. WVMA is a vibrant and welcoming community of diverse Muslims, people of various ethnicities, those who grow up here in the Bay Area and those who choose to move this Mecca of technological excellence. It is a community of achievers, well respected in their disciplines. I've also found WBMA to be a community that embodies and champions social responsibility to be mindful of each other, of the environment, of our neighbors, and to give back to society. It is a perfect community for me to raise my children in. For me and my family, the WMA is more than just a mosque. It is our home away from home. It is a foundational space where my children are learning what it means to be a proud, engaged American Muslim. Within these walls, they aren't just practicing their faith. It's a place where they're building their character as an upright, responsible, and caring member of the society. As a father, there's no greater peace of mind than seeing our youth grow with the understanding they can that they can and must thrive in all walks of professional

and public life while remaining true to their values. For me, the dawn and the night prayers are more than just rituals. They are the anchors that study my day. And I want to pass on this uh discipline to my children as well. Showing them that our days begin and end with a purpose. I urge the planning community to please support the CUP so that WVMA can continue to provide these services to the community. Thank you so much for your consideration.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? No. Thank you. Um, good evening. My name is Lucia Contas. Um, Los Gatos has been my family's home uh for 10 years now with a family of five, my husband, our three kids, and me. I am a teacher at Los Gatos High School where I have been teaching Spanish for the past four years. And uh before that, I spent five years teaching at Fiser Middle School. So being an educator in this town has been such a gift. I get to work with truly amazing students every day, helping them grow to not not just academically but as people. This town has been the heart of both my family life and my professional life for a decade. But as much as I love my work, I know I wouldn't be possible without a solid foundation at home. For my family, WVMA plays a huge part on that foundation. WVMA is where my family comes together. We go there to pray, to celebrate Ramadan, to make memories um that keep us connected to connected to our faith. It's more than just a place of worship. It's where we pass on the traditions and values that are important to us. Kindness, gratitude, and service. These are also the values that I share with my students every day. As a Spanish teacher, I work with students to o open their minds to new perspectives, to appreciate other cultures, traditions, and celebrations, and to understand the important of community. Those same values are nurtured at WBMA, where my family stays connected to our traditions. That connections, that connection makes me a better teacher and a better parent. When

my children feel they belong, they carry that confidence into school, friendship, and their community. That's why I'm here asking for your support in modifying WBMA's operating hours. It's a small change that will allow families like mine to continue living our traditions, staying connected, and contributing to the community we love. Thank you so much.

Thank you. There any questions for the speaker? All right, the next three speakers I have Zayn Zaffron and it looks like there's two names on it. Adil Shahu also and then Leslie Ran and um Aya you can just pull it up too like

good evening everyone my name is Adel and I'm an Eagle Scout from Troop 399 the largest Muslim scout troop in California. When people ask me what scouting gave me, I could talk about the many skills like leadership, responsibility, and service. But more than anything, scouting gave me a sense of belonging. For years, Troop 39 met every single week. Whether it was a meeting, a camp out, or a service project. Then in 2023, our meeting place had burned down. At a time when we were searching for stability, WVMA opened its doors to us. Because of WVMA, our troop still had a place to gather, to grow, and to lead. It became a place for our ceremonies, our mentorships, and the experiences that shaped us. WVMA doesn't just serve as a place of worship. It invests in young people and gives them the space to become leaders. Because of scouting and because of WVMA, I stand before you today first and foremost as a Muslim, as an Eagle Scout, and as a leader committed to serving this community. And I'm proud to pass it to my fellow scout and good friend Zane. Like Ado mentioned, uh my name is Zayn. I'm currently studying biomedical engineering at UC Davis. And I would like to just share a couple things that WMA has done for me. I'm here as somebody whose sha life was shaped by WVMA. WVMA gave me more than a place to be, but it also gave me opportunities to lead. Through the WVMA Youth Council, I learned how to organize, communicate, and serve others, which are skills I carried with me into my high school Bellereman College Prep and skills that I continue to use to this day. During my years serving on the youth council, I was able to help lead events that raised over $5,000 for charity and brought together more than 300 people from across the Lascatus community. That's

the impact of a place like WVMA. It helps young lead young people grow into leaders who strengthen the broader community. I'm grateful to stand here of as an example of that impact. Thank you. Thank you. And I don't think there's any questions. All right. Uh Leslie Ran.

Good evening. I'm Leslie Ran and I'm a retired CPA. After helping build and grow San Jose State University's philanthropic foundation as its COO, I served as CFO for a startup where we were able to realize the dream. When choosing where to settle for my next chapter, I chose Lascatos. Our mosque was key to my decision. As a convert, you often feel that you don't belong anywhere. Our choice to follow this beautiful system, this faith that is more than a religion, separates us from what is comfortable and familiar. In a large mosque, there is so much of everything. It is easy to get lost in your aloneeness. With so many people around you, how do you ask for help? At WVMA, the feeling of figuring things out alone is gone, replaced by members who reach out to me. more a family than an institution. Each person is behind you to help you when you need it, which is a cornerstone of our faith. Our holy book, the Quran, is written in Arabic. After multiple attempts, Arabic didn't come to me. There are interpretations in English, but they don't capture the meaning or the nuance of the language. Ramadan is known as the month of fasting, but in reality, it's the month of the Quran and we fast. Muslims strive to read the entire Quran during the month of Ramadan. An impossibility if one doesn't read Arabic. You can read a transliteration as I was doing last June after morning prayers. A worm a woman heard me struggling to read and told me, "I can teach you to read Arabic. I'm in my late 60s and learning to read

another language with a different alphabet has not been easy." But it made this Ramadan a lot different as now I can slowly read the letters and the words they form and the sentences that I've been listening to being recited for the last two decades of my life. I can't tell you how incredible that feels. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? No.

Good evening. My name is Ya. I'm 12 years old and I'm in the seventh grade. For me, the West Valley Muslim Association is more than just a building. It's a place where people come together, support one another, and build a strong sense of community. During special times of the year, I practically beg my parents to bring me here. Seeing familiar faces, sharing time together, and being a part of something much bigger than myself is a very special aspect of my life. I've been in Girl Scouts Troop 61464 since I was 5 years old. And many of the values I've learned there, including leadership and service, are the same values I've learned to practice in my everyday life. These lessons are helping prepare me to to complete my gold award project in the future and give back to the Loscatoos community in meaningful ways. One activity that has been extra meaningful to me is making blankets for people in need through WVMA. These blankets are donated to people who could use warmth and comfort through hard times. This act of service has taught me that even young people can make a real difference in someone else's life. I have also discovered my love for the arts at WVMA. I started by entering small art contests at the center and was also published in a youth anthem writing journal. I'm planning to organize a poetry night at WVMA so kids like me can share our creativity and ideas. This community has encouraged young people like me to explore their creativity and try new things. My very first performance happened to be here and I remember feeling nervous, but the people around me encouraged me to show bravery and believe in myself. Since then, I've been in four major productions and helped WVMA manage props and stage directions. These experiences have helped me grow confidence, and they're part of the reason I feel comfortable speaking with you today. What matters most to me is having a place where young people feel like they belong. This center creates a space where we can learn, grow, express

ourselves, and feel supported by the people around us. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? Thank you. Um the next I have Dr. Hisham Ununice, um, Maya Ununas and Varmmon say. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Hasham Ununus. I live in Loscatos since 10 years with my wife and our three children. My youngest daughter is a senior at Los Gatos High and our older two sons graduated recently. I'm a healthcare entrepreneur with a PhD in engineering from MIT and I serve as a chief business officer at NRA Health where we help people struggling with obesity improve their health and regain their lives. I also volunteer with the MIT Club of Northern California where for the past nine years I've organized events and conferences that help raise scholarship funds for six underresourced Bay Area students. each year to attend MIT on full scholarship. But what I want to share here tonight is more personal. It's about how WVMA has been essential to our family sense of belonging and growth here in Los. We moved here in 2017 looking not just for good schools, but for a community until a year later when WVMA opened and became that community. It's where we found a space that helped us stay grounded in our values and our faith and helped our children grow in theirs. For our teens, it's a place of connection. They've built real friendships, stayed close to their faith, and had strong role models during the critical high school years. For me, it's where I often go for evening prayers after long work days, a place to reset, to reflect, and to reconnect. And more than that, it's become a place of mentorship and leadership. As someone who works in tech and healthcare innovation, I'm often

approached by young people, students, aspiring engineers, entrepreneurs, many from our own Moscato schools who want advice about careers, startups, or college. We meet in the mosque, sometimes after prayer or at youth events. It's a natural place for mentorship, and it's helped cultivate a new generation of Muslim American leaders who are confident, civic-minded, and ready to give back. That's why I'm asking for your support tonight. We're requesting a simple but meaningful adjustment to the operating hours to allow early morning indoor prayer before sunrise and to extend evening hours just 30 nights a year during Ramadan. Thank you for your time and for supporting a loss that welcomes and grows with all its residents. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? No, thank you. Maya,

good evening. My n my name is Maya and I am a senior at Loscatos High School. My family has been living in Loscatos since 2016. We started to attend the West Valley Muslim Association as soon as we could. When we found out about the Islamic Center beginning to develop in our town, I was thrilled that I'd had the chance to visit the WVMA far more frequently than I was ever able to at other locations because of its vicinity to my house. The WVMA itself has helped me build my strength in my religion in unimaginable ways. After meeting a Muslim friend at school during my freshman year, I helped develop a Muslim student association at school with her and several others. Having met someone who helped me visit the WVMA more frequently, I realized how much I really appreciated every moment I spent there. I've built relationships and expressed myself freely in ways I know I wouldn't be able to achieve had this WVMA, so close to my house, not been established. It's the calmst environment I know, and for me, it provides the truest way to ground myself. As a student in high school, the stress of school is overwhelming and oftentimes highly intense. A lot of the stress I feel daily fades when I'm at the WVMA. For me and many, many others, increasing the operating hours at our safe place is very important. The opportunity to gather there, whether it be for late night prayers during the month of Ramadan or for other events, is impactful. My dad goes nearly every day to the WVMA, and it's comforting to see him go to practice our religion with other Muslims, meet people, and interact. I know if we didn't have this chance, we'd be spending a lot more time at home where we aren't social and aren't being an active part of a community. When I'm alone, or even when I'm overly stressed with school work, I can always find a sense of comfort with an easy and convenient visit to the WVMA. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions for the speaker?

