Hearing Today on Buddhist Building
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 16, 2007;
Page B01
Bill Aiken was in a Buddhist peace march on the eve of the Iraq war, walking down Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington, when he saw a "For Sale" sign on a vacant Embassy Row lot.
He thought the site would be ideal for Soka Gakkai International-USA to build a center for about 400 Buddhist worshipers who meet just outside the city in Mount Rainier.
|
John Magnus, who heads opposition to the Buddhist temple, says it will disrupt traffic. Officials with the temple say it will include two sanctuaries. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post) TOOLBOXCOMMENT Discussion Policy Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. |
Now, two years after SGI, a U.S. Buddhist association, bought the $2 million property and six months after it began construction, the project faces opposition from residents who are challenging the definition of the center as a house of worship.
A group of about 50 families says the Buddhists are building a community center, not a place of worship that can be legally constructed without plodding through the cumbersome zoning process for an exemption. Under District zoning laws, religious organizations can build places of worship in a residential area as a "matter of right."
"This is not anti-religious and not anti-Buddhist," said John Magnus, a community activist. "This is about proper enforcement of the law. If this category is open, any group can get together and say, 'We can construct a building and call it a house of worship and get this matter-of-right status.' From our point of view, it's fraudulent."
Religious officials and residents are scheduled to appear at 1 p.m. today at One Judiciary Square before the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment to air their arguments. The residents are appealing a decision by the city's zoning administrator this year.
The property in dispute is in the shadow of Washington National Cathedral and a block from the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Cheney lives. It is beside the historic Babcock-Macomb House, the embassy of Cape Verde.
The two-story building, which is half-completed, is to include classrooms, meeting rooms and two sanctuaries.
"It's a lovely location," said Aiken, an official with the U.S. Buddhist group. "It's Embassy Row. The fact that it would be the first Buddhist center on a street that has major centers of religion was a plus, for sure. That point wasn't lost on us."
Aiken said his group held four informational meetings in the neighborhood and changed its plans to appease residents. Three stories had originally been proposed. Aiken disputes the assertion that the building won't be a house of worship.
"I don't know how to respond other than to say, yes, it will," he said. "If I were to take that statement seriously, I would be offended on behalf of my religion that Buddhist practice doesn't qualify as worship. There's potential discrimination in that argument."
The opponents, who call themselves the Friends of the Babcock-Macomb House, are led by Magnus, who has planted two bright-yellow signs in the yard of the red brick home where he has lived for six years: "Save our historic neighborhood. Say 'NO' to massive office and conference center."