After more than seven months of public hearings, the Town of North Hempstead voted along party lines to deny the Hillside Islamic Center’s expansion plan, citing concerns about public safety and other concerns presented by neighbors.

The Hillside Islamic Center in New Hyde Park had proposed a plan to expand the existing mosque by building a third story on the already existing two-story structure and increasing the square footage from 5,428 square feet to 6,600 square feet.

The proposal also included expanding the center’s parking lot onto the three surrounding parcels of land, which the mosque purchased, to provide 63 more parking spaces. The expansion was intended to relieve congregation and ease traffic impacts on the neighborhood.

The attorney representing the mosque, Kathleen Deegan Dickson, said the proposal was intended to accommodate the center’s current congregation, not to increase its size.

“‘If we build it they will come’: that is not the purpose of this application,” Deegan Dickson said. “This application is really ‘they have come’ and we need to build something so that we can accommodate them and try to alleviate some of the pressure on the neighborhood.”

The town board voted against accepting the mosque’s site plan proposal at a special meeting Tuesday night, with four of the seven members voting against the proposal.

The four members – Republican Councilmembers Ed Scott, Dennis Walsh, David Adhami and Supervisor Jennifer DeSena – cited their negative vote to concerns for public safety and calls for more action to address the current issues at hand.

Democratic Councilmembers Robert Troiano and Christine Liu voted to accept the proposal, with Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte abstaining.

Troiano said he voted to approve the proposal as it was within the town’s code and did not request any variances, saying he had faith in the town’s building department to ensure the construction was compliant and safe.

Liu, when explaining her vote to approve the proposal, said Town Attorney Richard Nicolello advised them that rejecting the application might be considered discrimination,

Nicolello denied saying the vote could be considered discriminatory, calling it an “inaccurate summary.”

Legal questions surrounding the proposal were discussed during an executive session called during the public hearing.

“Religious freedom is a very important tenant of our society,” Deegan Dickson said. “Local governments have a right, have an obligation to not make the practice of one’s religion more burdensome. We’re trying to make the practice of their religion less burdensome not only for themselves but for the neighborhood.”

Dalimonte said she voted to abstain because she was “second-guessing” how to vote after Adhami voted against the proposal, saying that he was closest to the issue since the center was part of his district before redistricting and he was heavily involved in the application process.

The proposal faced opposition from its surrounding neighbors, with 16 residents speaking during public comment who all opposed the expansion and urged the board to vote “no.”

Much of the concerns of the residents focused on the mosque’s Friday services, which is when it hosts the most congregates during its afternoon prayer session, and the traffic congestion that it causes.

“We live with it every Friday afternoon,” neighboring resident Joe D’Amico said. “It’s like we get a swarm.”

To ease traffic congestion, the mosque also added a third service on Fridays intended.

One of the main issues expressed by residents was mosque congregants parking illegally in surrounding areas, sometimes blocking neighbors’ driveways and parking in local shopping center parking lots.

Residents said they were also concerned about public safety, with the parking of the congregants potentially preventing emergency vehicles from accessing the neighborhood’s narrow roads or blocking residents’ cars in their driveways.

The mosque had hired an outside security company to police parking throughout the neighborhood. Mosque community members have also volunteered to prevent parking and traffic issues.

In tandem with the mosque’s impact on the neighborhood, some residents expressed concerns about it changing the character of the neighborhood.

Neighboring resident Marietta DiCamillo called the neighborhood “too small, too busy, too residential, too narrow-streeted,” saying it is unable to support the current mosque let alone its proposed expansion.

“We live in the suburbs,” DiCamillo said, “and would like to maintain it.”

Multiple other residents also expressed concerns about the safety of the building’s construction and the number of occupants in the mosque – which some residents estimated to reach upwards of 400 congregants despite an occupancy set at around 110.

Troiano said the construction of the building would be subject to review by the building inspector once a building proposal was submitted. A building proposal would have been the next step if the site plan proposal was approved.