Politics & Government
County's Hearing On Sufi Sanctuary Is All Day
Crowd packs Lesher Center theater to hear appeal of plans for 66,000-square-foot facility off Boulevard Way.
The county Board of Supervisors is holding an all-day hearing Tuesday on the controversial plans for a 66,000-square-foot new sanctuary for the Sufism Reoriented congregation in Saranap.
Look for a longer piece in Patch later today.
The hearing, held at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek to accommodate the large crowd, is for a larger project, on 3.1 acres, than the current Sufism Reoriented building in Saranap, an unincorporated residential neighborhood between Lafayette and Walnut Creek.
Hundreds of people attended the hearing. The first floor and balcony of the Hoffman Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts were virtually filled as the morning proceeded.
The first appellant representative to speak was lawyer Stuart Flashman on behalf of the Saranap Homeowners Organization. The project does not meet the county's land use standards, including parking provisions, Flashman said. He added, "The community is very willing to work with the applicant to come up with a mutually acceptable project."
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