Los Gatos mosque seeks more leeway as Ramadan begins, but neighbors are upset over extra noise

By Amanda Hari

A Los Gatos mosque located in a quiet neighborhood has become the center of controversy, right as Ramadan begins.

The mosque is asking for more leeway when it comes to operation times, but neighbors are upset about the extra traffic and noise it will create.

Executive Director of West Valley Muslim Association, Lubna Shaikh, says in the last few years, the mosque has been gaining more congregants.

“This mosque specifically has become a place that people really, really feel, at home,” said Shaikh.

Shaikh went on to explain that Muslims pray five times a day. The first prayer is before sunrise and the last one is at night.  The mosque’s current permit only allows it to operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

So, to do early and late prayers, they may be out of compliance.

Last year, on their busiest night of Ramadan, Shaikh says they had issues.

“They called the cops, and the cops came out and we went to talk to them and said is everything OK?” said Shaikh, recounting the experience of the mosque’s neighbors calling police on them. “And he said, ‘You know, there was noise complaints,’ and I asked if there were an issues and he said, ‘No, you all are eerily quiet.'”

WVMA has applied for an updated conditional use permit with the Town of Los Gatos to allow for extended hours.

But some neighbors say it’s not just the noise, it’s the volume of vehicles at strange times.

Kim Ratcliff lives next door. Her security camera caught video of dozens of cars driving out of the mosque around 9:30 Tuesday night.

“For 30 nights, there are hundreds of cars, a thousand people,” said Ratcliff. “We cannot sleep.”

Ratcliff has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years. She says the space used to be a Jehovah’s Witness church and they never had any issues.

It became a mosque shortly before COVID happened. As things returned to normal, it became busier.

“In 2024, during Ramadan, I had just been diagnosed with malignant melanoma and I was going into the hospital the next day for surgery and all of a sudden this huge crowd and traffic had just descended outside,” Ratcliff explained. “I remember I went outside and I was like, ‘What’s going on here?'”

She says most nights during Ramadan, the parking lot fills up, and they have to turn people away, forcing them to park on the street in front of their homes. The mosque has offered to put up cones, but it doesn’t always help.

“We do not want them to leave, we believe in religious freedom for all, but we’re asking, where does religious freedom end and our rights begin?” said Ratcliff.

The Los Gatos Town Attorney says they are having a public hearing on the planning application.

Shaikh is hoping they can come to a compromise, because she knows how special this place is to her community.

“The beautiful feelings I get from people who say that say this place changed my life,” said Shaikh when asked about the impact of the mosque. “This place helped me so much, and it’s so rewarding and at the same time, to feel like your neighbors hate you, no. I don’t want that. I wish we could teleport people here so they don’t have to drive in. But that’s not possible.”