New Sikh Gurdwara Sparks Debate in Washington

November 9, 2000

Source: The Washington Post

On November 9, 2000,the Washington Post reported that "after two years of waiting, and over the continuing objections of concerned neighbors, a local Sikh religious community got the go-ahead last week from the Montgomery County Planning Commission to build a temple just outside Laytonsville. Called a Gurdwara, or 'door to the master,' the two-story, 35-foot-tall building is to be constructed on a six-acre lot at Woodfield and Warfield roads, along with a 75-space parking lot...The roughly 700 Sikhs to be served by the Gurdwara, many of whom are natives of India's northern Punjab state, hope to begin construction in April and finish late next year, according to Ujagar Singh Bawa, 72, a spokesman for the group. But Shep Bostin, chairman of the board of the nearby Manor Ridge Homeowners Association, said this week that the association may consider filing suit to stop the project so further study can be done. He said the temple is planned at an intersection that at times is one of the most congested in the county. Residents are worried that the project could create even more traffic at the intersection, or push it into the neighborhood...County officials said the project already has been scaled back somewhat to meet neighbors' complaints, including concerns about planned 25-foot light poles in the parking lot and the lack of screening between the parking lot and nearby homes...But Bostin said other new religious centers already are cropping up along Woodfield Road. He said residents fear that Woodfield Road could become 'New Hampshire Avenue, west,' so called because of the numerous churches and religious structures built along that thoroughfare in recent years...Bawa, of Potomac, a retired professor of econometrics at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, said there are about 5,000 Sikhs in the Washington area and Sikh temples in Silver Spring and Fairfax. He said the planned temple would cater to Sikhs in Gaithersburg, Rockville, Damascus and Germantown who worship in a community center in Gaithersburg. Services would be held Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. Ideally, he said, a Sikh priest would live on site."