SNOHOMISH — A 5.5-acre State Street site may be used as a religious center, subject to constraints.
Snohomish County Hearing Examiner Peter Camp approved a conditional use permit March 16 allowing The Husaynia Islamic Society of Seattle to host worship services by remodeling a converted horse barn on the property.
County code permits religious facilities as conditional uses on the rural R-5 land that encompasses this unincorporated community south of Snohomish.
Neighbors opposing Husaynia’s permit have bemoaned that section of the code.
In public hearings, several complained of excessive noise and traffic during temporary Husaynia services on the site.
But Camp ruled sound from the remodeled mosque is likely to fall within county limits, noting Husaynia has held services in a rented church building in Kenmore for several years with no complaints.
He limited outdoor noise by prohibiting use of loudspeakers or any other ambient amplification on the property, including amplification of voices and musical instruments.
Camp also directed Husaynia to repair and maintain a six-foot tall wooden perimeter fence, minimize lighting spillover, and incorporate natural landscape buffering.
As for traffic, the Husaynia site plan meets county code. “There is no legal basis for denying the proposal,” Camp wrote.
“The argument that a religious worship facility degrades rural character is contradicted by the text of the comprehensive plan exempting such facilities from building size limits and by the fact that attending religious services is considered by many to be a traditional rural activity that contributes to the overall quality of life,” Camp wrote on how a religious center is consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan for Rural R-5 land uses.
Zahra Abidi, Husaynia president, called the decision very fair.
“We are elated, and so relieved and so humbled,” she said. “We worked so hard for this.”
Husaynia is a minority Shiite religion whose few Seattle-area followers are widely scattered. They spent three years looking for land for their new center.
“You build where you can,” Abidi said.
She said the organization plans to remodel the barn, install sewage pipes and begin landscaping concurrently. If all goes well, the mosque will host services within a year.
The conditional use permit expires after five years or if Husaynia stops using the site as a religious facility for more than a year.
If Husaynia conveys the property to a different religious group, that group must apply for a new conditional use permit.
