Murfreesboro mosque court fight heats up again

MURFREESBORO — The Tennessee Supreme Court will decide if it will review whether Rutherford County provided adequate public notice before approving plans for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.

And once again, the battle is heating up between those on both sides of the debate.

Tom Smith, an attorney for a group of residents challenging the mosque’s approval, said the high court should rule on the case — just as it did in a case in which it decided that neighbors in Rutherford County were not provided enough notice relating to a shooting range.

“It violates the due process,” said Smith, noting that residents were surprised to learn a large “Muslim training center” would be built near their homes with sports fields and a cemetery. “You have to notify the neighbors.”

Meanwhile, the county contends the Supreme Court should reject hearing the appeal of a ruling that upheld the way Rutherford County provided public notice before approving the mosque in 2010. In court documents, Josh McCreary, an attorney representing the county’s Regional Planning Commission, said the justices should deny the appeal because “there is no important question of law that needs to be settled.”

McCreary wants the high court to accept a May 29 Tennessee Court of Appeals decision that backed the local government’s method of providing public notice.

The appeals court reversed the ruling by Chancellor Robert Corlew III that the county failed to provide adequate public notice for an issue of great concern for the community.

The county announced the meeting time, date and location through a legal advertisement in The Murfreesboro Post, which was the common practice in recent years for meetings pertaining to site plans.

The Islamic Center last year moved into the building upon completion of the first 12,000 square feet.