Source: The Chicago Tribune
On March 9, 2004 The Chicago Tribune reported, "Addressing some of the legal issues in a dispute over Muslim prayer services being held in a residential neighborhood, Morton Grove trustees voted Monday night to ease zoning requirements for public assembly. The 5-1 vote came during a contentious meeting in which many of the roughly 100 residents who attended said the Village Board was ignoring their views. Although the ordinance was a technical update to zoning law, the subtext was clear: It addresses regulations surrounding the dispute over whether a Muslim organization has the right to hold prayer services at a site where it lacks zoning authorization to do so. The group, the Muslim Community Center, has held classes and services in a residential section of Morton Grove for 15 years, but traffic and parking congestion caused by the meetings have rankled neighbors."