Dispute between Los Gatos mosque and its neighbors drags on as occupancy cap is questioned

Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News on Aug 19, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

After 2½ years of bickering with their neighbors, the operators of Los Gatos’ only mosque will have to wait even longer for a decision after the town council on Tuesday night allowed discussions to continue to a date uncertain.

The West Valley Muslim Association applied in 2024 to update its conditional use permit with the Town of Los Gatos to extend its operating hours to accommodate morning, nightly and Ramadan prayers at the mosque on Farley Road. However, residents living near the mosque complained that the mosque’s services disrupt their quality of life with vehicle noise and lights.

The planning commission eventually approved the association’s permit in April with 33 conditions, which included requiring the mosque’s parking lot to be renovated within a year, and capped the occupancy of the mosque based on the number of parking spaces provided.

Mosque leaders challenged the commission’s decision in June, arguing that some of the conditions “substantially burden” their ability to exercise their religion based on subjective complaints, which could be a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law protecting religious organizations from discrimination in land use cases.

The residents then formed the Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition and followed up with an appeal to urge the town to reject the mosque’s permit modification.

At Tuesday’s meeting WVMA founder Razi Mohiuddin requested that the town continue discussions about the appeal to September to allow for the association to determine why the Santa Clara County Fire Department reassessed their mosque’s occupancy limits from 1,214 for all three auditoriums to 566 last month. Mohiuddin said the occupancy limit for the facility was 682 in 1990.

“We need to understand what has transpired between the 1990 number and why the approval that was received from the deputy fire marshal for 1,214 is not acceptable,” Mohiuddin said.

According to WVMA’s answers to staff’s questions in their conditional use permit application in April 2025, the three prayer halls total 6,083 square feet. Based on a publicly available occupancy load calculator using the 2024 International Building Code and International Fire Code, WVMA’s Farley Road location can hold 1,217 people, assuming that its function is assembly with standing space, which allows for 5 square feet per person.

James Ratcliff spoke for the Farley Road Neighborhood Coalition, agreeing that a continuance is necessary because of the change in the occupancy limit count. He said the coalition was requesting communication and site visit records from this year and last year, the building plans with room occupancy loads and calculations and an explanation “why the earlier numbers weren’t accurate.”

Mohiuddin had initially suggested that the council provide a certain date to continue the discussions. Mayor Rob Moore suggested scheduling the discussion for Sept. 15. Council members agreed on the urgency of the situation, but given that it was unknown when the appellants data requests would be fully satisfied, the council unanimously voted to grant a continuance to a date uncertain.

Moore acknowledged that the appellants were asking for numerous kinds of documents, including the fire department’s occupancy study, building plans and traffic studies. Town attorney Gabrielle Whelan advised that it may not be feasible to set a date because staff would have to wait to get the information, review it and form the staff reports to release to the public.

_____