Islamic group announces $580,000 settlement with Des Plaines
Des Plaines has agreed to pay a Muslim group $580,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming aldermen wrongfully denied a request to open a mosque in the city, officials said during a Tuesday news conference.
The settlement with the Society of American Bosnians and Herzegovinians, a group including immigrants who fled war-torn Yugoslavia in the 1990s, comes after the city agreed to a separate settlement Monday with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tony Peraica, who represented the group, said aldermen used concerns about parking and traffic as an excuse to deny the zoning change. In fact, he said, the city's master plan called for the property to be zoned down to institutional or residential development.
"This is about human beings and their yearning to practice religion in their homeland," Peraica said. "They're proud to call America home."
Billy Lyman, a representative for the city's law firm, Holland and Knight, said Des Plaines is pleased to reach an amicable resolution with the group. The settlement does not admit liability on the part of the city.
In 2013, the group wanted to establish the American Islamic Center in a building on the southeast side of Des Plaines, but alderman denied a request to rezone the land to allow for a place of worship in a 5-3 vote. Opponents cited parking and traffic concerns in blocking the request for a site previously used for manufacturing.
Two months later, the group filed a lawsuit and the Justice Department in 2015 filed its own complaint - arguing the denial was a substantial burden on the group's religious exercise and imposed parking standards and other requirements not used for non-Muslim groups.
Aldermen without comment voted unanimously to accept the settlement Monday.
The settlement will pay for costs the group incurred while attempting to buy the building and for the group's attorney fees.
Under the Justice Department settlement agreement, certain city employees and city council members would be required to take training on the federal religious land use laws. The city also would be required to post information about the lawsuit settlement on its website and post signage at city hall stating the city does not impose a substantial burden on the exercise of religion.
The building was sold to a developer in September 2015, and the city later approved property tax incentives for the new owner. Meanwhile, the group found a place to worship in a former Lutheran church in Franklin Park.