Here’s the article from today’s Wisconsin State Journal. The reason for refusal was parking–the proposed mosque is in a commercial development that has issues with parking and traffic. The commission’s decision is only advisory and the proposal will come up for a vote at City Council on May 3.

I don’t know the site, I’m not very familiar with Sun Prairie, but I do know from experience that proposed mosques, Buddhist or Hindu temples, even Mormon temples, are often opposed by neighborhood groups because of parking and traffic issues. Such issues are often cover for religious bigotry–one famous example of that was the proposed Mormon Temple in Nashville, TN in the 1990s.

In Greenville, the Masjid shared parking with a church. It worked out quite well, because the church didn’t need its parking lot on Friday afternoons.

I’m not going to cast aspersions on the members of Sun Prairie’s planning commission but I should think that instead of a blanket denial, one might come up with creative solutions to potential problems.

The Harvard Pluralism Project tracks such issues nationwide.