Sufi Sanctuary: Letter Raises Parking Issue; Brill Says Meher Not In the Picture
There's a county hearing on the matter from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Hoffman Theatre, Lesher Center for the Arts.
By Wendy Lack
The Sufism Reoriented sanctuary project in unincorporated Walnut Creek is making news again. It turns out the Planning Commission approval of the project last fall was based on false statements made by church officials, according to a letter sent Friday by project opponents to the Board of Supervisors (see PDF that accompanies this article). The letter, sent by a group of residents who live in the vicinity of the proposed building project, asks the Board to decertify and correct the environmental impact report before recirculating it for public comment.
As approved, the Sufism Reoriented project requires 125 parking stalls for the 66,074-square-foot building; however, the plans provide for only 71 stalls on site. To satisfy the 54-stall difference, Sufism Reoriented represented to the county that it had arranged to lease additional off-site parking at the nearby Meher School located on property owned by the Lafayette School District.
In a letter dated February 15, 2012 (see PDF that accompanies this article), Lafayette School District Superintendent Fred Brill told Supervisor Gayle Uilkema:
In an e-mail to [church official] Pascal Kaplan dated September 16, 2011 I made clear that [the District is] not authorizing the Meher School to enter into a third-party agreement with Sufism Reoriented, or any other group, regarding the use of fields, facilities or parking lot.
About one week after Brill sent this e-mail to the church, the county issued the final environmental impact report which included the bogus parking lease. It is unknown whether Sufism Reoriented notified county staff or the Planning Commission that the parking lease was invalid, though public testimony before the Commission questioned how Meher School, as a tenant, could legally sublet the parking lot.
Ten opponents of the project have appealed the Commission’s approval of the controversial project. In addition, Sufism Reoriented filed one appeal seeking to increase the numbers of trucks concurrently permissible during construction. A hearing with the Board of Supervisors will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Lesher Center’s Hoffman Theatre in Walnut Creek. The county arranged the hearing at this location to accommodate the large numbers of area residents expected to attend.
Wendy Lack is a freelance writer who lives in Contra Costa County. She may be reached at wendylack@aol.com.
Danny O
6:29 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
You know what the problem is here? These Sufists are just too darn "Mooslim" for certain peoples' taste. Let's do all we can, people, to block these folks from their evil evil plans. I'll end this with the obligatory: What about the Children??
Roger Bird
8:14 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Danny O,
I know that you are being facetious, but I want everyone else to know that Sufism ReOriented has been there in Saranap for the past 40 years, roughly. How come there were no complaints about them eating children before now.
Roger
Chris Nicholson
6:54 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I'm generally all for freedom (including freedom of religion), but if a culty group wanted to build a 70K sq. ft. spaceship compound in my backyard, I might just be with the NIMBY crowd...
Roger Bird
10:55 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Dear Chris Nicholson,
If you have never heard of or have no experience of a spiritual order, you might be unable to distinguish between an order and a cult. The Catholic Church might be an example of an order. It is difficult to become a Catholic; you just can't slip into the church on Sunday, keep attending, and be a Catholic. You have to go to classes. And leaving the Catholic Church, no one is even going to notice. This is kind of like Sufism ReOriented. I tried for decades to become a Sufi; I had no luck.
A difference with leaving the Sufis is that you cannot rejoin. You will be welcomed; you may even be able to attend meetings; but you have not shown reliability and therefore you are no longer the spiritual responsibility of the Teacher.
A cult is very easy to get into. And it is dang near impossible to get out of. So a spiritual order is almost the exact opposite of a cult.
Chris Nicholson
11:31 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Roger, you said: "A difference with leaving the Sufis is that you cannot rejoin...you have not shown reliability and therefore you are no longer the spiritual responsibility of the Teacher."
Umm. Sounds pretty culty. If I were starting a cult, the first thing I would do would be to create an aura of exclusivity and would only invite "special" people to become fully anointed...
In any case, I don't care if they are a cult if they are not harmful, and it sounds like they are not harmful.
Roger Bird
11:53 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Chris, no one is invited. People are occasionally drawn to them because of Divine Love. I can only think of one person by name who "left" the order, and he continues to associate with them.
Your position is perfectly natural.
Lee daniels
7:31 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Purely a (bad) planning issue and nothing to do with religion
Chris Nicholson
7:38 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Agreed. Just like the Ground Zero Mosque, right?
Roger Bird
8:17 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Lee daniels, if it is a bad planning issue, then how come the parking issue has not been a problem up until now. Sufism ReOriented has never tried to convert people. Their numbers have remained the same for the past 40 years. How is building a new facility going to change the parking?
Roger Bird
7:48 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
As I commented on another recent Wendy Lack article, the parking for Sufism ReOriented will not change just because they get a new facility. They have not increased their numbers for the past 40 years. They do not try to convert people. Some people may be using the force of law to stop them, but the real problem of parking will be the same with the new facility as it is with the old facility, which is no problem. No one is complaining about their parking now.
Lauren Black
7:49 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The above comment patronizing people who have genuine concerns about a 66K square foot building is really unfair. This project has been mis-represented and details have been intentionally vague and sketchy. Anyone having a knee jerk reaction claiming religious discrimintation, hasn't really looked at the facts. Sufism-Reoriented isn't Muslim anyways, and so you why are you even making that claim? Before you publicly assert your bogus opinion, please do the research. The facts are a) the project intentionally misrepresented the number of parking spots by half b) Sufis have been taking over every board they can get onto to further their agenda. c) 66K building for a 500 person church they claim won't grow at all - ever and there are at least 35 toilets.
Thanks for being fair in reading about how Sufi's have mis-represented themselves to get on every board in the County so they can further their agenda too.
