Source: The Herald-Dispatch

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2004/April/21/LNtop2.htm

On April 21, 2004 The Herald-Dispatch reported, " A group of Huntington residents have asked that the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals overturn a decision to allow the Huntington Muslim Association to build a mosque in their neighborhood. The Planning Commission earlier this month voted 5-1 in favor of granting a special permit to the Muslim Association so it can build a mosque in a residential zone. The Muslim Association wants to build the mosque in a vacant, wooded area off of Bethel Road in Huntington’s Beverly Hills neighborhood. An access road would be built from Bethel Road, a dead-end street with five homes, to the mosque. Bethel Road residents and some of their neighbors on Norway Avenue say they fear the mosque would ruin the residential atmosphere and increase traffic on the narrow roads. One resident also says the property on which the mosque would be built is an abandoned cemetery and should not be disturbed. 'Our opposition to this has absolutely nothing to do with religion or the mosque itself,' said Roy Childers, a Bethel Road resident who was one of 34 people to sign a petition opposing the mosque. 'We just think it’s an awful lot of traffic to put on these narrow streets.'"