EAST LONGMEADOW – An Islamic mosque could open its doors on Maple Street by the end of the summer of 2017.

Final plans for the project have yet to be submitted to the town, but developer Jay LeFebvre told Reminder Publications he plans to submit those documents sometime two weeks from now.

LeFebvre said plans were previously submitted to the town, but Planning Director Robyn Macdonald informed him they were incomplete at the time

“She didn’t accept it, so we have to redo a few things, but we did submit it a few weeks ago and we’ll probably resubmit it in about two weeks,” he added.

Macdonald declined to comment because the final plans have yet to be submitted.

LeFebvre, owner of Coyote Realty in West Springfield, declined to identify the party interested in utilizing the Islamic house of worship, but noted he was first approached three years ago about developing his undeveloped parcel – 52 to 58 Maple St. – for the project. The area is zoned industrial.

“They don’t want to be part of it right now because they don’t want to be part of the discussion,” he explained. “They’ve asked me to keep that confidential.”

He explained under Massachusetts state law religious houses of worship are allowed to be constructed in a municipality regardless of the use zoning for the parcel.

“They can go in any district anywhere in the state of Massachusetts,” he added. “You still have to conform to dimensional zoning requirements – side yards, setbacks, parking requirements, heights, and things like that. It’s an allowed use by right. So, it’s going to happen.”

When asked whether he believes he would receive negative pushback on the project from residents, he replied, “At this point it’s kind of irrelevant to me. I’ve tried to do three different projects there and the town has fought me tooth and nail. One was a mixed-use project; one was an over 55 project and one was a hybrid of Lowe’s. I bought that property 11 years ago and if you had told me … in the fall of 2016 that property would still be vacant I’d say, ‘You got rocks in your head.’”

LeFebvre said when he was first approached by the party interested in constructing a mosque and leasing the property he declined, noting he was interested in creating an over-55 housing complex at the time.

“Finally this summer I said, ‘You know what? Let’s do it,’” he explained. “Nothing else is happening and I don’t think in my lifetime is going to happen there … That’s where we’re going.”

He said the lead architect for the project is Gregory Neffinger of Neffinger Architects.

Neffinger previously served as East Longmeadow’s interim town administrator before he was fired by the now defunct Board of Selectmen in April.

LeFebvre stated the nearby historic train depot on Maple Street would need to be moved as part of the project. He said he is uncertain where it would be moved to at this time.

The depot is owned by Steve Graham, owner of Toner Plastics at 35 Industrial Drive and a 25-year resident.

According to the minutes of the Planning Board’s Feb. 23 meeting, Graham, who met with the board to discuss the train depot, said he’s owned it for about five years and bought it from LeFebvre, who leases the land to him on a month-to-month basis.

At the time, he told the board he would have liked to turn the train depot into an ice cream shop and Planning Board Chair Ralph Page told him the front section of the property allows for retail business under its zoning.

Graham told Reminder Publications on Oct. 7 he’s still looking for a new home for the train depot.

“Ideally, [it would] be a place as close to the current location as possible so it remains a place in town,” he added.

He said he believes an ice cream shop would still be viable for the train depot, but finding the “right location” is paramount for him at this time.