No extension yet, but Norwalk Council, judge to discuss Al Madany settlement progress

NORWALK, Conn. – Progress is being made in the discussions between the Al Madany Islamic Center and Norwalk, but a federal judge has not yet been convinced to grant an extension, a source close to the situation said.

The Common Council is holding an executive session at 5 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the situation, Corporation Counsel Mario Coppola said. A motion for more time in the case was filed Monday, according to the federal courts website. There is a phone conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon with Judge Michael Shea, the website says.

The judge wants to see what is going on, the source said. At this point, the parties are still under the same time constraints they referred to in the Zoning Commission public hearing, the source said.

Shea set, on Sept. 8, a deadline of Friday for both parties to submit a status report.

The source said the parties are talking about the “additional concerns” that were raised in both meetings.

The council tabled the expected vote on the settlement, citing the offer made by Al Madany spokesman Farhan Memon to put a two-year moratorium on building a mosque to allow time to find another location, if the settlement were approved, as well as a need to digest the enormous amount of information it has been provided.

As reported here Sept. 4, the court denied an earlier request for an extension of the deadlines for trial preparation, absent an extraordinary showing. Fact discovery must be completed by Oct. 21, including all depositions of many fact witnesses. Prior to the Counsel’s decision to table the proposal, Attorney Joseph Williams, part of the city’s legal team, said, “There is not a formal deadline for settlement, but if either body rejects the settlement, I would expect the parties to need to devote their full time and energy to preparing the case for a trial in fairly short order.”

At least one member of the Al Madany Islamic Center has taken offense at suggestions that another site be found.

“We don’t want to go to South Norwalk!” a man shouted at last week’s council meeting. Another member of the center escorted him from the room, as shown in the above video clip by Harold Cobin.