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Vote for proposed mosque in Virginia Beach now postponed

Posted at 7:01 PM, Sep 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-09-10 19:01:58-04

Virginia Beach, Va. - Virginia Beach City Council won't be voting on a proposed mosque to be built on Salem Road. That vote has been pushed back two weeks.

It comes at the request of the mosque's attorney, Edward Bourdon.

He tells NewsChannel 3 that they want to meet with neighbors like Lou Rosario to address their concerns.

"Unless they fix the infrastructure of this road, unless they widen the road to handle the capacity, you can have more accidents,” says Rosario.

In August, the city planning commission unanimously approved a permit to Crescent Community Center to build the mosque.Now it needs final approval from city council.

Rosario admits some neighbors don't want a mosque built there for religious reasons, but he's mainly worried about increased traffic.

The mosque's attorney told NewsChannel 3 that the road is way under capacity right now.

He says the center wouldn't have organized services, so he doesn't expect more traffic.

But in Rosario's research, he says the road is actually over capacity.

"There's over 18,000 vehicles that drive on this. This is a rural road, 18,000 cars is more like a highway,” says Rosario.

City council will now hold a vote on September 24th.

Next week, religious leaders are set to meet with Rosario and other neighbors to go over any issues.