LEWISTON — A former city councilor wants a look at the city’s reasoning behind allowing a mosque to operate across Bartlett Street from his property.
Denis Theriault filed a Freedom of Access Act request with the city Monday to gain access to all e-mails and notes written by city staff regarding a November 2009 approval to locate a mosque at 256 Bartlett St.
The mosque was approved by city staff in November 2009, while Theriault was a member of the Lewiston City Council.
Theriault alleges that members of the 256 Bartlett St. mosque regularly park on his property, taking spaces from his tenants. He also alleges that mosque members responded angrily when he complained — using their cars to block his driveways, leaving trash behind, throwing rocks onto his property and destroying his first “No Trespassing” sign.
“I’m just trying to find out where the mistake was made when they approved this,” Theriault said. “I’m trying to understand the reasoning behind all of this.”
The city’s approval of the Bartlett Street mosque required building owner Joseph Jenkins to provide 17 parking spaces nearby and to limit occupancy to 98 people at a time.
As many as 10 spaces were rented from a nearby property, according to an occupancy permit approved by the city. That permit is scheduled to expire in February 2011, when the lease on the off-site parking spaces expires.
According to city documents, the mosque lot has room for up to seven parking spaces on the property, but only if members drive onto property belonging to the next-door neighbor, Sparta Vending owner Elmer Berry.
“I don’t understand how the city can approve the parking if they have to trespass onto another person’s property to reach their parking spaces,” Theriault said. “As far as I know, the owner of that property was never asked for permission. So how can they grant access to his property without asking the owner?”
Theriault also said city staff should have notified neighbors of the decision.
“But I never got a letter in the mail, telling me about this,” Theriault said. “The city said I had 30 days to appeal the staff’s decision. Well, it’s tough to appeal if you don’t know that the decision has been made.”
Gil Arsenault, director of planning and code enforcement, said city staff approves a number of permits without notifying neighbors.
Arsenault also said that Theriault was notified of the plans as a member of the council in an e-mail from then-Acting City Administrator Phil Nadeau.
“Even if he didn’t get an official letter from the city, I think it’s a bit of stretch to say that he was unaware of the decision,” Arsenault said.
In an e-mail to Theriault on Tuesday, Arsenault said he would provide copies of e-mails regarding the mosque and staff notes by the end of next week.
Mayor Larry Gilbert said he hoped to bring in a mediator to help iron out differences between Theriault and the mosque.
“We want someone who would be impartial,” Gilbert said. “We want someone who’s not employed by the city or anything — just a citizen who has this kind of background, helping to settle matters.”
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