By Ann Keil
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Plans are underway to open a new restaurant in a Fort Sanders neighborhood building that has sat empty for years. Its owner wants to serve alcohol, and that's a problem for members of the Muslim Community of Knoxville nearby.
The two buildings are 191 feet apart. The mosque is at 100 13th Street and the restaurant would be at 1105 Forest Avenue.
According to a Knoxville city ordinance, beer can't be sold within 300 feet of a house of worship. But as it turns out, there are other laws that make the issue more complicated.
"We assumed that in Knoxville, all houses of worship would have some sort of buffer," Nadeem Siddiqi says.
Siddiqi is talking about the building being renovated behind Annoor Mosque. It was once an eyesore.
In another month, it may become home to "The Hill," a restaurant that serves alcohol and has music and dancing.
"We're trying to promote some conservative behavior to some degree, and being right next to a nightclub seems like a bad location for us," Siddiqi says. Read more ...
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Plans are underway to open a new restaurant in a Fort Sanders neighborhood building that has sat empty for years. Its owner wants to serve alcohol, and that's a problem for members of the Muslim Community of Knoxville nearby.
The two buildings are 191 feet apart. The mosque is at 100 13th Street and the restaurant would be at 1105 Forest Avenue.
According to a Knoxville city ordinance, beer can't be sold within 300 feet of a house of worship. But as it turns out, there are other laws that make the issue more complicated.
"We assumed that in Knoxville, all houses of worship would have some sort of buffer," Nadeem Siddiqi says.
Siddiqi is talking about the building being renovated behind Annoor Mosque. It was once an eyesore.
In another month, it may become home to "The Hill," a restaurant that serves alcohol and has music and dancing.
"We're trying to promote some conservative behavior to some degree, and being right next to a nightclub seems like a bad location for us," Siddiqi says. Read more ...
Source: WATE
H/T: Jihad Watch / Atlas Shrugs
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