Town delays decision on Islamic land request
Walkersville, Maryland, delays decision on Islamic land request amidst infrastructure talk and underlying concerns of a jihad camp
Citizens for Walkersville spokesman Steven Berryman called the accumulation of data, expert analysis and town-approved opinions opposed to an Islamic land request a success in itself.
Walkersville town leaders delayed a decision this week on an Islamic land request to build a 40,000 square-foot facility on 225 acres of land across from a high school.
Berryman told PRB News the citizens of Walkersville had their complete say, and he gave praise to town leaders for a fair opportunity to allow everyone an airing of their views.
“We know that we will prevail based upon the merits of the case alone,” he said. “There are well over 1,000 pages of detailed testimony to review, including Robert McGill's 45 page brief.”
Berryman said the decision delay is understandable, considering the amount of material. “They will legitimately need two to three weeks to reach a decision,” he said.
“They need to review, especially since the Appeals Board has been uniformly and scrupulously fair throughout.”
Opinions expressed in media circles included former Walkersville town commissioner Joseph Magluilo, Jr., a former Board of Appeals member up to 2000.
Magluilo responded to criticism of the resident group bigoted of “good people,” including hits from “Nicodemus Farm“ developer H. Moxley. “It should be mentioned his land was purchased agricultural and continues to be zoned agricultural,” Magluilo said.
“Rezoning and development have repeatedly been denied and, this may surprise you, all of this occurred long before there was any mention of anyone’s religion, Muslim or Methodist.”
* Citizens For Walkersville to be served on legal action
A new wrinkle in the residents’ struggle is a lawsuit pending by lawyers representing Moxley.
“We have already been told by [Moxley’s] law firm that they will sue us under [a stated actionable] law, which is interesting in and of itself, as this shows prejudice on their part,“ Berryman said.
Christian Action Network president Martin Mawyer, informed of the deepening dispute by supporters living near the area, said he is not at all surprised by Moxley’s claim.
“If past is prologue, there are Islamic groups willing to pay about five times whatthe land is worth; I’m sure Moxley put money into his deal, and he stands to lose out,” Mawyer said.
“I feel for the good people of Walkersville,” Mawyer added. “There are some good people being unfairly persecuted through the courts.”
Berryman said the Walkersville residents are a model of local action to protect their community, officially recognized, he added.
“I could not be more proud of our Citizens For Walkersville organization,” he said. “We have already been recognized as a role-model grassroots organization for political-action by several groups.”