FREMONT — The co-founder of a Buddhist temple high in the hills of Fremont is threatening to sue the city for religious, gender and racial discrimination, claiming city officials are unfairly pushing her to tear down much of the private religious facility and using intimidation tactics during a drawn-out code enforcement dispute.
Attorneys for MiaoLan Lee, who lives in a home above the temple off Mill Creek Road, say the city is citing safety issues with some of the structures on the property, saying they are out of compliance with city codes.
In a 2018 vacate notice to Lee, the city stated that some of the buildings were built without permits or plans, and were “constructed without adequate structural and foundation systems and pose substantial risk of partial or complete collapse in event of earthquake.”
The city also claims there is inadequate ventilation, lighting, sanitation facilities and insulation, among other safety issues.
Lee’s attorneys are pushing back against those claims, saying the buildings are sturdy and safe, and insisting the city is being overzealous in their dealings with Lee’s property. While some neighbors on the road maintain unpermitted structures without catching flak from the city, Lee’s attorneys say, the permitting process for her property has been particularly complicated and arduous.
Tal Finney, a land use lawyer for Lee, said Lee and her partner, Tu Nguyen, have been “trying for a decade” to work with the city to permit all the structures and spent “tens of thousands of dollars trying to do that,” but have been met with resistance from the city in recent years.
Bronwen Lacey, a senior deputy city attorney declined to comment for this story, citing “potential litigation” and an “ongoing administrative enforcement case.”
The buildings on the property, including an old garage that was significantly renovated into a temple, and a California-style barn that was renovated into a meditation hall, are “safe, sound, structurally strong” and have proper ventilation, according to Finney.
Lee and Nguyen have put “millions and millions of dollars,” into transforming the property they bought in 2010, he said.
The 29-acre property and its structures are maintained to “resist wildfire and resist earthquakes,” Finney said, despite city claims that three of the buildings, including the temple, don’t have adequate fire resistance and fire protection systems.
The temple and meditation hall buildings are now full of and surrounded by statues representing various incarnations of Buddha through the centuries as well as enlightened spiritual leaders in Buddhism.
Some of the statues are massive, white works of art carved from single blocks of stone, weighing over 4,000 pounds, while others are small, with dozens lined up on shelves in a main room of the meditation hall.
Others are made from wood, and a large bronze Buddha oversees the temple interior, surrounded by offerings including boxes of shortbread cookies and pineapple boba cake, as well as plants, flowers, candles and vases.
There are also statues and artwork featuring central figures from other faiths, including Christianity and Hinduism, as well as a Hindu shrine pagoda alongside a suspension footbridge.
“It is a cultural work of art,” Finney said.
Finney said Lee and Nguyen successfully permitted a solar array that was built in 2010, and continued to work with the city, but at some point during the building and permitting process for the other structures, “the city turned hard on them, but we can’t prove exactly why.”
Angela Alioto, a civil rights attorney working for Lee, claims the city violated Lee’s rights in February 2018, when the city brought a warrant signed by a judge, along with police officers, a police dog, and code enforcement officials, to search the property for permitting issues.
In addition to searching through the temple and other structures, they searched Lee’s personal residence. “They go through her bathroom, bedroom and (clothing) drawers,” Alioto said.
In an interview, Alioto said the search, which was followed by a similar one in May 2018, came only after the city initially set mutually agreeable appointment times for inspections, then abruptly cancelled them.
Alioto believes the searches were designed to intimidate and “harass” Lee, and she claims the city is intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Lee in the years-long dispute.
“She doesn’t sleep, she cries all day. She is a mess,” Alioto said. “She has been absolutely mistreated by permit officers of the city,” she said.
At one point, when Lee visited the city offices, Alioto said a code enforcement manager, who has since retired, “made comments about Lee’s appearance” in front of other city staff, saying, ‘You look prettier without a hat.’”
Lee “repeatedly requested” to not deal with that code enforcement manager after that encounter, “but the city ignored her multiple requests,” Alioto said in a statement.
“Fremont officials have discriminated against us for years,” Lee said in a statement.
“It’s clear that the city’s double standards stem from who we are as a religious community. The Bay Area is renowned for its tolerance and inclusion, but those values are not shared by Fremont’s public officials,” she said.
Lee hopes to use the property as a temple for “small group of members” who come to worship “Buddhas, gods, and goddesses” as well as to “meditate and research…hoping to reach enlightenment.”
Alioto filed a claim against the city on May 3 alleging civil rights violations, unconstitutional invasions, abuse of power, fraud, and trespassing. Alioto plans to file a lawsuit in mid-June, she said.
“The personal invasion is outrageous. The abuse of power because of my client’s religion, race and gender is so abusive and simply not acceptable in a civilized society,” Alioto said.
The city is set to hold an independent administrative hearing over the course of two days next week to decide the fate of the structures in question on the property.
Finney said the city should only be fining Lee and working with them to find a resolution that doesn’t require demolition of the buildings.
