From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Oct 16 2008 - 09:47:03 EDT
News and Information for the Town of Goffstown
Published Wednesday, October 15, 2008 4:19 PM by Goffstown Editor
Man says civil rights violated *
BY STEPHEN BEALE
*
The man who wanted to build a slaughterhouse to meet the Muslim dietary
standards his family follows is accusing the Goffstown Zoning Board of
racial and religious discrimination.
Negash Abdelkader wanted to build the slaughterhouse at his 83 Joppa Hill
Road home, close to the Bedford town line. The land is in an agricultural
district, but the Zoning Board last month said it could not grant a special
exception since Abdelkader would be using the property as both a residence
and animal processing facility. The board said he instead should apply for a
variance. But Abdelkader suspects that board members were biased against him
because he is a Muslim.
"Not only that, I happen to be black and African American, and all the
negative things they can see in my face," he said. "I am a minority in a
minority."
On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the board refused to hold a rehearing on the issue,
letting its September decision stand. Abdelkader said he is determined to
fight for what he says are his civil rights and said he had sent a copy of
his rehearing request to Hillsborough County Superior Court.
"We're proud of who we are," Abdelkader said. "We are not going to change
our name. We are not going to change our religion. It's a free country. We
are protected under the Constitution of this great nation."
Abdelkader arrived in the United States 26 years ago when his native
country, Eritrea, was mired in a decades-long war of independence from
Ethiopia. But the man who came to this country seeking refuge and says he is
proud now to be an American citizen does not feel that welcome in Southern
New Hampshire.
After he proposed the slaughterhouse, a number of Bedford residents
circulated a petition warning that the smells and noise of animals being
killed would be a nuisance to the neighborhood. The petition also said the
operation would dump more traffic on a dirt road and alter the character of
the residential neighborhood.
*Not welcome in New Hampshire?*
In a letter to the Zoning Board, Abdelkader blames Zoning Board members for
making a "political decision" that bowed to public pressure from Bedford
residents.
He said the issue has made life difficult for his family, who he says have
been the victims of harassment. After one of the Zoning Board meetings,
Abdelkader said some people tailgated him as he drove, screaming racial
slurs and obscenities at him and yelling that he should "go home." He said
beer cans have been thrown onto his yard and dumped in his trash cans.
"I feel like I am not welcome in that town," Abdelkader said. "I feel that
my family is not even safe in that area, to be honest with you."
As evidence that the Zoning Board is tilted unfairly against him, Abdelkader
said he has never seen the board vote unanimously against projects as it did
in September and earlier this week. He said the rationale that multiple uses
were not allowed on his land without a variance was not valid, since that
practice has been allowed elsewhere in Goffstown and other New Hampshire
towns.
Zoning Board responds: No prejudice involved Members of the Zoning Board
denied charges of racism or religious bias, saying their decision was based
on a technicality and that Abdelkader is certainly welcome to apply for a
variance.
Board Chairman Cathy Whooten said the board takes seriously its
responsibility to follow the town zoning ordinance. She said the special
exception was denied, not on any merits, but for technical reasons, after
determining he needed a variance, not a special exception.
"We are not as a board, individually or, you know, collectively, basing any
of our decisions on race, religion or the neighborhood, or pressures from
the neighborhood," Whooten said.
"We are all very open-minded and we try to respect the civil liberties of
all applicants." Leonard Stuart, an alternate member who voted on the issue
both times, agreed there was no bias.
"I don't feel that there was any bias involved in either of the decisions,"
Stuart said. "It had nothing to do with Mr. Abdelkader's race. It had
nothing to do with religion. Certainly there is nothing personal or
political involved in it."
Stuart said the September decision had a clear-cut legal basis. He said the
board was acting on a letter from a town attorney explaining that a
variance, not a special exception was required.
Stuart said the town zoning ordinance does not allow two principal uses on
the same property. The attorney said the slaughterhouse, as a commercial
operation, would constitute second principal use, in addition to its use as
a home for Abdelkader, his wife and three children.
Stuart said Abdelkader would have an opportunity to return to the board with
an application for a variance, which he said would receive a full and fair
hearing.
In fact, at the same meeting where the board decided against rehearing its
decision on the special request, Whooten said it had taken a step to
expedite the process for applying for a variance. She said the board gave
Abdelkader an opportunity to notify the town of Bedford, abutters from that
town and the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission when he applies for
the variance.
Otherwise, had he applied and the board determined at its next meeting that
the project had a "regional impact," it would have had to postpone the
hearing on the variance until those groups could be notified, according to
Whooten.
Theresa Walton, a Zoning Board member, also defended her colleagues. Though
she was not present for the two votes in question, she said the board is
bound by strict rules that leave no room for personal opinion.
"The board has very very specific rules we have to follow on what we can and
can't do. Our votes are based on state laws," Walton said. "You can't just
deny something because you don't like a person for any reason."
Before submitting a variance application, Abdelkader said he would need to
meet with his attorney, noting that this issue has already been dragged out
over what now are four Zoning Board meetings.
"There has to be something adjusted, something corrected before I can even
attempt to apply for a variance," he said. "This whole process has been a
mess from the beginning."
Published Wednesday, October 15, 2008 4:19 PM by Goffstown
Editor<http://cs.newhampshire.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=2119>
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