A plan to build the nation's first Muslim summer camp has angered residents who say it would threaten the environment, their rural lifestyle and the nation's security.
Homeowners became concerned in 1999 when the Cedar Rapids-based Muslim Youth Camps of America filed an application to lease 106 acres along Coralville Lake, about five miles north of Iowa City. After Sept. 11, 2001, the voices grew more strident.
``I have no doubt it will draw people from all over the world, and I think we have to think about security,'' said Bob Lisenbee, who lives nearby. ``Not everyone thinks of the United States in the best eyes. In this day and age, we have to think about those kinds of things.''
The property, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, served for decades as a summer retreat for Girl Scouts, but has been vacant since a 1990 fire destroyed the camp's rustic lodge.
Plans now under review include 10 new cabins, a caretaker's residence and paved parking for 66 vehicles, a beach and boat docks. The centerpiece of the $2 million plan is a 17,500-square-foot lodge with meeting rooms, restrooms and dining and kitchen facilities.
``It will have a lot of beneficial uses,'' said Manzoor Ali, chairman of the board of directors for Muslim Youth Camps of America, a nonprofit he likened to the YMCA. ``We will open it to people of all creeds to get to know and better understand one another.
The camp will offer social activities and sports, such as swimming and basketball, as well as classes in computer training, religious affairs and international relations.
But it's not the project's well-intentioned mission that has neighbors campaigning against it.
Opposition and frustration with the corps intensified last month when the agency released a study finding no significant impact on the environment and recommending the lease.
``We vehemently disagree,'' said Lynn Kenney, who lives across the street and belongs to the neighborhood association fighting the proposal. Construction would lead to the cutting of 403 trees, while the noise from campers and cars would forever alter the neighborhood's peaceful appeal, Kenney said.
Critics said they find it hard to believe that facilities designed for 136 campers in the summer and 80 off-season guests would not threaten the lake, speed erosion or exceed wastewater standards.
``It's a far bigger use of the property than what had been there before,'' said Kenney, a 10-year resident. ``If this was the same kind of use as the Girl Scouts, nobody would be upset.''
But Karen Haggerty, project manager for the corps, said the proposal incorporates much of the site previously used by the Girl Scouts and fits with the master plan written in 1961 to manage the 25,000-acre Coralville Lake recreation area.
The public has until Jan. 2 to submit written comments to the environmental report. Haggerty said if the agency determines no new issues have been raised, the lease will be approved.