Madina Community Center will likely have to vacate Burnsville space

What they wanted was a gathering place. Classrooms for children to learn on weekends; a prayer hall for their parents to congregate on Fridays.

Madina Community Center, a nonprofit catering to Burnsville's Somali population, set up shop in an old office space in November after outgrowing its original location.

"We were looking for a new location, a little bit bigger, in which we could serve the community," said Khadar Abdi, the center's director.

But they didn't know the space they were renting — in a largely vacant complex off McAndrews Road — was zoned to allow only offices.

After going through the municipal process to change zoning provisions at the site, the community center's plans to renovate and occupy the space long-term were halted by a Planning Commission vote Tuesday night. About 40 residents showed up to express concerns about increased traffic and parking shortages, and the commission voted unanimously to deny the zoning change.

If the City Council follows suit, the community center will have until early June to vacate the site. Property owner Eleven Investments LLC did not respond to requests for comment.

Madina Community Center serves about 180 students and their families, Abdi said. Classes are held on Saturdays and Sundays, and there were plans to add Friday prayer.

"We wanted businesses Monday through Friday so we could have our weekends," said Jim Giebel, who lives across from the site. "Obviously, the proposal that the applicant has before us is just the opposite of that."

Concerns also emerged about parking at the site, particularly from business owners. Chad Renwick, who operates a chiropractic practice there, said losing parking spots to the community center "would definitely ruin my business."

Multiple residents raised concerns about the building owner, and said it seemed the community center had been misled about the zoning. But there's also been confusion about what the center is — notably in letters the city received from residents who said they didn't want a mosque in the area.

"We tried to explain the difference between a mosque and having a prayer hall as part of a school," said architect Rick Lavelle. "Did I get a phone call or two from people who were deliberately being evasive and not giving good, logical reasons [for opposing the project]? Yes."

After Tuesday's vote, residents shared hearty handshakes and then pooled noisily into the lobby. Some stopped to chat with Abdi and some of his fellow teachers and community members, who'd spent the meeting sitting in the front row of the council chambers.

Emma Nelson • 952-746-3287