A Tucson official is looking into whether the city can punish the Sol Y Luna apartments under a criminal nuisance statute after residents of the high-rise threw glass bottles and alcohol on the Islamic Center of Tucson, another in a series of long-standing issues between the student housing and the mosque.
Councilman Steve Kozachik, whose ward includes the religious center just off the University of Arizona campus, said heβs spoken with city attorney Mike Rankin about whether he could bring action against GMH Capital Partners, the Pennsylvania-based owners of the Sol y Luna complexes.
Under the statute, the city attorney can take action in court against the owners of a residential property if they have knowledge of regular criminal activity going on in their properties and donβt abate it. If itβs found in violation, the units deemed responsible could be locked down, with residents not allowed into the rooms.
Kozachikβs efforts come after a pair of recent incidents at the center, which is near East First Street and North Tyndall Avenue. Children playing outside and vehicles parked in the centerβs lot were doused with alcohol in the first incident Saturday night, while broken bottles were found two nights later in the outside area of the mosque.
Witnesses at the mosque heard shouting and video surveillance found that the alcohol and bottles originated from the Sol Y Luna complexes, mosque officials and Kozachik said.
βMy goal is not court, my goal is to get the management company to step up to the plate,β said Kozachik, who added that heβs gathering data from the site to determine if criminal activity is a regular occurrence. βI really just donβt want to have this conversation when somebody is hit with a bottle seven floors below and killed.β
The center has had several issues with residents of the apartment complexes since they opened as Next and Level in fall 2013.
Three students were evicted for dumping trash, shouting ethnic slurs and throwing beer cans toward the mosque after highly publicized incidents in January 2016. There were few problems last year, but it worsened again starting two months ago when a shower rod was dropped through a car windshield, according to members of the centerβs board.
After Saturdayβs incident, the mosque reported the harassment to Tucson police and management at the apartment complex.
Board members said they are βjustifiably alarmedβ and asked for swift punishment once those responsible are identified.
βEvery year, itβs the same thing,β said mosque board member Maria Molina. βItβs not too much to ask a neighbor that you not harm a congregation as theyβre walking in the street or that you not pour beer on them. This isnβt like were asking some unusual request of others.β
Representatives from GMH Capital Partners said in a statement they have a βzero-tolerance policyβ for that behavior and are investigating, but directed further questions to Tucson police.
βIf the investigation determines a Sol Y Luna resident is responsible for the incident, their lease will be terminated effective immediately and the conduct violation will be reported to university officials as appropriate, per our lease agreement,β said Justin Wybenga, vice president of operations.
Kozachik has undertaken efforts in the past to deter issues between apartment residents and the mosque.
After the 2016 incidents, the City Council amended an ordinance to prohibit balconies on student housing rented by the room in the Main Gate area.
That ordinance did not affect Sol Y Luna, which were built prior to the ordinance taking effect.
Kozachik emailed GMH Capital Partners on Monday, telling the company it is βsimply luckyβ that nobody was hurt. He called on company officials to condemn the actions of their residents, labeling the past and new incidents as βhate crimes.β
βIn the current political climate, where we see shootings take place aimed at people simply based on who they are or their belief system, allowing incidents such as this to pass without acting is nothing short of enabling a more severe outcome next time. And there will be a next time if you do not act,β Kozachik wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Arizona Daily Star.
In a response, Wybenga acknowledged meeting with Kozachik and Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus three years ago to establish a set of consequences. The apartment also agreed to install security cameras on its property to catch offenders.
βWe are working diligently and cooperating with local law enforcement to get to the bottom of this,β Wybenga wrote in his email.
Kozachik indicated theyβve identified the suites where the Saturday and Monday incidents originated but nobody had been evicted, as of Thursday morning.
If it turns out those residents are students, they could potentially face a violation of the UAβs student code of conduct, according to Chris Sigurdson, university spokesman.
He labeled the incidents as βseriousβ and said they βwill be followed up on,β with punishments ranging from fines, educational requirements or worse.
βOur students are held to the code of conduct whether they are on campus or not. Weβve been clear and worked with the apartment in the past that we would take this seriously,β Sigurdson said.
Tucson police have documented the first incident but have not made any arrests because the center is not looking to press charges, according to Sgt. Pete Dugan, a police spokesman.
He said the investigation is ongoing, and that police could seek charges independent of the mosque.
Mosque board member Lynn Hourani said witnesses did not want to press charges for a variety of reasons, including safety.
Mainly it was because police showed up around 1 a.m., and βcommunity members wanted to go home,β she said.
Molina said she wouldnβt go so far as to label the incidents hate crimes. The mosqueβs priority and concern is the safety of the members, many of whom are children, she said.
βWhat happens when somebody gets hit with one of these things? Itβs kind of inevitable, unfortunately, that if you throw something from that height, that somebody is going to get hit and somebody is going to get hurt,β she said. βI donβt see any other purpose of throwing a bottle out a window β thatβs your intent.β
Hourani said the mosque has been in the location since the late 1980s or early 1990s and didnβt have problems until the student high-rises started popping up in the area near East Speedway and North Park Avenue in the last decade.
βWeβre an integral part of this community,β Hourani said. βItβs very hard to feel like youβre being pushed out. This is our home. Weβve been here for a long, long time.β
In the meantime, Kozachik suggested a simple solution β metal mesh netting on the building to prevent bottles from falling below the balconies.
βThey could do that in a heart beat. Make it so you canβt throw things off it,β he said.
