Buddhist Temple Wants to Relocate to Residential Greenfield Neighborhood

Phuoc Hau Buddhist Temple of Milwaukee, which has worshiped at 1575 W. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee, for 15 years, wants to move its temple to Greenfield.

At , temple officials will request a conceptual project review for a proposed 8,100-square-foot place of worship on a 1.5-acre area which represents a combination of the approximately one acre Phuoc Hau already owns at 44th and Edgerton Avenue, and the adjacent half-acre of the 44th Street right-of-way.

The proposal would eventually require the city alderpersons to rezone the land from residential to institutional.

It’s the second time temple officials have submitted a proposal for the site, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In a story over the weekend, the newspaper reported that Phuoc Hau withdrew its application in 2010.

The area is already home to another religious institution; Masjid Al-Huda, a Muslim mosque occupies the northwest intersection of 43rd Street and Edgerton Avenue, a block away from the proposed Buddhist temple site.

The Buddhist temple is one of several places of worship that religious groups have tried to bring to Greenfield over the last two years.

The previous two had mixed success. The Ridge Community Church, a non-denominational Christian church that currently holds services at Whitnall High School, initially on Layton Avenue west of 92nd Street.

When those , church officials set their sights on the soon-to-be vacant Walmart building, and earlier this summer, the Common Council voted in favor of r and allowing the church to renovate the Walmart.

Last August, the same alderpersons voted against rezoning land near from residential to institutional. The switch, had it been made, .

Residents were concerned with the additional traffic the church would have potentially brought to the area.