LA PORTE, Texas (KTRK) -- A member of the Muslim community in Deer Park calls it "hurtful" that plans for an Islamic Center in nearby La Porte have faced backlash online.

"I've never had that issue up until now," Neil M. Neil, who only wanted part of his name used due to safety concerns, said he's lived in Deer Park and La Porte for the last 33 years.

Neil worships at the Mariam Center in Deer Park, which he said has been in a strip center along Spencer Highway near Cunningham Drive for about a decade.