Michigan Islamic Academy files a lawsuit against Pittsfield Twp. for religious discrimination

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) - A community center and a school.

That’s why Michigan Islamic Academy says it purchased a 26.9 acre piece of land in Pittsfield Township in 2010.

“This was no surprise to the township, we did all the traffic study's and everything asked of us” says Tarek Nahlawi of MIA.

Nahlawi says it was a surprise when the Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees rejected rezoning the land for the school.

At a press conference inside the Council  on American-Islamic Relations office, MIA announced it is filing a lawsuit against the Township for religious discrimination.  The school says it is the last resort in their effort to put a new building on the property at Golfside and Ellsworth Roads.

In the lawsuit, a planning commissioner  was quoted at a public hearing June 16th last year, as saying “the proposed school would have a big impact on the neighborhood and it would have an effect on property values.”

A volunteer with the Pittsfield Township Road Committee says the rejection has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with traffic concerns.

"You can't even make it up and down the road now with the school we already have" said Tom Zecher.

The Township will have 21 days to respond once it receives the lawsuit.