Southeast : Hindus Win Approval to Build Temple After 3-Year Battle

Towering Indian-style spires set against Norwalk’s tract homes wouldn’t do, but a group of local Hindu worshipers has finally obtained clearance to build a California Mission-style temple.

After three years of legal hurdles, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled last week that members of the Los Angeles-area chapter of the International Swaminarayan Satsang Organization, a Hindu sect based north of Bombay, could build their long-desired temple on the site they bought in 1992.

Objections over the temple’s original design--which included nine 50-foot steeples--led city officials to reject the group’s first proposal. The group eventually redesigned the temple, and the plans were approved last year. But former city Planning Commissioner James Honodel, who lived near the site, filed a private lawsuit against the group as well as the city to prevent its construction.

The court decision entitles the group to build the scaled-down version, which will cost about $800,000 and is expected to open in two years.

“Although we’ve had these delays, our feeling toward the city is positive,” temple president Natoo Patel said. “We hope we’ll be accepted as good neighbors in the community.”