Monroeville council gave the go-ahead last week for construction of a mosque that it had blocked a year ago.

The Imamia Organization of Pittsburgh wants to renovate and expand a house at 507 Beatty Road.

The religious group bought the house and a vacant lot three years ago. In September 2002, the zoning board granted a side-yard variance for the expansion. In March 2003, the planning commission approved the site plan, subdivision and conditional use applications.

But when the project came before council, several neighbors objected, primarily about traffic and parking. Council rejected the plans by a 5-2 vote, citing parking and inconsistency with the neighborhood.

Imamia appealed to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, saying that Monroeville had acted arbitrarily and had violated its civil rights. Other churches in Monroeville, for example, have been allowed to build parking lots in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes.

In October, Judge Joseph James reversed council and approved the zoning, subdivision plan and site plan.

Council voted again last week because of a technicality. Imamia had missed a 90-day deadline to record the subdivision plans at the county deeds office, after the judge's ruling. It needed council to approve the subdivision formally so it could re-submit the plans to the deeds office.

Municipal attorney Bruce Dice described the request as a housekeeping matter. If council rejected the request, he said, Imamia could go back to the judge for a court order.

Council approved the subdivision 5-2, with members Mark Dale and Rick Buxter opposed. Voting in favor were Abe Comunale, John Danzilli, Harold Katofsky, Dave Kucherer and Carol McDevitt.

Imamia trustees were unavailable to discuss their schedule. Their architect said construction could be delayed for at least a couple of months while the state Department of Labor and Industry reviews the plans for compliance with safety regulations. Then Imamia can apply for a building permit.

The Beatty Road property is near the Boyce Campus of Community College of Allegheny County.

The plans call for more than doubling the size of the six-room, 1,447-square-foot ranch house.

The 2,245-square-foot expansion will include a prayer room and a meeting room.

Minaret-like columns and narrow, arched windows will be incorporated to evoke the look of a mosque.

The Imamia Organization was established in 1998. It has about 45 adult members who practice the Shia Ithna Ahseri faith.