The Windsor Islamic Association says it wants to hold a public meeting soon to discuss the ongoing parking problem around its mosque on Dominion Blvd.
The City of Windsor plans to install bike lanes on Dominion, resulting in the loss of 50 parking spaces near the mosque in a neighbourhood already plagued with parking challenges. One solution is to allow parking on side streets, but many residents have signed a petition against it.
So far, much of the media coverage has focused on the mosque, but Lina Chaker, who handles media relations for the association, says the problem is bigger than the Windsor Mosque and its Friday prayers.
"We have a high school, Holy Names, as well as Northwood just a couple steps down the road," she says. "Even the schools, by themselves, can barely fit their parking lots."
The association released a statement Thursday morning in an attempt to clarify the situation.
"The Windsor Islamic Association, which is home to Windsor Mosque, is gravely concerned over news reports concerning the parking issue in the areas surrounding the mosque. Such reports... may be misinterpreted to suggest that we are in a dispute with our neighbours. While we intend to work with all involved parties to find a solution to this problem, we affirm our position that a solution cannot and should not be at the expense of our neighbours."
Similar sentiments have also been expressed by Sami Mazloum, a nearby resident who signed the petition. Wednesday, on Facebook he wrote, "the area over the past 20-25 years has experienced a boom. Thousands of new homes have been built in the area. This is great. The neighbourhood is flourishing. Except, while the city was happy to sit back and collect all the new revenues, they did not invest any of it back to the area in terms of infrastructure to handle the added traffic."
In his post, Mazloum makes some suggestions including pursuing government funding to upgrade Dominion Blvd., allowing a temporary parking lot for the mosque, and better communication with the school boards.
Ward 10 Councillor Paul Borrelli, responding to Mazloum's post suggests the city has discussed many options to resolve the issue but says "there are no magic wands here."
Chaker says the mosque has been working on both short and long-term solutions. In the long run, it hopes to establish a new mosque a short ten-minute drive away. In the meantime, it bought land behind the mosque with the hopes of expanding its parking lot. Unfortunately, the city said no.
"We've been really trying to strategize for the last decade almost, and we've invested in property surrounding the mosque," she says. "But we're also taking into consideration the residential component of the neighbourhood. You can't just put parking lots everywhere. So the solution for us right now is to establish that second facility."
A date for the public meeting has not yet been set, but Chaker says the hope is the community can find a compromise that works for everyone to take to the city for approval.