Thank you. Good evening, honorable members of the committee. My name is Farman Sed. I'm a technology executive of over 25 years in Silicon Valley. I hold degrees from both UC San Diego and Duke University and I'm proud to call this area my home. My wife is a personal trainer who runs a small local business and both of my children were born just down the road at Good Good Sam Hospital. I came to the South Bay with my family when I was just 6 years old and we have lived here for over four decades. When I was growing up, the Muslim community had few natural gathering places. As a result, I grew up feeling that I was different and sadly was embarrassed of my Muslim faith amongst friends who are almost all non-Muslim. Now though, my heart beams with how this area has grown so inclusive and beautiful. In the 40 years that I've been part of this community, many local mosques have opened, but none is dearer to me than WVMA. WVMA is not just where I come to pray. It's where I come to meet friends for coffee on weekends. Where my wife has taught fitness classes to women who have no gyms that serve their need for privacy and where my children have attended Sunday school not just to learn about their faith but to learn to normalize it. WVMA has always sought to be a place for kindness and inclusivity and that includes with our neighbors. In fact, my own non-Muslim neighbor has joined us to attend multiple events at WVMA just because she sees the joy on the faces of the children here. My own father, who helped build many community centers across the bay, still asks me to bring him to WVMA from Palo Alto during Ramadan just because he loves the intimate nature of praying there. Now, I'm not asking this community to help me drive my dad from Palo Alto. I'll continue to take care of that myself. But I am asking for to provide the accommodation for WVMA to allow early morning prayer before sunrise for 1 hour extra in the evening just during the month of Ramadan. These

seemingly simple adjustments would make a world of difference for those Muslims in this area who like me growing up are simply looking to find their community. I thank you deeply for your consideration.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right. Our next three speakers are um Robbie I believe it's Akawi Deri Soua and Musa Abasi. Good evening. Uh my name is Robbie Kawi. I'm an engineering scientist with a PhD in electrical engineering from University of California. I dedicated over 10 years of my life uh designing next generation memory devices. Then took a sbatical to help my wife grow her business. uh kits atier which is actually headquartered right here in Los Gatos 210 north Santa Cruz today it's uh a national business with 16 locations and over 200 people 12 of which are actually working out of downtown Los Garos uh more importantly I'm actually a father of uh two girls and Telen both did all their education here in Los Garos uh school district and both captain the varsity tennis team um at Los Gatus High School actually taking them to a 13- win streak last year finals in CCS both absolutely love WVMA so our passion to this beautiful town um not only because of how whimsical and beautiful it is and we reflected that in actually the the fashion collection my wife designs every single collection is named after a street in Los Garos Today we sell in over 75 countries and the story of the brand is a brand from Los Gatus. So the day Vogue magazine will highlight a brand from Los Garos is coming soon hopefully. So um our love to the town although we loved the town prior to WVMA but as a minority once you know that you have a place to belong to

it was really boosted. So it actually made it complete. We no longer have to drive to Saratoga or to MCA which are the other places where there are mosques. So it just feels so beautiful to belong in the community where we dedicated our professional and family lives. We want to continue to grow in Los Gatos. We want to continue to go to call Los Gatos home. And um we just feel that it's just an amazing feeling to be embraced by a town that we've we've given so much to and we will continue to give. Um the ask is very clear. It's very humble, but it means a lot to every single one in this room to be embraced more importantly by our neighbors and then our extended neighbors and by the majority of the town. We add so much value and we will continue to add value to this town. So we would love to be just reciprocated with the love and passion we show to this town. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Deari Sa. I'm a mom, wife, and business owner living and walking in Los Garus since 2008. I've been serving this community with dedication and gratitude. All three of my children were born and attended the schools in Los Garus. Their friendships, education, and social lives are deeply rooted in this town. I'm also a convert to Islam. I've been to different community centers in Los Garus and want to point out why in today's time it is so important for any family to have WVMA in Los Garus. Number one, because with WVMA children can connect with other children, share the faith of their parents and feel at home in a community gathering space. Number two, with WVMA, there is a local religious leader to guide, answer questions, and offer support. Number three, with WVMA, there is a place for charitable donations, social service, and community outreach. Number four, with WVMA, Friday prayers, a central part of our week, have a home. Number five, with WVMA, we find the joy and communal beauty of celebrating our holidays like AID. Just as other houses of worship offer meaning and belonging for their families, a mosque does the same for our Muslim families. Number six, with WVMA, we can fully practice Islam.

Finally, WVMA is more than a place of worship. It is a hub for education, communication, problem solving, and community building. It empowers our children to feel connected to, confident in, and responsible for their community, especially when that community is also their birthplace. with WVMA. This town feels complete. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? Thank you.

Good evening, town council. My name is Musa Bessie and I'm a student at Los Gatos High School. I live just down the street from WVMA. So, I'm not only a resident of Los Gatos, but of this neighborhood as well. When I first moved here as a freshman, adjusting to a new school and environment was challenging. Around that time, something happened in my personal life that made me reflect deeply on my faith. I realized that being born into a religion was not enough. I needed to find it for myself. During Ramadan of my freshman year, I began spending a lot of time at WVMA. I prayed, read our holy book, the Quran, and reflected for hours each day. Some days I spent more time at the mosque than at my own home. Walking there, being a part of the community that welcomed me without judgment, and witnessing the care and support around me transformed WVMA into a sanctuary. It became the one place where I could truly feel at peace and grounded no matter what challenges I faced outside its walls. Over time, I also worked with my sister to help establish an MSA, Muslim Student Association, at our school, creating a space where Muslim students could connect with their faith and support one another. Since my sister has graduated, I have become the president of the MSA. This role has allowed me to bring what I learned at WVMA into the school community, giving others a place to grow in their faith. WVMA has also allowed me to support friends in their own journeys. Some of my Muslim friends at school were trying to strengthen their understanding of their faith, and I was able to help them learn things like how to pray and begin reading the Quran. When I brought them to the mosque, the community welcomed them and helped guide them as well. Seeing them find support and a sense of belonging strengthened my own sense of purpose and connection. WVMA has not only been a place for me to grow in my faith, but also a space where I've learned leadership, empathy, and responsibility. It shaped me as a student, as a member of my school community, and as someone who can give back. Being able to practice my faith and help others do the same has been life-changing. Approving the conditional use permit adjustments will allow WVMA to continue serving as a safe and accessible space for reflection, prayer, and community support. Extended hours

for early morning and evening use are especially important for students like myself. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. There any questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you. Um our next I think I have three. Um Dale Gustoson, Miriam Farooq, and uh Natada Atar. Good evening and my name is Dale Gustiffson and I'm the pastor at Calvary Church in Lascatus as well as the chaplain for the Lasatus Police Department. I'm encouraging you to support the requests of the WVBMA to expand their traditional use permit, ours to accurately support the historical faith practice, one that goes significantly deeper than the man-made schedules of our society. But they are actually connected to the rhythms of the natural world. Something that we cannot control or regulate no matter how often we have tried. A gathering of a faith community is not just a scheduled event. It is a central expression of faith. Practices like prayer, worship, and seasonal observances don't always fit neatly within limited time windows. Expanding these hours would allow them to practice their faith and belief to the fullest. Places of faith quietly strengthen our town each and every day. They do so by caring for people in crisis, supporting families, mobilizing volunteers, and building community. They don't just serve their members. They reduce strain on public systems, and help create a healthier, more connected town for everyone. This request is not about growth for its own sake. It's about freedom for people

to practice faith in a way that aligns with their tenants of their beliefs. A faith community needs the ability to fully express its beliefs, not just privately, but together and in rhythm with its practices. And when that happens, people are more grounded, they're more connected, and they're better able to contribute positively to the wider community of Lasis. Thank you. Question with Commissioner Bernett.

Yes, thank you. Um, so could you tell me your hours? What are your for your church, Calvary, when when is the earliest morning hour that you have congregants come? And what is the latest hour that um you're Yeah, we have time within our cup that with the exceptions that we can have people within our building past 10:00. It depends what we're doing. We submit it to the town. We have up to 30 different times where we can do that. Um but we but most of our hours are within the time frame of town hours, but we do have extensions.

And what would be the your earliest morning hour? the earliest morning that we would have people come and gather under one of the exceptions probably 7 to 7 a.m. or so. Thank you, pastor. Um, chair stop. Sorry, new question. Um, yes, pastor. I know over the years that Calvary has had, you know, issues that neighbors have um, you know, raised and Calvary has addressed them. Um, could you just address what some of those issues were and how Calvary went about addressing them with the neighbors?

There's been a lot.

Yeah, I would say that how we address them with the neighbors, we we strive to be in good communication with them always. I think whenever there's an exception to what we need to do, we try to communicate it quickly. Some of our restrictions have been where we warm up our buses, where we load our buses. So, we try to move them and move them to the front of our building. Um, even though they're uh it's been at a risk for us at times we do those things. We are incredibly limited and how we use a major section of our church though. It's a parking lot and we can only use it under extreme care and situations. We've done so because that's what the neighbors to get our cup solidified um in early 2000s. So that is also we do that just to maintain and even though we often are engaging with neighbors over the walls and sitting on the roofs when we host town events like the uh safety commissions and things we still say you know we just try to communicate best we can. So that's the best way we do it. Um and we are in a firstname basis with all our neighbors. So that's we do our best. We just do our best.

Appreciate it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Miriam.

Good evening. My name is Miriam Frug. I'm an occupational therapist working with students with special needs in the Loscato Saratoga Union High School District. I'm also a resident of Loscatoos. My husband and I moved here nearly three years ago with our daughter and we now have another baby on the way. I grew up in a small town in Long Island, New York, very similar to Loscatoos and just minutes from our local mosque. It wasn't just a place of worship. It was where families gathered, where children grew up together, and where a real sense of belonging existed. As I became a mother, I hoped my children would grow up with that same sense of community. Before moving to Los Gatos, we lived in South San Jose and PaloAlto. They were wonderful places, but they ne we never quite found that feeling, that kind of place where community naturally forms and families connect. When my husband first showed me the listing for the home we live in now, one of the first questions I asked was, "How far is the mosque? Because after living in other parts of the bay, I knew that was a piece that had been missing." When we found WVMA, everything changed. WVMA has become a second home for my daughter where she has made friends and is experiencing the same sense of belonging I had as a child. It's also where I've met people who started as neighbors and friends, but have truly become like family. As an occupational therapist, I spend my days helping students feel supported and included in their community. During Ramadan, especially spaces like WVMA show how powerful that sense of belonging can be for families. WVMA is one of the reasons Loscatos truly feels like home for us. I respectfully ask the council to support the cup so this community space continue can continue to serve families like mine for years to come. Thank you for your time. Are there any questions for the speaker? No. Thank you. Nada.

Good evening. My name is Nadar. I'm a Los Gaton, a mother and a tenure professor at San Jose State University. I live six minutes from the WVMA. Truthfully, I bought a house in Los Gatos because of WVMA. WVMA is very special. It has a uniquely warm and inviting ambiencece where anyone new is immediately embraced by the community. It's also a place of a quiet solace for me personally, especially during the morning prayer from the from an otherwise hectic and busy lifestyle. It's really important to me that the WVMA continues to operate especially at the time of the morning prayer. I'm a mother to twin six-year-old girls. They will start first grade at the local public elementary school and are already regulars at local institutions for fencing, gymnastics, reading and so forth. But they are also students at the WVMA learning about their identity, religion, and how to grow to be upright and contributing members to the Losgotten community. Their closest friends are also members of the WVMA and they often come to it during the evening. It's therefore important to my children that the WVMA operates during the evening prayers. Professionally, I'm proud to be an educator in service of the community at the closest state university to to Losatos. Many past and current students from the Losatos High School study and do research with me. I see this as a way to give back to the Losatus community that has welcomed me as a resident. SJSU has also benefited from WVMA. They have invited the imams to campus many times and I often see my students

here at WVMA. WVMA is not just a religious space but a critical art ready for cultural and educational activities for Los Gatos. WVMA needs your support. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you. The next three are Fuzia Babar, Ahmed and Sama Farat. And following these three, we will be taking another break. Good evening. My name is Fosia Bober. I lived in um Los Scottos for over six years. Uh my two kids attended St. Mary's. They spent their childhood at Lolli and Pops and at WVMA. During that time, I also served as vice president at Avive Solutions. Avive is a medtech company building the first and only 911 integrated AED designed to get life-saving saving care to people during a sudden cardiac arrest. Before that, I spent eight years working in hospitals. So, I've spent a large portion of my career thinking about real world problems and what would or wouldn't be detrimental to public health and safety. I've seen firsthand that what happens in critical moments of public health and safety matters often depend on what a community already has put into place. After we received our FDA approval in 2022, the very first organization to purchase an AED wasn't a school or a corporate campus. It was purchased by the leadership at WVMA right here in Los

Gatoos and it is affixed in our prayer hall. Every time I walk into the prayer hall, I'm reminded how WVMA showed us what it means to lead by investing in something that could save a life, not just for the people inside of the building, but for anyone in the surrounding community who might need it. Because when an emergency happens, it doesn't ask where you are. It happens wherever you are, ready or not. In those moments, every minute matters. So, the real question becomes, will help arrive in time or will somebody nearby already be ready to act? With a connected AED, WVMA leadership has made that choice to be ready, not just for themselves, but for the community and its vicinity. This is what safety looks like and this is what leadership looks like. When the unexpected happens, as it always does, wouldn't you feel comforted knowing that help is right there in your own community? Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? All right. Thank you. Amen. Good evening honorable member of commissioners. My name is Ahmed Mimm. I spoke to you today not just as resident but as a deeply rooted in this community. I'm a I'm very proud to be on two homes here and two clinics in Los Gatus. And for the record I have only one WVMA. For more than 20 years our family has proudly called Los Gatus home. Our three children were born and raised here. Our son Adam, our twin daughters Alexandria and California. Yes, her name is truly

California. Who attended Dave's Avenue and Elementary School in uh Van Meter. I have a privilege to monitor the next generation of healthcare profession in our two clinic as associate professor at UCSF. When my wife moved here for here from Brazil, we choose Los Gatus to plant our root and we found home. We found always felt strong connection to this town which as I many know is was the base for the 1994 Brazilian team winning team. We wish our US team all the best in this coming World Cup. Our love for this town history led us to open a small free dental history museum downtown loss gatus from 2010 to 2015. It's our way to giving through education and community engagement. A center like WVMA is strengthen the fabric of Los Gatus by bringing families together and encouraging the spirit of community services. WVMA is a vital part of the family life. After a long day at work, when my children ask me to go out, it's a safest place and closest place to our home, attending the final evening prayer. At this mosque has become a peaceful grounding tradition for us. Because of our face tradition and family schedule often extend to the evening, I respectly ask the committee to approve the extension of the use of the permit hours and I sincerely appreciate your time and thoughtful consideration for this request. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Selma and I'm currently a college student at UC Davis. In the past couple of years, WVMA has played a very critical role in shaping my leadership and sense of responsibility. During my high school years, I completed my Eagle Scout project for the highest rank of scouting by building a storage shed for the mosque. What made that experience Especially meaningful is that WVMA was the only mosque that gave me the opportunity to take on that project and lead it with over 20 other community members from start to finish. That experience wasn't just about construction. It was learning how to lead, how to organize, and how to give back to a community that believed in me and trusted me with that responsibility as a high schooler. During that project, I also had the opportunity to grow in another very important way. Some of our neighbors shared concerns about noise and disruption, and I'm genuinely grateful for that feedback. I immediately took the feedback into account, shifting our working hours and using quieter tools. It taught me how to listen, how to adapt, and how to be more mindful of the people around me as a leader. I learned that leadership isn't just about completing a project. It's about being responsive, being respectful, and minimizing negative impact on others. This is what WVMA represents to me. A place that actively builds leaders. It provides young people like me with the structure, the mentorship, and the opportunities to serve, helping us grow into individuals who are thoughtful, who are accountable, and committed to contributing beyond just ourselves. Today, as I continue my education, I carry these skills into my work on campus. in the organizations I'm a part of, the leadership roles that I take on, and the way that I engage with others. I respectfully ask you to support the proposed modifications to WVMA's operating hours so that this space can continue providing opportunities like the one that I was given in high school. Opportunities that develop young leaders who contribute meaningfully and responsibly to the laws

community. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? We are going to take a quick break, but before I lose your attention, somebody lost a bracelet up here on the floor. It's a really beautiful gold bracelet. I'm going to leave it sitting here so somebody can claim it and and through the chair. Those of you who are patiently waiting on Zoom, we still have a number of cards here in the room. Um and then we will provide an update later, but um we do see your hands raised. We're just trying to get through the cards in the room. Thank you, Mr. Pollson. We'll be back in about 10 minutes.

Hello. All right, everybody. We still have quite a few to go. So, I'm going to keep going through them in threes. Um, it's been really helping that you guys have been lining up and queuing up like that. Thank you. Um, so I think we'll keep doing that. It'll help us to keep moving through quickly. Um, my first three are Naimaden, uh, Shavon Blandon, and Muhammad Harim. Good evening, members of the planning commission. My name is Naimad Dean and I am the co-owner of Ken's Coffee Roasters and we run Ken's Coffee Bar on Lee Avenue in Lascatos. Our outdoor coffee bar serves as a local small business that the neighborhood cherishes as a place to get their daily coffee drink, a pit stop on their morning dog walks, or a meet up to catch up with friends. On the days when our coffee shop is closed for maintenance or staff breaks, we will get frantic messages from the locals asking when we'll reopen because they need their kens. We feel gratified to serve local residents who have been phenomenal in their support through continued patronage. Ken's Coffee Bar has become a fabric of the Loscatoos neighborhood and one of the main reasons we chose Loscatoos to open our coffee shop is because of its close proximity to WVMA. Recently, our coffee shop was a target of anti-Islam and anti-Arab hate given our ownership of the business. It began with coordinated negative online reviews

and eventual vandalization of our premises, labeling us as terrorists. I was shaken when I woke up to this news and the first people I reached out to was our community at WVMA. After I checked out the shop to make sure everything was okay, I drove straight to WVMA and prayed and then checked in with my friends there. When acts like this happen, it helps to have our community there to support us. And I have never felt more grateful to have the WVMA there as our support. And that is the beauty of the WVMA. It brings people, it brings people to the beautiful town of Lascatoss and becomes an extension of the community that we foster in Loscatoos. We are lucky to be able to provide that for the community here and we hope that the town continues to celebrate this as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you. Good evening. My name is Siobhan Blandon. I'm a data scientist at Intel. But this is a love story. When my family moved to California almost 14 years ago, we came without attachments. So, we explored communities from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Loscatoos called us home. In the following years, my four children have grown up in the Lascatos schools. My two oldest recently graduated from Loscatos High School. My two youngests are currently at Fiser. We spent 10 consecutive years at Dave's Avenue. While there, I served on the home and school club board. My husband served on the financial advisory committee. Being part of the Lascatoos community has been an incredible blessing, but not without challenge. At times, my children have struggled to fully embrace their multicultural identity, being teased for having Arabic names for or for fasting during Ramadan. So when WVMA was established in Lascatos, I was so thankful for the fundamental message it sent to my children. We belong here. Over the years, we've attended so many activities at the mosque. One of our favorites was improv classes that we attended as a family. Ramadan, though, is the most important time of year for our family. At home, we slow down as much as possible. We spend time reflecting on our faith and our values. We prepare special foods to break our fast. In the e during the day, we endeavor to patiently fast while working, going to school, and honoring our commitments. In the evening, attending prayers at WVMA is absolutely a highlight. We pray for our families. We pray for

our communities. We pray for our government. We pray for peace. I didn't grow up Muslim and first fell in love with Islam during Ramadan. So to fully share this experience with the loves of my life, my husband and my children, and the community that we love, Loscatoos, is something I cherish. Please approve the accommodation for extended prayer hours and reinforce the message to our children that we fully belong here. Please let us pray. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions for the speaker? Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Muhammad. I am a husband, a father of four, and an active member at WVMA. I also work in tech here in Silicon Valley. And like many others in this area, my life is fast-paced, demanding, and over often overwhelming. Before moving here, I spent years on the East Coast and globally. But Silicon Valley is different. It's uniquely intense. It's a place where people are constantly chasing deadlines, promotions, and wealth. And while that drive builds innovation, it also creates stress, burnout, and at times a very toxic place of pace of life. I see it every day in my co-workers, exhaustion, pressure, and a constant sense of running without pause. And yet, they often ask me something surprising. Muhammad, how do you always have this energy, this calm, this positivity? The answer is simple. It's WVMA. It's the rhythm it gives my life through prayer. The night prayer is where I go to unload to empty everything I've been carrying, the stress and the backlog of the day. It's where I reset so I can go home with peace. And the morning prayer is where I recharge before all the chats, emails, and meetings. I start grounded, focused, and intentional. It really sets the tone for everything that follows. This balance does not just help me, it also shapes my family. My wife and my children love WVMA. through its programs and community. They

are growing with a sense of belonging, purpose, and values that are hard to find elsewhere. Because of WVMA, we don't just live here. We feel alive here. We feel connected. We feel that our lives have a meaning beyond just work and routine. That's what these prayers provide. Not noise, not disruption, but grounding, healing, and purpose. I respectfully ask for your support so families like mine can continue to live balanced and meaningful lives. Thank you. And I respectfully ask for at this point to give the opportunity to our neighbors. So hopefully we can potentially change the order of the cards.

Yeah, I just they're stacked in the order they came, but I think that they're that's coming if I could see some of them. So yes, thank you.

There any questions for the speaker? All right, our next three speaker cards are Nahed Bora, uh, Razi Mohiring, and Jim Rackcliffe. Good evening, commissioners. Um, my name is Nahid War. Professionally, I'm a product leader at Google where I've been serving for past 10 years and I focus on protecting users um, uh, around the globe. Um and I bring the same level of professionalism as a board of trustee at WVMA where I also have served as a treasurer um and a chair of endowment for past 5 years but today I'm speaking on a personal basis. What I want to do is our faith in particular teaches us to be respectful to our neighbors. It's our fundamental duty. It's a core principle. It's not a cliche. It's a core principle. And I think one of the things it's repeated again and again 30 days in Ramadan this past month. We need to take care of our neighbors. And we recognize the challenge between taking care of the congregation's religious obligations and also respecting the rights of our neighbors. It's a hard problem and we welcome the opportunity to try to problem solve this in a respectful manner. To that effect, this Ramadan and past couple Ramadans, we have implemented major changes and I'm going to talk about three big ones. The first one is prayer. The second one is processes and the third one is people. First one the prayer.

Our religious scholar he talked about the need of praying the full Quran during those each night every day one uh one chapter of the Quran every night. We got a relig religious exemption to make it half. That's a big deal. It's a religiously very big deal and everybody here who goes and wants to pray and listen to that whole Quran. The second is the process we changed. We had the radar at on the Los Gados Boulevard so that the people who are driving to can slow down. We had guards who are taking care of the traffic management. We also had um both the drivers during the exit. And as a engineer originally that's multipprocessing right there exit and entry at the same time at night. Uh and the people we reached out to Losatus police to make sure that we are doing the right thing. We also reached out to neighbors again and again to make sure that we are listening and we got really positive feedback. And then repeatedly we told the members of our community to say that hey make sure you are car pooling make sure you are uh not driving fast and you leave quietly after the prayers. At the end of the day what I want to conclude on is that we request uh the uh the committee to approve the cup please. Thank you.

Thank you. Um don't leave yet. Are there any questions for the speaker? I I have one. Yes. Um, so the first um that you talked about was prayer and I had a note that from earlier that the the standard is 20 prayers in a night. That's right. So is what you're saying is you guys now have an exemption to do 10. No. How does that work to how does that relate to us to like timing or whatever?

Yeah, it's a good question. So you have so there are either you can pray 20 but in each prayer how much Quran you read is you can decide and ideally speaking what happens is that uh you can reduce the amount of content that that is being read. Ideally speaking you would try to finish that chapter within those 20 prayers. If you cannot then you are actually not finishing. Actually there is a celebration on the 27th night. That's why there are a lot of people who go to the masid and I think the traffic problem exist. You know why? Because we finish Quran and at that finish that's a culmination of reading the whole chapter and everybody comes and celebrates. That's a big deal and that kind of shows the emphasis that people do care a lot about completing that whole 30 chapters.

Okay. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. Um, I think the next was uh Rozie. No, cherry. I think they my card may have been recited. You got it twice, didn't you? Sorry, I didn't even pick up on that. Uh, Jim Ratcliffe. And then the next is Michelle S.

Hi, I'm Jim Rcliffe. I'm the next door neighbor to the facility. Uh thank you planning commission for uh reading all the documents and doing the videos and conducting site visits. I know that was pretty labor intensive. Um I was born and raised in Loscatoos. Uh raised two sons here. Uh both my wife and I went to Fiser and Loss High. Um my two sons went to Van Meter and Fiser and Losto High. Uh we've lived in our home for 26 years and it's been great. We love the neighborhood. Um but in the last two to three years, it's been um difficult. Uh we've been asking the town to help deal with uh the increased uh activity at the facility, the unsafe neighborhood streets, the constant code violations without any help. Um, I've had to, uh, call Los Scuttles PD and document multiple violations to get it on record. Uh, I've had to download videos of, uh, curfew violations, submit it to the town. This is very labor intensive. Um, but nothing has changed in the behavior of the facility. Uh, no repercussions from the town. The town seems to be ignoring this. Um, the town has a duty to protect the public safety for the residents. Why am I doing the town's job? I'm not a police officer. I'm not a u uh, you know, someone that's conducting uh, violations. I'm a podiatrist. I have worked in this community for three decades serving the community. I love my job. I love helping people. Why isn't the town helping me? Um, this didn't have to happen. Uh, my

wife and I have met with the founder and the leadership of the facility three times over the past two years. We came up with some suggestions, some solutions, some compromises. We asked for some compromise. Nothing. He he denied every one of them. Um, is that what a good neighbor does? Don't we aren't we supposed to work things out? Um, now the facility wants to expand their hours. That's going to be a very big hardship. We have older patients, older older residents with chronic health conditions that's going to affect their sleep. It's it's documented people need eight hours of sleep a day for for to maintain their health. We have people with diabetes, chronic pain. Please do the right thing and deny the spontification. I know the the members of the facility love the neighborhood. Let me love the neighborhood. Thank you.

No. Yeah, don't leave yet. I think there are going to be questions. Uh, Commissioner Sorty, so you mentioned code violations. Can you provide a little more background about what code? You mentioned curfew. I think I don't curfew during Ramadan, curfew during uh uh they've done um construction on the weekends. Uh it's been exhausting. Was it documented and submitted to the town as a multiple times? It's I I'm like unvisible. Has do you have any dates on the construction or that the town has everything? You've got all the correspondence. Paul's got it. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. And then you you mentioned compromises that you suggested that were rejected. Can you list? We we talked about the shuttle. We talked about uh car pooling, different parking strategies. Um we're reasonable people. We I've lived here my whole life. Um this has been really disturbing for the from from my point of view from the town. The town has just abandoned me.

Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Stump, you're on mute, Rob. I know you're still on mute. Let me start that over again. Thank you. Cliff, um, thank you for your, um, comments this evening. I wanted to ask you about curfew violations during Ramadan. What is your understanding of the curfew currently during Ramadan? They need to exit the building by 11 p.m.

And and what does that mean to exit the building by 11 p.m. It just means that no car should be exiting the the complex at that time. And this year they they violated that.

Okay. Um, Commissioner Sordy may have asked uh this question, but you had mentioned that you've proposed a number of compromises. Obviously, one of them around parking and potential for car pooling, shuttle, other maybe off-site parking options. Um, what else, Mr. Ratcliffe, have you uh suggested to um the community? Um there could be something like permit parking. Um because Farley Road is a street without sidewalks, limited lights. When they have parks cars parked on both sides of the streets, there's people walking down the street in the middle of the street. That is not safe. I I don't understand why the town is not um recognizing this. This is this is not safe for the members. It's not safe for the for the for the neighborhood.

Um chair, one last question if I might. Mr. Ratcliffe, you mentioned you've lived there for 26 years and I'm assuming at this point in time, if my math is correct, that you had experience with the prior religious institution that was located there. Yes. What sort of issues did you have with that institution? None. I never had to call LGPD or report a compliance a violation in the whole time that they were there. Mr. Rackcliffe, thank you. Commissioner Bernett.

Yes. Thank you. Um, do you know is uh are they is their current CUP in compliance with No, they have people coming in early in the morning um is as early as 5:30 in the morning and this really affects my neighbor down the street. Um, and uh, in my understanding, they're not supposed to be coming in before 8:00 a.m. So, the present cup, they're out of compliance with for 3 years. Yes.

Vice chair. So my understanding is from the prior comments that um the WVMA has encouraged its congregant members to carpool uh as an ongoing effort to uh assuage the neighbors and is that something that you find insufficient and if so why? Well, it's it's still if they've been car pulling um it's not really working because there's there's still tremendous amount of cars parked on our streets. And again, I can't emphasize enough when you have cars parked on both sides of Farley Road, people have to walk in the middle of the street to get to the facility. There's videos documenting all this. It's it's very unsafe.

Yeah. A followup was um could you you know articulate give us an idea of what kind of a car poolool condition you would like in the conditional use permit?

Um well well it would be just be efficient if they could get as many people in a car as possible. they only have 180 parking spaces. Um I I would propose uh you know limiting the parking to 180 in the in the facility and then having some sort of a permit parking on Farley Road um just to give us a little bit of respit especially during Ramadan. Okay. Thank you very much. Any further questions? Thank you, Michelle.

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to address the council today. Excuse me, the commission. As a child of an immigrant parents, I understand the importance of belonging. My parents instilled in me to treat others as you wish to be treated. Respect individuals and practice kindness. My father always had an extra space at the table for friends, for family, and for strangers. Throughout my life, I have been blessed with a culturally rich life and a career. And as such, I've been enriched with working with many diverse colleagues, finding appropriate settings for my Muslim co-workers during business trips in order for them to pray while away from their home and participating in strategically important meetings was very, very special to me. I respectfully ask that my sanctuary, my home provides me with the solace that I need without having me to go to a place of worship. It's just as sacred to me. The town's approval for a religious facility came with the disclosures about the hours. The Muslim religion has been around for a long time and I respect that and all the tradition that comes with it. but asking the neighbors in a quiet environment to bear the burden of the oversight of WVMA's purchase decision and investment for a facility that would not support critical hours necessary for five daily prayers and 30 days of Ramadan should not constitute our neighborhood changing the culture and character that we've enjoyed for

over 30 years. My home is my version of a mosque and the ability to rest peacefully, mentally nourish my soul and physically thrive during quiet hours to support obtaining my nirvana in life is important. This is what supports the rhyth the rhythm of basic human needs for me like sleep. Adding an additional 1,962 hours with the current cup application is ownorous for the residents. I would like to say that this is not about religious use. It's about land use, the intensity and compatibility which you were required to evaluate under the town code section 292190. the real word the real world impacts and intensification are are going to impact the well-being of our people in our neighborhoods and our community. So, I hope we can find a way to resolve this together.

Thank you. Are there any questions? Commissioner Stump. Shar, once again, I would speak up. Sorry. Um um like Mr. Ratcliffe, you've been a longtime long-term resident of that neighborhood. Can you just answer what street you live on? Uh, we live on Churo Court, which shares the adjacent fence along the parking lot, 100 linear feet. So, you you share a property line with the mosque, correct? Okay. Um, you also mentioned sleep and that your sleep, I'm assuming, is being impacted. How is that? How is it being impacted?

The at nighttime prayer, all the headlights come into our property and our bedroom faces the backside of our property. So, we are constantly interrupted and then the lighting, the tall stadium lighting in the parking lot is on quite late and it's very very vibrant. Um, so we don't have the option to leave our windows or anything open at night to avoid the noise and the light pollution. Do you know what time those lights go off in the parking lot by any chance? They should go off at 11:00,

but under the new cup application, they could go as late as 12:30 and as early as 4:00 a.m. That's problematic. That gives me 4 hours of quiet time to sleep. So again, you said that because of, you know, light is p penetrating through the fence. I suppose that you were actually seeing headlights in your bedroom. Headlights and noise. Okay. And then also the the parking lot lights are even more problematic than the headlights. Thank you very much. Any further questions?

No. Thank you. The next three speakers are Kim Ratcliffe, Rich I think that's Seeker, and Christine Kurs. Hello, Planning Commission. I'm Kim Ratcliffe and I live next door to the applicant. Our property surrounds theirs on two sides, including their only exit and parking lot. Um, I also want to echo my husband's disappointment that for the past two years, the town of Loscatoos has left us feeling abandoned. And I also want to preface my statement to say that we welcome everyone in our neighborhood and believe in freedom of religion. I'm a mother, a writer, and I'm currently surviving stage three melanoma. While my scans have been clear, I'm still in recovery. And my home is not just where I live, it's where I heal. The safety and peace of our neighborhood are essential to my well-being. We never wanted to make this story public. We never wanted to make it an us versus them. But after waiting for two years for action, we spoke at we spoke at a planning commission meeting and suddenly we were facing media tension, harassment, and hate messages. And through it all, we've tried to explain this is not just about 30 days of Ramadan. The disruption happens year round, often up to 18 hours a day. During Ramadan, our quiet street becomes unsafe. Cars speed and pass recklessly. One nearly hit us while we were walking our senior dog. Vehicles block our driveway. Traffic is directed with LED traffic batons, blinking cones. It feels like you're at the mountain winery, concert parking lot, night after night. That's outside. Inside our home, late at

night, up to 200 cars exit just 30 ft from our bedroom. Um, and like the members, we too have to prepare for work. The noise, lights, and constant movement make sleep extremely difficult. It sounds like a freight train is coming through our home, no matter which of our three bedrooms we sleep in. Um, and early the next morning, it starts again at dawn. On Fridays afternoons and during events, we sometimes have to leave our own home just to be avoid being trapped. I also want to mention that we left our home during Ramadan for 10 days. And when we came back, the rest of the 20 days was a grueling marathon. I mean, I can't emphasize enough how much it affects your mental health. Um, on Fridays and during events, we sometimes have to leave our home. We get trapped. Our driveway is right next to WMA's narrow driveway. And I've shown you videos where I am trying to back out and it's car after car after car. I'm honking. Nobody sees me. It's like there's a disconnect. It doesn't seem like people understand that somebody lives next door. Um, and I am not seeing the connect with like coming by our house, checking in during Ramadan. I haven't heard from anyone for a year. The last time we met the founder was a year ago and we have offered to compromise and hasn't gotten anywhere.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Vice Chair Barnett. Uh, well, I have two questions. The first question is, what specific noises do you hear?

Well, we hear the humming of the Teslas and the EV cars that they try to drive. We hear talking. We hear people outside. We hear engines revving. They have a right turn only sign on their property. So, we take the brunt of every single car that turns right and goes by our house. So, it rumbles. We especially hear the 200 cars trickling down the narrow exit drive. We can hear that in our house. I see.

We hear honking horns. We hear people putting their strollers together. we hear um you know car alarms beeping and it's a it's it's a a lot of street traffic is um causing that sort of noise. Well, thank you for that those specifics. And then my second question has to do with the frequency that your driveway may be blocked. Mhm. Every Friday afternoon

there's there's several prayer sessions and so there's a mad rush to come in and then there's just 200 cars that exit and there's people again walking in the middle of the street, walking on the um driveway um on their driveway and um it's chaotic. Okay. So, if I may, I just want a clarification. Has there been any parking that's physically blocked your driveway?

Yes, there was a car during Ramadan where someone parked their car in front of our driveway, got out of their vehicle unattended, walked across the street, was chatting with somebody for a couple minutes, and then came back and got in and drove away. I see. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Okay. Thank you,

Rich Seager. Right. Thank you, Planning Commission. My name is Rich Seager. I've been a Loscatus resident for 25 years. Um, lived in the same house with my wife. We're again adjacent to the parking lot. I really want to reiterate this is not culture. This is compatibility. I've met with the I met with the founding member and I think he can remember I was like the kids that you have screaming on weekend turn it up. I mean all the impromptu you know games you guys play love it love all that stuff. So this is not about an existence question. This is about combatability question. Since the cup's been changed we've seen a dramatic increase. We never had a problem with the church before. We've seen a dramatic increase. 180 cars, doors opening, car alarms going off. Um, you know, accidental car alarms themselves going off, honks. I mean, again, most of these are accidental. They try to be quiet, but it's just physically impossible for 180 cars starting up with doors to them, especially if they're going to start car pooling. That's four doors. It's just a cacophony of noise and it's really tough. It's funny. We used to go for walks and we'd feel sad for the people that live next to Jack in the Box, like, "God, that must be tough." And here we are living next to Jack in the Box. In fact, I think these hours are probably more than Jack in the Box. It's ridiculous. I think you, you know, you probably can understand the concern of parents about their kids walking and riding to school during these times. This is tough. I mean, there are no sidewalks. There are very few street lights. And when, you know, as we've talked about, when you have cars poking on both sides, you have to go out into the street. That's scary. I walk my dog twice a day. There are a couple times I kind of forgot Ramadan was happening. I thought they closed Lascals Boulevard and they were just putting people through my neighborhood. It was just car after car after car. Really tough. And again, if you have any doubt about this, K&TVU did a really good report. They were filming it and you see the row of headlights and all a sudden out of

nowhere, somebody just gets frustrated and starts driving down the left-hand side of the road. I mean, it's right there in front of you. And that was just happen stance. So, I would just ask you guys really think about that. Take a look. The other one I have a problem with. I was in negotiations for 30 years of my life and the fact that we're here doing another cup revision. I don't understand how that transaction ever happened when they kind of went, "Oh yeah, Ramadan." I I just have a hard time with that. If one of the people that work for me did that, they wouldn't work for me. I mean, that's just a ridiculous thing to to sign to buy and then suddenly turn around and go, "The most important days of the year are not covered." I I just don't understand it. I would just ask the council or the commission to really lean back and think about this. We're not saying I I I mean I would say deny, but I'm really more interested in working with the the mosque and working with you and working with our other residents to get something that makes sense for everybody. We like them here. We do. We just don't think what they're asking for is compatible with what we want or what we have in our neighborhood. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Yeah. Commissioner Bernett. Yes. Thank you. Um, so do you think maybe permit parking would be something that

Yeah. And I mean, let's let's let's understand that we're still talking about no sidewalks, three street lights on all of Farley, I think. Um, we're we're we're we're hemmed in. Got 17 Lark, Blossom Hill, and Lascats Boulevard. It's a very small neighborhood. So when anybody wants to walk in that neighborhood almost has to walk on Churo or Farley if they want to get anywhere in any kind of half a mile or mile walk. Well, you stuff that in and you start having people walking outside those cars. It's just dangerous. So I don't mind permit parking. I'd be happy to look at it. I I don't know enough about the numbers to know if that makes sense. We just want something that's reasonable that maintains the neighborhood we've always loved. We want them to stay. I'm not here to say their existence is in question. It's not. It's just we got to figure out how to work together.

Thank you, chair. I believe Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I didn't see. Sorry, Commissioner Stump. Apologies. Um, thank you again for um speaking to the commission tonight. Um, you did talk about from your perspective perhaps a possible solution which would involve permit parking. What other things have you thought of over the past couple of years if as you have dealt uh with this situation that you would see as being solutions?

Well, I think when I met with with Rozie who great gentleman, wonderful guy, we were talking about like he kind of gave the sense of well there's very few people that show up at these particular okay great let's limit the number of people who can show up to these and he kind of for reasons unto him he's like that won't work. I'm like okay. Then we did talk about shuttles or he brought it up or I brought it up and he was kind of reluctant to do that. That didn't work um for some of the reasons he mentioned earlier. So um you know I think it was brought up about permits. I think that's something we would consider. I think I think ultimately I am more interested in the outcome than the process. I'll do anything to get the process to to maintain a neighborhood and keep our residents safe. That's really all this is about. Like sidewalks. I don't know. I mean, I'm I'm willing to to think about anything and try and help preserve this community and our community. They can coexist. We just have to be committed to it. I don't know if that answers your question, but

yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you, Christine.

Hi. Good evening. Uh my name is Christine. I live with my family on Frank Avenue uh near the intersection of Frank and Aora. So we are right around the corner if you can envision that from the mosque. This issue is 100% a zoning issue. It is not a issue about a place of worship. It is about the use. It is about use in of space in a neighborhood. And I am very uncomfortable speaking about this and I'm very resentful that I have to. I believe it is the fault of the city that we are in the position where we are now pitted against our lovely neighbors who have been very additive to the neighborhood. However, I don't understand why this again why we are allowed to have this capacity and this sort of uh this many people in this very small neighborhood. I don't know if you're familiar with our neighborhood as was just mentioned it is tiny. Usually the only reason to go into it would be because you live there. So what I would like to talk further about is is use. So although the religious land use and institutional persons act provides important pro protections for religious exercise, at the same time the courts including the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have consistently recognized that these protections do not override neutral, generally applicable zoning regulations. We are a neighborhood a small neighborhood. One example of this comes from the US District Court of

Oregon Eugene Division in the case of Kohl's Valley Church versus Oregon Land Use Board. In that case, the court reaffirmed that local zoning laws and land use planning remain essential tools for maintaining a community and in ensuring that a community is not adversely impacted by something that is not shouldn't be part of that community zone. So you can do something within zoning rules. And again, it is uncomfortable and unnerving to be put in the position of having to be in conflict with our neighbors. It is not anything that any of us want. I feel resentful that we've been put in this position by the city. And what's more, I feel like we've been repeatedly asked this evening once we've finally had the opportunity to speak about what we suggest the solutions are. I don't think that is our responsibility to provide the solutions. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Commissioner Stomp. Thank you. Um, first, I'm sorry you feel like you've been put in this position and feel resentment uh towards the town of Los, the town you live in. Uh, if I could ask you, um, what sort of outreach efforts, you know, have you made to the town um, in the past couple of years?

I have not personally made any outreach efforts. I am part of a group who has made outreach efforts and you've already discussed some of the material and information that's been provided to you by the other speakers earlier this evening. One thing I didn't mention is that I I gave you an idea of where we live during Ramadan especially parking extends all the way down our street. So again, this is a high density situation in a very small neighborhood. And is that appropriate? Thank you very much, Commissioner Bernett. Oh, excuse me. There's still another question for you. Thanks. No, thank you.

I just want to ask on your street, are there sidewalks? Are there lights? Is it uh It's It's inconsistent. There are sections of our street that do have sidewalks and sections that don't. And the same with street lights.

All right. Thank you. All right. The next three speaker speakers are Courtney Boy. I hope I'm saying that right. Um, Ali, Aleriza, Darian, and Mark Leonard. All right. Uh, good evening. We know that you have a tough job tonight. So, I just want to say thanks for hearing us out. Now, let's look around this room outside and probably on Zoom. Many many people are here tonight. The applicant has brought many here to actually prove a point, but actually they've have proven our point. This massive turnout is a living demonstration of the intensity of use we're talking about. Imagine a narrow street unlit at 4:30 a.m. Picture a line of cars stretching posts past six houses, engines vibrating in the dark, headlights shining into your bedroom. People walk in the middle of the street, some blocking hydrants, fire hydrants, which I've called numerous times to the to the cop. More vehicles continue to squeeze into it. This infrastructure is simply not made for this size. In fact, one of the 13 collisions in the last 5 years I talked about is actually on WVMA property. And to be clear, this isn't about who is using the property or the building, but where it is located. Our narrow street simply cannot handle this level of traffic. Whether this is where a school, a stadium, or a shop, the physical reality is the same for the street that is unsafe location for 180 vehicles at 4:00 a.m. or at midnight. I also have to be honest. I am too afraid of being mislabeled in today's climate. Simply asking for traffic safety can be twisted into a acquisition of discrimination. As a minority myself, I find that heartbreaking. We should not

have to choose between our children's safety and the fear of being unfairly labeled by force speaking up. The regional scale impact is exactly what we experience every week. We are here to support the town to enforce its own laws. To approve this, the law requires you to find it safe. But given our infrastructure deficit and constant noise, this project is detrimental risk. Our general plan and town code both mandate noise curfeed from 1000 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. Asking for 4:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. is outside that range. The applicant has the right to pray and we have the right to sleep. We we're asking you to join us of the 70 neighborhood households who has signed the petition to oppose to deny this ask because it's really out of the violations of quite ours. Thank you.

Are there any questions for the speaker? Vice Chair Barnett. There we go. Um you don't have to answer the question, but are you willing to give your address? Yes. I live on Flint Ridge right the corner of Farley and Flint Ridge. So like um Kim say everyone has to turn right to to come out of the facility would always either go to my street to get to Lascatus Boulevard and during that if you recall I just shared that that's a very dangerous curve and speed through it constantly and even before this I have asked for speed bumps because of this um situation. So I have two follow-ups if I may. Please proceed.

Um the first one I I noticed that a number of the neighbors were interested in uh speed bumps to address the speeding issue, but some have pointed out that they create a noise hazard or noise uh problem. Have you thought that through or what are your comments about possible noise from cars going over speed bumps? Um I in order to to get the petition and to to get the town to come out to do the noise measurement, the neighbors actually did have to sign the petition and it has to be more than 50%. So I think that there are actually an agreement that safety um being having noise is a lot better than being hit.

Okay, thank you for that. And I have one last question. Um, you spoke about a noise nuisance and I guess traffic nuisance in the early morning hours and can you speak more to that because I guess I assume that there's fewer cars at that time.

Well, you know, my son bikes to school with his group of friends that the kids come, they all get together. It's a really small community, charming little neighborhood. So the boys would bike to school and every time we are so afraid because we will make sure that they cross the street, okay? And it's like they're not they're no longer biking alone anymore. We're actually walking side by side with them just to make sure that they can cross the street. Okay. Be able to, you know, um turn the curve. All right. And even when they're going home, we're also nervous, too, because like Kim said during that Friday, a lot of cars, a lot of traffic, and there's no stop signs in our um our streets. Not just no park, no sidewalks, no lights, no stop signs, no steep bumps. It's a freeway.

I have one more followup. Yeah, please. Um, so, um, with respect to the times that you're using the street in the neighborhood, uh, can you give me some estimate of the range when, for example, when the kids are going to school? Yeah. So that my kids bike to school around 7 something and then they will go home around 2 to 4:00 p.m. And now you know if if we that that's just really traffic hours for the kids for the biking. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any further questions? All right. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Ali Riza Darian. I live on Farley Road and my wife and I and we have lived there for 26 years. We raised two daughters there. Now they are adult and they are working and they have their own homes. We want to live in harmonious way with the facility and the members. We have no issue, no problem with them. But what my main concerns are are the neighborhood integrity, compatibility and zoning because we have big issues as the other residents have mentioned with the parking. Uh for example, Fridays between 2 to 300 p.m. our gardener comes there is no place to park. So in past few years now we have anxiety. We have to put some one of our cars on the street and watch for the lookout for the gardener when he comes then move our car then he can park and unload his equipment. So basically the facility doesn't have enough parking and during the uh Ramadan even in the evenings our relatives or other friends cannot visit us or if they do then they have to also look for parking. Uh my daughter if she's visiting the same story so there is parking issue. Uh so that is the problem that we feel the city needs to address and the community needs to address because uh I agree with everything else that the other residents mentioned because we live there and that we love the neighborhood and we love uh the

facility to be there but the problems need to be addressed and solved in order for everybody to live comfortably. ly and enjoy the environment. Thank you for your time. Thank you. And I appreciate the council listening to me. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you. Thank you. Mark Leonard.

Hello, my name is Mark Leonard. I've lived on Farley Road for the last 26 years. Um, love the neighborhood. It's a It's a safe, quiet, friendly neighborhood. Um, but before I start, I wanted to thank everyone on the commission uh for your dedicated service to the residents of Lascatus. From the bottom of my my heart, this is probably a thankless job. And so, the number of hours that you guys are putting in, uh, I appreciate and we appreciate. Um, I'm just going to touch on a couple of quick points here. Um, the first one, uh, we we had talked about a sound study that was done, um, but it was done during a non Ramadan time. Um, my next door neighbor, Hong X, um, did a study, uh, that he actually submitted to the town in May of 25, so almost a year ago, give or take. Um, and basically the bottom line was that there there's a lot of noise uh driving by our houses, you know, as people are going either in to the facility or coming out of it or walking to it. And so I I it it's I I I just want to tell you that that there there is that information. You guys have access to it. Um, and then and this is the biggest one for me is and I I've I've met with um the leadership of of the facility um and spoken with them and I'm going to be very very specific when I spoke with Rozie um who I respect very much. He's he's a wonderful man. Um

the very first time I talked to him, my concern was um the hours and he willingly admitted that um they disregard the the time limits and um he had no intention to stop that which was a problem for me for me. I actually reported this in an email um in 2024 to Jocelyn. Um and I'm disappointed that this town of Lascatus hasn't enforced this. And so my concern is extending the time limits will only exacerbate this problem. It won't solve it. Um, so I I I implore you to please decline the modification of the cup. Our goal is to live harmoniously um with the facility and um uh and with our neighbors.

Thank you for Commissioner Bernett. A question. So I know there five prayers a day and I highly respect your your religion. I mean, it's it's really interesting. Anyway, um with the five prayers a day, are cars coming in and leaving five times a day? Yes. Oh, yes. So, you have the morning prayer. They they they start in the morning and and it's every couple of hours. So, you have the morning, you have the midday, the noon, the midday, the evening, and then the five. Yes. Give or take. Then this is constant.

Yes. Yes. And during Ramadan, it's literally hundreds of cars at each one. I see. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thanks.

All right. Our next three speakers is um David uh Watermolder, Gordon Yamate, I think, and Rasha Lashin. Good evening. I'm David Watermolder, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Losatoos. I'm part of the interfaith clergy group here in Los Gatos that submitted a letter um to you all as part of um this meeting. I'm also a chaplain with the police department along with my colleague Pastor Dale who spoke earlier. Um, I also live in Loscatos here with my family where my kids are in schools and sports and um in scouts and all the rest of it. I guess I'm saying I'm coming to you tonight as a as a neighbor. In a lot of ways, um, the the questions that the town is dealing with tonight have to do with that word neighbor. We've been hearing it a lot in all the sharing really and all the written materials, neighbor, neighbors, and neighborhood comes up a lot. Um, I want to acknowledge that you and the council are in a hot seat, a hard place to be where you have to make decisions on behalf of the whole community and take um the the varying needs of neighbors into account. So, I really appreciate your care and your concern for this process. We're here tonight partially because the questions around the neighborhood um have not been resolved in a really local way, just a few blocks um that we're talking about. But I I think that the bigger questions are about what it means to be a community of neighbors uh in our whole town in our whole community in the Bible and the tradition that I that I serve as a pastor. Um this question is asked by to Jesus who is my neighbor and that's the one that we often explore um in our in our faith tradition. You don't have to be a Christian like me to want to be a good neighbor. In fact, I think that most of us here do want to be good neighbors. And we've heard that again and again in the story that I'm referencing in the Good Samaritan, which is from the Bible. Um, being a neighbor

crosses lines of ethnic background and race, national origin, and religion. It's hard to be a neighbor. It's costly to be a neighbor. It's part of being a good neighbor. And um, I think that in our town, we have that question before us. What's the nature of our community and our neighborhood? I'm here tonight in support of this um extension for our Muslim neighbors seeking that they might have a chance to fully express their faith. Um as a faith leader in our community, I'm in communication with them and in solidarity with them. Um I I want to do it in a way that is neighborly and I think the process you're pursuing brings that forward. So I really appreciate it. Um the sense of neighbor that we're talking about where we are able to give and receive freely is hard to do in this modern age. um especially with when issues like this come up. So I thank you for your time and I'm speaking in support of this motion. Thank you.

Thank you. Hold on. I think Commissioner Bernett has a question for you. Yes. Question. Could you give me the hours of your um church please in the morning and the evening? Yeah. Typically we get into the office um maybe around 8 or 9 in the morning. Um in the evening our programs might run uh typically I think you know we're different we have different faith traditions maybe but in our church we would have you know office hours basically until 5:00 and then we have some we have evening programming in the evening. Um so we might be there till 9:00 or something like that typically. Thank you. Any other questions? Uh yes Commissioner

Stump. Yeah. Thank you very much. Um, pastor, um, you you have a significant facility, significant parking lot. I think in fact, part of it might even be leased out to the terraces. Uh, you've got two major streets, Shannon Road and I believe it's Cherry Blossom, parking lots on Cherry Blossom, you know, easy parking even on the the street side for Shannon and Cherry Blossom. Have Have you had any issues with your neighbors related to your use? um and particularly anything related to public safety as it relates to your neighbors.

Through the years, we we've tried to maintain good neighbor relationships, kind of like what we're talking about here tonight. Um and we have diff we have had differences of opinion with people along our property line and similar I would say the main thing is communication and finding um both parties trying to figure something out. Um so a long time ago, some of you remember the Google buses were in our neighborhood and they parked in our parking lot on the way to drop off people for Google. And so, which was a good thing in a lot of ways, but then was trouble in other ways. Recently, the the town uh improved the streets along Shannon Road, which you know about, has bike lanes now, and they kind of built in some safety measures like that. I think that we're hearing a little bit of maybe that's on the future docket for something as well. Um, thank you very much. Yeah,

thank you. Thanks.

Uh, good evening. Uh members of the planning commission, uh my name is Gordon Yamate and uh although I chair the uh town's uh diversity, equity, and inclusion commission, I'm here in my personal capacity. I'm here to support the uh CPU CUP, I'm sorry, CUP application of the West Valley Muslim Association. The Religious Land Use Act imposes a very high legal standard where there are attempts to prevent individuals from practicing their religious faith. If the CUP application is denied, the town would be imposing a substantial burden on the WV MA because members of the mosque would not be able to fully engage in prayers particularly during Ramadan as prescribed by their religion. The meeting materials outline the extraordinary constructive efforts that uh the association has taken to mitigate neighborhood disruption. I believe they have demonstrated their sincerity and good intentions in those efforts, often going beyond what might otherwise be expected. There were references in the record to traffic issues involving a residential neighborhood in a private school. To my knowledge, that matter did not fall under the Religious Land Use Act. And unlike the association's CUP application, the school's request included a significant expansion of the school itself. But while both sides probably felt that the other side got the better result, I think the residents are still pleased with the traffic mitigation efforts taken by the school. When neighbors are watching out for each other, there is mutual trust and the community is safer and works better. When I see the West Valley Muslim Association reaching out to their neighbors and vice versa, that

communication can and will make that relationship stronger and may result in even more innovative ways to address the concerns of all. I urge you to approve the CUP application and I thank all parties for making Loscatos welcoming to a diverse and inclusive community. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Thank you.

Um hi dear commissioners. Thank you so much for the opportunity and the time that you have spent today to listen to all of us. We really appreciate it. Um, I just want to share with you my experience coming to Los Garis. I've been here for the last seven years. I moved from the Republic of Ireland with my four kids. They all graduated from Lorgaris High School. It's a lot of belonging for us and how much the town has been diverse and inclusive over the years. And bringing in WVMA has brought a lot of belonging for me and my family as such. Um WVMA did not just serve my family, it serves the neighbors around quite positively in all aspects. We listen to our neighbors. Um in one of the mornings that we gather for coffee on the Saturday, I found one of the neighbor uh walking uh their dog, their senior dog, which was really nice to see. Uh we as Muslim don't bring our dogs to our sacred place. We don't bring our dogs to the mosque. But because of our neighbor felt safe and at ease to be at that mosque on the grounds of it with their dog or their pet, we were very accommodating. We support our neighbors in being able to feel the ease and safe and respect being with us on our premises. And so seeing that and learning around how much we open our doors to our neighbors to learn more about our culture to support us as we grow and help our community while we're helping also in the Losgaris community and elsewhere. It is key for our continued diversity in the Los Garistown. So I really encourage and support for you to support this EU application that we have and thank you so much.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Right. Yeah, I'm a neighbor, too. I live in Frank Avenue. Oh, Frank. Thank you. All right. Um, the next three I have, um, Ben Piper, Rafie, and I'm sorry, I don't think I can make out that last name, and then Hana Atani.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Ben Piper. I'm gonna He's keeping it. Yeah.

I'm an acoustical consultant with Salter for the last 15 years and last year I conducted a noise analysis on behalf of the WVMA. And uh since noise has been an ongoing topic of conversation tonight, I wanted to let you know that I'm here to answer questions as available either during this 3minut window or at a later time. Um I think at a very high level the city noise ordinance contains maximum noise level goals for vehicle noise and our analysis has indicated that the traffic associated with WVMA ingress and egress is within those limits. Um, I think when we're considering cumulative noise impacts as related to the general plan noise element, um, which is a 24-hour average noise level, it's worth considering that the cup does not request an increase in um, occupancy or overall number. It only shifts the hours of ingress and egress. and so therefore uh would not be expected to have a cumulative 24-hour average noise level increase. Now, it does shift these to uh be more within the nighttime 10 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. hours. However, my understanding is that within the current operation of the WVMA event ing event eress and ingress already occurs within those hours. So the uh 10 decel penalty that this uh standard applies to off hours noise levels would already apply to uh vehicles

coming and going from the site during those hours. and be happy to take any questions. Sorry, talked for two minutes, but that's good. Yeah, I think we're going to have quite a few for you. So, Commissioner Bernett. Yes. So, um, our noise ordinance, we have quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. So, how when when we talk about noise, quiet, I mean quiet hours. How can there be quiet hours if you're having 40 cars going out a driveway at 4:00 in the morning or coming in at 4:00 in the morning and leaving at 10 10:30 after prayer service? Yeah, I think

I mean that's a little different than that. I mean, it's from 10 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., but I'm seeing that those early morning hours, how can that be quiet time when you have so many cars?

That standard prohibits noise that is uh unreasonably disturbing or not associated with an activity that is otherwise lawfully conducted. So it is going to depend on how that is chosen to be defined. But um typically vehicle traffic on a public roadway when uh you know anyone would be allowed to drive on that street at those times. Is a driveway a public roadway? I mean going in the driveway into the driveway into the facility, right?

Well, obviously that's not a public roadway. Uh there are barriers, fences around those drive aisles to help mitigate noise.

Yeah, I was just trying to get sort of a definition of the quiet hours and then you know with many cars. So I was trying to get your definition of that. Yeah, that's um a very qualitative I'm sorry. Yeah, a very qualitative type of statement. You know, things that are annoying to people of normal sensibilities. I think certainly the neighbors would think that they are people of noise of uh ordinary sensitivity and find it annoying, but the members of the WVMA feel like they're people of ordinary normal sensitivity and that they're not generating noise that is um unnatural or unusual in association with their use.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Sordy. And then Vice Chair Bernett. Yeah, thank you for being here to speak uh more technically to the noise question. Um I want to get a little bit technical here. So I'm reading from the uh this is actually the executive summary written by the applicant about the noise study. So it's not your writing, but there was a reference to um nighttime criterion 54 dBA. So that it says the town's weekday night weekday nighttime criterion is 54 dBA. So that's the maximum at night there. There's some interpretation there as well because it's not exactly defined.

Okay. Um I think that uh that's in relation to a city noise map figure that provides hourly ambient noise levels. So my interpretation is that that is an hourly average noise level. Okay. at different times and that's set for a more sensitive time of time of night as opposed to what might be um a maximum dBA in the daytime. Correct. It's in relation to expected ambient noise levels in different parts of the town.

Okay. Although that specific threshold is more primarily in relation to things like fixed noise sources um which would be like HVAC equipment, amplified music or speech coming from a speaker system. The municipal code has a specific section for vehicle noise which has its own criteria. Okay. And then it it makes the statement that it says specifically noise levels were within 1 to three dibels of ambient, a difference that acoustic experts consider unnoticeable. And ambient's not a standard. That would be a baseline that was measured in the neighborhood.

Correct. We conducted long-term noise measurements over approximately 10 days.

Okay. And then my other question is this is um just in the past having been a little bit involved in reading a lot of environmental impact reports I recall there so when it comes to measuring noise correct me if I'm wrong there's um noise measurements where you capture the moment in time a point source of noise but there's also ways of measuring something over the course of the day you I think you mentioned that you wouldn't you wouldn't be inclined to use that because the incremental increase and the use isn't all that significant. But I guess what I'm wondering is is there just a way to say set up a system where you're measuring the noise and you are able to capture the rise and fall and the intensity level of it over say a 10-hour period of time. Like that the term CNL comes to mind. Sure. There's like these different ways of measuring noise, right? There's dec. So our noise measurements are capturing 1 second intervals that are then averaged over different lengths of time depending on what is set forth in the standard. So when we look at the vehicle noise section of the municipal code that is a a maximum noise level standard. So we would look at the instantaneous noise generated by something like a car pass by. Um, when we look at the LDN or CNEL standard, which is in the noise element of the general plan, that's an averaged noise level over a 24-hour period with a penalty applied to nighttime noise because people are more sensitive at that time.

Okay. And so, so that wasn't really done because of the nature of the expansion or the use being marginal. Correct. Because the CUP request is not an occupancy increase. Um, and it doesn't shift egress and ingress for events from daytime to nighttime. Uh, those things already occur between 1000 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Okay, got it. Thank you. Any other questions, vice chair?

Well, who specifically engaged Salter to do the tests that are in the U Stber board? Uh, I was originally contacted by Ruben Junius and Rose, a law firm that is, uh, engaged by the WVMA. I see. And of course, a lot of the comments in the staff report and tonight relate to the Ramadan season. And would it, in your professional opinion, be important to capture noise levels during those 30 days? Not necessarily. We The timing of our report was um due to the fact that the WVMA was trying to uh last year provide analysis for review prior to Ramadan. I don't know perhaps the thinking was that um CP acceptance might happen in advance of the Ramadan season. So um uh we were engaged to measure events that we're of the understanding had similar attendance as a typical Ramadan service and I guess further in terms of the cumulative noise impact reiterating that because it's not an increase in overall attendance numbers there's only a shifting of times. Uh I don't see measurements um during Ramadan as a requirement. So if I if I may, can you identify the specific holidays or occasions where this higher level of traffic occurred that you are using sort of as a baseline related to Ramadan? Yeah, we were

provided with a calendar of uh facility events um specifically we measured an event um on the evening of Friday, February 7th. Um I think it was just labeled for our purposes as community event. And we also measured a sunrise prayer um on the morning of Thursday, February 6th.

One last question. Um can you correlate the number of vehicles that were involved during the testing days uh to your test results? In other words, were you counting cars? No, because we were not on site. We're um employing sound level meters that are in environmental boxes over a 10day period. I recalled that note. Thank you, Chair Burge. Commissioner Stump. Yes. Yeah. No, Commissioner Stump.

Thank you, Chair. Um and thank you again for for being here with us so late into the evening. Um, one of the residents, you know, did report that although they don't believe it's intentional, that they hear horns, they hear beeps, they hear uh backup noises coming from electric cars, uh, sometimes they hear alarms. Um, you know, what is it the residents are hearing? Are are they being overly sensitive? Um, the other thing, too, is that it's one thing to have one car going down the street at a time. It's another thing to have a whole lineup of cars. So, what is it that the residents might be hearing that the sound tests don't pick up? Are they just imagining this?

I certainly don't think that anyone's imagining anything. Um, I imagine it's a combination of those factors. Um, you know, I think that something like excessive horn honking or revving um would fall under the curfew description of sort of unnatural and egregious noise. And I think that the WVMA's efforts to provide traffic um direction are in effort to um reduce that type of noise.

Well, thank you for that questions. And then chair, we're at 11:27. So, we probably need a motion to extend or some other action. Thank you.

Thank you.

Sure. if if I might quickly. Uh so the um maximum standards that are outlined in the code for vehicle noise um I wanted to quickly make the point that um those are uh independent of how many cars go past. The maximum level of a car pass by um would be the same regardless of how many times that occurs. Now obviously the cumulative noise changes because the frequency of occurrence but um the maximum level of a car pass by does not increase depending on how many cars are passing by. Thank you.

Thank you. It did. Yeah. First it was Rafie just Mr. Pollson. Mr. Pollson. So I had that called these two and then let's take a break. We still need to make a motion like now currently. Yes. Okay. I'm sorry. Could you give us a moment? Of course. Please take a time.

So we still have a decent handful of cards here, fellow commissioners, and we have people on Zoom. It's 11:30 and we have to make a motion if we want to extend. um if we do for how long or if we want to continue and at that point then we'd be asking the question on if that's a date certain or what yes vice chair in view of the number of the members of the community that are here I would move to extend the closing time to midnight

any other thoughts on that uh Commissioner Stomp Yeah, I was going to propose the same thing. It would seem like if we can capture as many as are here tonight and have taken their time, that would be a good thing. But I would not be in favor of extending past midnight. Yeah, agreed. Any other thoughts on that? All right. So, first, well, I want to make sure I'm doing this properly. If we're going to make a motion on just extending to midnight and then at midnight, are we going to have the discussion about the next step? You should have that before midnight. That's what I would Well, yeah. True. True.

I'm getting tired. Um, but at that point, we will have that discussion. Correct. Not in this moment. Okay. So, there's a a a motion to extend till midnight and we have a second. Okay. So, I need to call the role. Um, Commissioner Sordy. Yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Vice Chair Barnett, yes. Commissioner Bernett, I agree. Commissioner Stump, yes. I also agree. So, this is unanimous with one absence. Okay. I'm sorry for the interruption. Please go ahead.

Totally fine. Hi, good evening. I'm Rafie Ellensson and I serve as the rabbi at Congregation Shir Khadash in Lascatus. I'm here tonight to share my unequivocal fullhearted support in favor of the West Valley Muslim Association's pursuit of a modification to their conditional use permit. This past weekend, Jewish people across the world began reading Sephikra, the book of Leviticus. And in this book, we find the holiness code. Central to this guide for how to live sacred lives of meaning is the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. We are blessed at Shir Khadash to have a building in a residential area where we are able to hold our community gatherings and to observe our tradition freely and with dignity. The West Valley Muslim Association is entitled just as we are to this same exact right. Our Muslim siblings deserve a home to practice and celebrate Islam fully to fulfill their obligations as people of faith. Approving the West Valley Muslim Association's conditional use permit for extended hours is a common sense decision and it is my joyful religious duty as a rabbi to stand up and love my neighbor as myself and support their modest request and I invite you all to do the same. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker?

No. Thank you. Good evening, honorable commissioners. Um, almost good morning and thank you. Thank you for your time, your services, and your dedication to serve this community. My name is Hannah Itani. I have served as president of the League of Women Voters for four years in the town of Losatos. I would like to share something personal, a moment that has stayed with me for over 50 years. On September 30th, 1974, I was walking down from our summer home on my way to the airport in Beirut, leaving to come to America as a student and as a new wife. And then, without warning, I froze. My mother noticed and asked, "What was wrong?" I don't know where I'm going. I told her. She looked at me calmly and said, "Hannah, don't be afraid. You're going to God's land." All these years, this stayed with me. Those words have guided me for more than half a century. I have now lived in the United States for over 52 years. and the last 21 of them right here in the town of Los Gatos. This country gave me something I treasure deeply, the genuine freedom to practice my religion, my faith. That's not something to be taken for granted. Even in some Islamic countries, that freedom is not always fully granted guaranteed. Here, it has never been in question.

I have three children and 10 grandchildren and we all use this masid. Our religion requires us to cons to be considerate to our neighbors and be thoughtful of them. We do respect them. We do understand their feelings and we feel with them. But it changing the way how we worship is not a good solution. In my family, we do car pooling and sometimes we park away to be picked up by one of our children. And in special events, we have to sign in in advance to be a able to attend. And sometimes we were not able to join the event because of the capacity. Having a masid here in Los Gatus and only 8 minutes away from my home is not a small thing. It is a symbol of peace, of belonging, and of a community that lives up to the promise that this country has always made to those who come to it with hope in their hearts. Humbly, I ask you to consider extending the the usage of this house of God while the administration keeps working on acceptable solutions. Again, thank you. Thank you for your sincere consideration.

Thank you. There any questions for the speaker? Oh, thank you. All right. The next three cards I have are Secret, um I think it's Jacobson, uh Jeff Suzuki, and Nigel Chandler, I think. Oh, got a little late. All right, you can go ahead and Jeff.

Uh, good evening, council members. First, I will preface by saying that I am not speaking in my capacity as a complete streets and transportation commissioner, but as a private resident and the president of the Los Scatus Anti-Racism Coalition, I want you all to consider a question seriously. Um, are we as a town willing to deploy the Los Ghettos Monserino Police Department to stop the peaceable assembly of our neighbors engaged in prayer? Because that is effectively where this goes. It is easy to see that we should enforce the law, but that could be a bit abstract. What enforcing the law means is using our police services against those who want to use their facilities to pray. And that is what this conditional use permit specifically is for. It is for conducting prayer services. And I think that it would be tragic if this town could not find a way to allow them this right to access their facility for religious use. A right affirmed by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. A view that has been backed by the ACLU and the NAACP. As planning commissioners, your role is quasi legislative, quasi jud judicial, and I know because I served on this commission five years ago in 2021. Your approvals and denials carry the weight of law, at least until an appeal. You have the power to acknowledge right now that an organization like West Valley Muslim Association is entitled the right to practice their religion at their facility. You also have the power to state that, you know, we respect some of their activities. We just don't want them here. you have the power to make this a lot more difficult than it should be to compel Muslims in our community uh into a situation where they're forced to assert their rights, spending time on advocacy that they could otherwise be

spending time with their family, um spending resources on legal fees that they could otherwise spend, you know, on our community. Over the last two years, I've had the privilege of meeting and breaking bread with my neighbors at West Valley Muslim Association. and I live about a mile and a half away from there and they have demonstrated at every turn charity, neighborly goodwill and an elacrity to communicate and accommodate their neighbors. The agenda packet is just chocked full of examples of how hard they have tried and reading it all, all the installations and all their efforts to engage with their neighbors. I find it immensely impressive and I hope to see that my town, the town that I grew up in, actively work with and build a relationship, a partnership with West Valley Muslim Association to address potential issues in traffic and noise to match their effort and courtesy rather than alienate them and our Muslim neighbors by flatly denying denying them access to their space and their rights. Many of those who attend the Losatus Islamic Center are our residents. All of them are our neighbors and they should be our friends and our partners and we should treat them as such. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Yes, Jeff. Hold on, Mr. Chair. Barnett. So, I'm afraid I missed part of what you said because you were making reference to the legitimate concerns of the neighbors as well as of course supporting um the applicant. So do you have some way to elaborate on that statement?

Sure. I I think that this is an ongoing project. I mean I don't think that this is a sort of one and done deal where we either decide the you know whether we should extend the timeline indefinitely here um or we we must deny it. I do think that there is a very strong legal basis for why we should extend the timeline, but the town should be actively involved in ensuring that the transportation issues where they are present um are addressed and this is a continuous work in um in progress, right? Um this isn't something that is just an intractable issue.

Any other questions? Thank you. Uh good evening uh planning commissioners. My name is Nigel Chandler. Uh I'm a part of the complete streets and transportation commission but today I'm not speaking as a commissioner but as a private resident of Loscatoos. I'm personally not a Muslim, but I first got acquainted with the Lascatos Islamic Center Mosque in Lascatos when I was invited to a public community coffee uh back in the fall of last year. Um one of many events that the mosque holds to reach out to the broader community. Um, when I heard at a recent city council meeting that the parking is, I quote, like Disneyland, and that there is, I quote, not enough space for emergency vehicles, I thought it would be a good idea for me to go and personally check it out, see if that, you know, see if I could get myself more informed on the matter. And so I did decide to spontaneously visit two weeks ago um March 10th on a Tuesday during Ramadan at about 9:30 p.m. What I saw were two volunteers in yellow vests who were stationed outside to monitor traffic and noise and to ensure that there aren't any mosque visitors um that are using street parking that they should be parking inside the on-site parking. Um when I personally went up to ask them about the situation, one of them uh Muhammad had asked me to come inside um not making any noise on on the street um to have some of their leftover food that they were serving. And he was kind enough to share his perspective uh as an unpaid volunteer that being a good Muslim is about being a good neighbor and that this is exactly why he volunteers to minimize their disturbance to their neighbors. When it did come time to leave, people

were totally out in less than 15 minutes on the day that I went. I came expecting a so-called Disneyland. Uh but to be honest, that's not what I saw. And I certainly can't imagine any emergency vehicles having a hard time getting by. I think I will let others uh as we have seen tonight uh speak to the importance of tolerance and inclusion in Loscatos and to the rights people have to practice the wellestablished tenants of their religion freely. I can s I can just say that from what I saw I think the mosque is a great neighbor and I would personally support their application for the conditional use permit. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker?

Thank you. Right. Our next three I have Ann Griffin. Um I have Karen Yamamoto. She is she on Zoom? Yeah. Um I know I have Tariq Tariq a bed. Is Ann here? May have left. All right. Is Karen able to speak on Zoom? I can. Hello. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you. Can you Okay, great.

All right. Uh, good evening. I'm surprised you guys got to me. Um, I've lived on Benedict Lane for 27 years, and I've never had a problem with the Muslim association. I love my Muslim neighbors. They're great. Never had a problem. Um, I'm neither for or against this permit, just to let you know. With that said, I would like would like you to consider the following. After 30 years of the Muslim facility being on Farley Road, why is there all of a sudden a need to change the hours? It's always worked for over 30 years. Is it because of the number of people that have to attend or is it just because now they want to extend it for some other event happening. So keep that in mind. My other concern is our neighbors. You know, it it's the people who live there have houses next to the facility. Uh my heart goes out to them cuz I know what it's like to bombarded with lights at night constantly cuz I live behind Eric's deli. So, that's annoying. But I can't imagine car noises and everything else. So, we really got to actually come up with an I either better solution for this or keep the hours the same. You

know, it is important that everybody be respected, not just one side or the other. And I do believe that they've the Muslim religion has always been able to adjust to their environment. And I don't understand why this has been such a big deal. But the other concern that popped up tonight that I really want to address that all the other ones have been addressed. I think the bigger situation that you need to actually keep in mind is all of the other religious groups supporting this because if you open the door to extend the hours to one religious group year round, you got to do it for all of them. Not just that, but other community events and stuff like that that people want to do. So that is a major thing. That means we have to change our whole town code about hours of quietness. So

that was three minutes Karen. Okay. All right. Oh, and Rich Stevens couldn't make it. So um he left uh papers for you to read. All right. Are there any questions for the speaker? No. All right. Thank you. Um, is TK still here?

Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, then I have two more. Um, Chris Wy and Beth Grimes. My name is Chris Wy. I'm a local resident. 50 years. This is a tough one, folks. Last time I saw the chambers filled like this was for a business that people didn't want here. It went went way outside and down the road. And that business isn't here because they thought it would work here, but it didn't work here. Now, let me go backwards a little bit. I'm for the Muslim community. There are speakers who came up here that have helped me when I'm overseas for example and I lived in Muslim communities for many many years. I even asked for a gentleman here who spoke his son spoke his wife spoke. They sent me my first Quran in English along with papers that I needed to understand the culture because I dealt with it. So I understand I attended the festivities. They were wonderful. But well, we have a problem here. And with all this goodness, we're forgetting. There's neighbors. And I live across from one of the busiest night events, and that is the Botchi Court. And I haven't had a night's sleep for years when they are open. I don't think there's any other business other than what you guys are asking today that are open late at night, especially in a residential community. So what I think rather than there's some people are part of a problem, some part of of a solution and they were both here tonight, but what I think has to be taken back to you is this has to totally

be readressed and started over with the neighbors and the noise. And I know about alarms. I know about people who don't think their cars are locked, so they got to press it one more time for that beep. I know about the strollers. I've actually oiled a few in front of my comp my in front of my place when people go by. I want you to know I support you guys, but your time is off and maybe you're in the wrong neighborhood. The last business was the gun shop. It was running just fine. Everybody thought it was cool and suddenly they didn't think it was cool. It's time for them to leave. And there are churches here that outgrew the church. The Baptist church outgrew that church. Jehovah Witness went in, then they outgrew that. Maybe it has happened that this has outgrown it. And there may be a possibility as an alternative also that when you have your big festivities, you find a place to hold it, such as some churches do when they get too big for Easter, they go to a stadium. I know in New York City a lot of temples and a lot of mosques instead of having their festivities, they'll go to a bigger place that's away from the neighborhoods. But I would not vote tonight if I was in your position. I think it needs to be readressed and more research needs to be done. Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Hello. Um, I am Beth Grimes and uh, I've lived in this neighborhood for over 30 years with a lot of these other people. And it's like when F WBMA moved into the

neighborhood, I accepted an invitation to um, one of the celebrations the last day of Ramadan. And it was so welcoming and educational and I still remember it as a very positive experience. And this issue like the previous speakers and others have said is so difficult. Um, everybody in this room is Lascatos is better because all of us are in this room and it's like and in this town and it's like it's obvious that WBMA is very important to many families in this room. I love to hear how there are so many collaborations between WBMA and other other groups. It's beautiful and it makes Lascato so much better. But we still have an issue here with this particular um proposal. And that and and the Lasatus Weekly article a few months ago was very telling when they said it and it was the WVMA that was saying it that the volume originally was around 75 people and it was up to 300 to 500. That's overwhelming. Like tonight has been overwhelming. You know, it's And we have our little neighborhood, you know, we have the the 90-year-old gentleman who came up here and he's lived in our neighborhood for so many years. And this is the first organization that's been in that facility where this has been a problem. And it's like I can't imagine that extending this is going to make the situation, you know, any better. You know, why why

wasn't this facility in the north 40 next to a freeway? Easy in and out. You don't care about the noise. You know, that's where it should be, not in our little neighborhood. And so, um, you know, even I was I was bicked to work the other day right past your house and it's like at like 6:45 a.m. and there were cars coming out of the facil the WBMA facility. So, I can attest to them not following, you know, not starting before 8:00 because there were cars coming out then. Not a lot, but they definitely were coming out of there. And it's like I can't imagine that the situation is going to get any better and I would hope that you would listen to the neighbors and find a solution that works for them.

Thank you. Are there any questions for the speaker? Yes, Vice Chair Barnett. U two questions. What street do you live on and what specific inconveniences or nuisances have you been subjected to? So, I'm here basically to be supportive of my other neighbors on Farley Road. I'm on Karen Drive and luckily when everybody exits, they're exiting out Churo and going out to the light and not coming down my street. Thank you for that.

Okay, any other questions? No. Thank you. We are right before midnight. Um, so I I think at this point we need to determine I don't think we are we going to stay longer or are we going to move this to a future date and then I would be looking to staff for guidance on that. Thank you. So, looking at the calendar, it looks like the soonest would be um March 31st or April 2nd as a special meeting to continue public public hearing or public uh comment

and we need to probably make the determination for a date tonight. So I'm asking my fellow commissioners of those for special meeting which works what is your preference?

31st is a Tuesday or the second. Commissioner Stump. Yeah. Either day would work for me. Either day. All right. And you, Commissioner Bernett, you said either day. Either day. Vice Chair Barnett. I can only do the 31st. 31st. Okay. I guess then Commissioners mayor and sorty do the 31. Does the 31st work? 31st. Uh, yeah. Okay. Commissioner Sordy, I think slight preference for the 31st, but I could do either.

That's okay. I think that I think we're narrowed on the 31st then. That way everyone can attend. We'll have to follow up with Commissioner Thomas. She'll recuse. Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. She's recused. Like I said, I'm getting a little tired. Chairperson, are you thinking of a 700 p.m. start time or an earlier start time? Honestly, I would recommend an earlier start time, everybody. I don't know if there's going to be more speakers from the Zoom. Although definitely will be more speakers on Zoom.

Yeah. So, do you guys feel all right with a six o'clock start time? So, perhaps we're not here. Yes, no problem. Commissioner Stump, 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. Oh my goodness. Can you tell? All right. Perfect. Okay. So, um, yeah, the 31st at 6 p.m., not 6:00 a.m. 6 p.m. And I'll be there at 6 a.m. Perfect. Bring me coffee. All right. Do we need to make a motion then or? Yes. Okay. Does anyone want to make a motion? Jeffrey. Yes. So moved.

I'll second. I'll call the question. Commissioner Sordy, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Vice Chair Barnett, yes. Commissioner Bernett, yes. Commissioner Stump, yes. And I also agree. So, passes unanimously. So, I think we're wrapping up this evening. Thank you everybody. We will see you on the 31st. Thank you so