Group Objects To Settlement Over Planned Sterling Heights Mosque

STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ/AP) - A group of residents is objecting to a settlement that was reached to allow construction of a mosque in a Macomb County neighborhood.

Sterling Heights City Council voted last month to accept the settlements, including one in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. attorney's office and one filed by the mosque.

The American Freedom Law Center filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court on behalf of the residents, saying the city's zoning ordinances are being violated. Mayor Michael Taylor tells WDIV-TV it's a "very frivolous lawsuit."

Click here to see a copy of the complaint (.pdf format)

Plans for the mosque, along 15 Mile Road between Ryan and Mound roads, were denied in 2015. The city at the time had said the American Islamic Community Center's application was denied because of concerns about parking, traffic, and the size of the mosque dome and spires, not because of religion.

Sterling Heights