Plans for a mosque to be constructed by the Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) New Jersey on Old Trenton Road are currently winding through West Windsor’s Community Development Department.
IIS wants to develop 7.17 acres of currently vacant land at 2030 Old Trenton Road into a house of worship for its congregation. The plans would require a use variance from the township’s Zoning Department because the property is currently located in the RO-1 zone, which permits research and office uses.
IIS has submitted the plans and some renderings as part of a Zoning Board application, but the application is not yet complete. A public hearing, therefore, has not yet been set.
According to the plans submitted, IIS wants to construct a facility that includes “a house of worship, multi-purpose hall, offices, a daycare facility, kitchen, adult social area including a kitchen and housing for its spiritual leader, and a health care facility” at the site.
The proposed location fronts what is known as Old Trenton Road (Mercerville-Edinburg Road, or Mercer County Route 535), near Windsor Center Drive in East Windsor and Dorchester Drive/ Dantone Boulevard in West Windsor.
According to documents submitted as part of the application, the IIS is currently located at 379 Princeton-Hightstown Road in East Windsor, but is outgrowing its current location.
“Since 1996, IIS has been renting space in nearby office building located at 379 Princeton-Hightstown Road, on the border of West Windsor and East Windsor, and using it as a makeshift mosque,” stated the document. “Because of its growing membership, IIS moved into a larger space (7,000 square feet) which is still not adequate” to meet its needs.
The application states that over 400 Muslim families live in West Windsor and surrounding area — of which approximately 130 families are active in IIS.
However, membership is projected to grow by 3 to 5 percent every year to approximately 200 families in the next five years and to approximately 250 families in the next 10 years, the application states. Most of the members are medical doctors, engineers, IT consultants, or bankers and have been living in West Windsor and the surrounding areas, the application states.
The proposed two-story building for the site would have a footprint of 15,000 square feet. On the first floor, there would be a prayer hall of about 3,500 square feet and a similarly-sized multi-purpose room with seating for about 170 people. There would also be smaller rooms, including an office, conference room, library, clinic/exam room, and food preparation room.
The second floor would feature an open Sunday School area of about 5,000 square feet and eight classrooms with 16 desks each (for a total of 128 students). There would also be smaller rooms, including a housing for the Imam (high priest), two guest rooms, an office, and food handling room, as well as storage.
“The building is to be positioned centrally on the site and oriented toward Mecca, a requirement of Islam,” states the application.
Access to the site would come in the form of a full-movement driveway off of Old Trenton Road, with parking on the north and east sides of the building, totaling 218 spaces, as well as a rear grass-paver emergency access along the west border of the site.
This is not the first application to come before the township’s Zoning Board with regard to a use variance on the site. The former owner, Brian Brouda — with whom IIS is under contract for purchase — received Zoning Board approval in 2004 to construct a two-story 53,153-square foot health and fitness club at the same site. The site would have included a cafe, spa, beauty salon, and a 208-car parking lot.
Those plans were never developed.
However, “in comparison to the approved plan, the building is smaller (30,000 square feet versus 53,000 square feet), with more parking,” stated the application for the mosque.
The application cites the various religious observances at the site. The first use would be for five daily prayer times (in the morning before sunrise, afternoon, late afternoon, after sunset, and in the evening). During the first four daily prayers, about 10 to 15 attend the service, which lasts about 10 minutes. Daily evening prayers at 8 p.m. usually generate about 20 to 25 people for a 25-minute service.
Weekly Friday afternoon prayers between 1 and 2 p.m. usually generate 150 members, while the weekly lectures and seminars every Friday after the evening prayer at 8 p.m. generate between 30 and 50 people for the 45-minute lecture.
The other times the mosque would be utilized is during the Islamic month of Ramadan, where daily evening prayers draw 100 people on weekdays and 100 people on weekends. The annual Eid-ul-Fitr program at the end of the month of Ramadan, takes place between 8 and 10 a.m. and generates 200 people.
The annual Eid-ul-Adha — the 10th day of the Islamic month of Zil Hajj — generates a morning congregation of 200 people for a one-hour prayer service.
The mosque will also house school on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for approximately 125 students, ages 7 to 18, where religious education is taught. The mosque will also serve as the venue for weekly youth meetings, free lectures, and other meetings.
Listed on the Board of Trustee on the application is Shafiq Ahmed of Saratoga Drive in Princeton Junction, as well as Qaiser H. Usmani and Ziaur Rehman, both of Cranbury.
The application for use variance states that “the public interest at stake is freedom of religion, a fundamental constitutional right. Furthermore, the use serves a local population and is central to the population is serves.”