Roger Bird
10:35 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Lauren Black, I don't know anything directly about those presenting the project. The parking spaces are irrelevant since the Sufis don't increase their numbers anyway, they do not proselytize, and they have been in Saranap for 40 years. The only agenda that they have is to build a much nicer sanctuary and to be left alone.
My so-called bogus opinion has been formed from being around them closely from 1967 to 1996, and being more loosely associated with them since then. If they are "taking over" every board they can find, which is their perfect right under the Constitution, it is only to be able to have their new sanctuary which they assumed people would oppose, which you seem to be doing now.
And since your problem with them seems only to be the parking, can't you take my word for it they will not be expanding. They have not expanded for 40 years. They are not so obnoxious as to try to convert people.
Roger Bird
8:12 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Chris Nicholson, et. al.,
I have been loosely associated with Sufism ReOriented for the past 45 years.
Sufism ReOriented has been in Saranap for about the past 40 years. Which children have been harmed by them? The Meher School and/or White Pony School is run by Sufism ReOriented; who is complaining about Sufism ReOriented or the Meher/White Pony School trying to convert them or in some other way harmed them? There is nothing but glowing reports from graduates of the White Pony/Meher School.
A cult is easy to get into and difficult to get out of. A cult is happy to receive your money, but is a little tight-fisted about giving you money.
A spiritual order is difficult to get into and easy to get out of. Sufism has given me money; they have never asked me for money.
Sufism would not accept me into their order. I am not alone. Sufism is picky about who they let into their order. Cults look for people like me, people with personal problems. Do you see the difference?
They do tend to be a little exclusive, socially. Trust me, if they were a cult, they would be so freaking friendly towards outsiders that you would be complaining about how pushy they were.
Sincerely,
Roger Bird
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Chris Nicholson
9:20 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Where did I suggest that Sufis where physically dangerous?
It's a "cult" for sure, although I acknowledge that that is a loaded term with a lot of baggage. We can call them a "fringe group who venerate a man who took a 44 year vow of silence and presented himself as God incarnate" if you prefer-- although I'm not sure if that helps the cause....
Anyway, I don't care what people believe, but I empathize with those who prefer that their slightly kooky neighbors (judged versus mainstream beliefs) not build a massive new compound that will surely transform the flavor of the area by its mere presence.
Lauren Black
8:35 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
How does this fit in to the General Plan of the area ? A 66K Commercial Structure in an area zoned for modest 2K Residential Homes?
There needs to be an investigation.
Lafayette Curmudgeon
9:50 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
This is unincorporated Walnut Creek, if my memory serves. They answer only to the county not the Walnut Creek general plan.
Lissa Sorensen
9:30 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I have no problem with Sufis or their religion. I have a problem with great big UFO-type structures plunked down in the middle of residential neighborhoods.
Chris Nicholson
9:55 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I think the issues intersect and are non-separable. The visually distinctive features are apparently protected as being religiously significant. To make it smaller and "look like it fits in better" would, they presumably would say, violate their religious freedom....
Lafayette Curmudgeon
10:08 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I happen to think design review -- beyond neutral things like height restrictions/set backs/lot size -- is itself a violation of the First Amendment. If I want to express my self by building a 1600s thatched-roof cottage or a 1950s bungalow or a Bilbao-like Gehry monstrosity, I have a right to do that.
That said, there is no qualitative difference between this building and a Catholic or LDS or Episcopal Church.
Chris Nicholson
11:27 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Isn't "highly unusual" a qualitative factor?
I believe in free speech, but if my neighbor wanted to build a pink day-glow Ghery-esque structure, I would argue "time, place and manner" needed some respect, too.
JenC
12:40 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Hardly residential - there's a 7-eleven, multiple office buildings, recyling center, and other businesses (including the best sandwich shop in the East Bay).
Roger Bird
10:46 am on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
I am incapable of judging the appropriateness of the Sufis' proposed structure from Colorado Springs.
However, it would seem to me that if they are putting 2/3s of it underground, that this would be a strong effort on their part to fit in with the neighborhood. I know from hanging with them closely for 29 years that they did not decide to put the buildings underground for spiritual reasons because that would be roughly the opposite of what they would want to do, spiritually speaking. They sacrificed for the neighborhood by putting it partially underground.
Tim Davis
1:36 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
@JenC
.... NONE of the businesses you mention come close to the size of the proposed structure. I lived out that way for a time (renter) and you're all on top of one another. A big building with the kind of HVAC and utilities generation this one is going to need will make itself known beyond its designed scope.
Jack More
1:59 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Underground buildings do not leave me with a good feeling. SR is hell bent on building this strange spaceship building that they will then bury most of it for "spiritual reasons." Is it just me,or does that seem scary? Why underground? Who is going to pay for the heating and upkeep of this damp, cold, underground marble cave for centuries? How many millions of dollars will members need to donate in order to pay for heat, water, and upkeep costs?. Last I checked they had 53 employees. Can 350 (or so) (mostly) elderly members pay for that? Will they be able to do all the upkeep? No one in the community is going to be allowed inside. It is for Sufi's only. Even their own children and families are not allowed to certain events.
Roger Bird
2:28 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Jack, there is nothing to be afraid of with regard to the Sufis. I was friends with them and attended their meetings for 29 years, from Mrs. Duce to Jim Mackie to Carol Conner. I have never known a finer group of people in my life, and my only regret is that I am stuck out here in Colorado Springs.
But, they are not perfect, and if you look real hard, you may find that they are just as human as anyone else.
Hectar Macho Camacho
10:26 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
This proposed project of this organization is a failure.