Lilburn mosque gets cemetery; residents fume

[RamblingRose]

Lilburn mosque gets cemetery; residents fume

By Shane Blatt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution


A Muslim congregation embroiled in a lawsuit with Lilburn has received part of what it's been wanting: permission to build a cemetery.

Before a crowd of residents yelling "shame on you" and "this is a joke," the Lilburn City Council on Monday night voted 3-0 to amend its zoning laws to allow new cemeteries in certain residential areas.

The decision paves the way for the local congregation of Dar-E-Abbas – which last year was denied a rezoning request for a large mosque, gymnasium and cemetery -- to build a cemetery on a three- to five-acre patch of land on Harbins Road. The parcel sits less than a half-mile from the congregation's current mosque at U.S. 29 and Hood Road.

"As long as we have the cemetery, that's all we need basically," Wasi Zaidi, founding member of the congregation, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "As long as we get close to there , that's fine."

But many of the more than 70 people who filled City Hall on Monday objected to the change. Some shouted. Others pleaded with the city to table the vote, saying they believed the city had acted without their input.

<snip>

And resident John Cook took city leaders to task for what he termed their arrogance in keeping residents out of the loop.

"You don't keep us informed and you condescendingly say, ‘You don't understand,'" Cook said. "We want to know how this affects us as citizens."


more...

http://www.ajc.com/news/gwinnett/lilburn-mosque-gets-cemetery-733915.html

[Ian David]

1. Oh, great. Now we have to worry about Muslim Zombies...

... that stop chasing you five times a day so they can bow toward Mecca.

[LaurenG]

2. Good grief, what is the major malfunction there?

Is it the fact that it's a cemetery in the neighborhood or is it the fact that its a Muslim cemetery?

[CurtEastPoint]

3. In Gwinnett Co., Ga's 2nd largest co. and one of the most diverse.

Lilburn is a pocket of Bible boys runnin the show, it seems.

Gwinnett: As of the census<5> of 2000, there were 588,448 people, 202,317 households, and 152,344 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,360 people per square mile (525/km²). There were 209,682 housing units at an average density of 485 per square mile (187/km²). The racial makeup of the county is currently 52.2% White non-Hispanic, 19.8% Black, 0.2% Native American, 9.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.32% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 17.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Gwinnett County has the largest Latino and Asian populations in the state of Georgia. Along with huge and rapidly growing Eastern European communities as well, Russian, Bosnian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Indian.

But we don't want no Muslins, dead or alive.

[rocktivity]

4. You think they'd be happy

This way, they'll have the comfort of knowing where the DEAD Muslims are.

:eyes:
rocktivity

[CatWoman]

5. there is a cemetary presently located a few blocks from the mosque

so I, too, don't understand what the "outrage" is all about :shrug:

BTW - That mosque is just beautiful.

It's about a 15 or 20 minute drive from my home.

[KamaAina]

6. "The Sixth Sense" meets "Birth of a Nation"

"I hate dead people!!!" :eyes: