Lilburn Settled Federal Lawsuit to Save Costs; Denies Discrimination in Mosque Issue

Lilburn last week settled a federal lawsuit involving the Dar-E-Abbas mosque expansion because fighting it would have been too costly, the city said, rejecting the lawsuit's claim of religious discrimination.

"The City was compelled to enter into a settlement of the DOJ lawsuit, in order to avoid several years of expensive and time-consuming litigation with a federal agency having unlimited public resources," according to an editorial comment from Mayor Diana Preston and the city council. 

After two years of wrangling over the mosque's expansion plan, Lilburn's city council voted 3 to 1 on Aug. 16 to approve the congregation's application, allowing Dar-E-Abbas to move forward with its plans to build a 20,000-square-foot mosque at Lawrenceville Highway and Hood Road. 

The federal lawsuit was filed 10 days later, citing a violation of the "Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000" in previously rejecting the rezoning applications, according to the Department of Justice.

"The City of Lilburn enjoys considerable ethnic and religious diversity," the city said in the release emailed by City Manager Bill Johnsa. "We have places of worship that span a broad spectrum of faiths. Our Mayor, City council, and city staff work evenhandedly with all facets of our citizenry."

Below is the full editorial comment from the mayor and city council:

The City of Lilburn enjoys considerable ethnic and religious diversity. We have places of worship that span a broad spectrum of faiths. Our Mayor, City Council, and city staff work evenhandedly with all facets of our citizenry.

The recent characterization of Lilburn as being other than a city of tolerance and acceptance is unfortunate. This misrepresentation was fed by the United States Department of Justice deciding to interject itself into ongoing negotiations between the City and Dar e Abbas.

In 2009 the City denied the application of Dar e Abbas to purchase adjacent property, rezone same, and [among other requests] add a cemetery, gymnasium, and an expanded mosque. The application was denied primarily because of the cemetery that would abut residential property and limit future land uses.

Dar e Abbas filed a lawsuit against the City, which came as no surprise to the City. However, Dar e Abbas and the City continued negotiations without advancing the suit to trial.

Negotiations between Dar e Abbas and the City, made it possible to move the cemetery to a better location. Dar e Abbas also eliminated the gymnasium from their plan. The two parties were negotiating in good faith.

In 2010 the City was split 2 to 2 in Council session, which left the application at status quo … that is 'not approved'. The Planning Commission [a body that makes recommendations to City Council] had agreed that the zoning request itself was acceptable, but they wanted development issues to be clarified by a better site plan.

Dar e Abbas continued to work with city staff and City Council, and submitted a more detailed site plan prior to the August 16, 2011 City Council meeting.

There being no concerns, other than the site plan [now refined], City Council approved the application in that meeting and Dar e Abbas dropped their lawsuit.

Ten days after the application was approved by the City and Dar e Abbas dropped their lawsuit, the Department of Justice filed their complaint. The City was compelled to enter into a settlement of the DOJ lawsuit, in order to avoid several years of expensive and time-consuming litigation with a federal agency having unlimited public resources. The DOJ complaint should have been moot at the point of the City and Dar e Abbas reaching agreement.

Our city slogan accurately reflects who we are, “Small Town. Big Difference.” We will continue to move forward with a number of revitalization initiatives that are underway. We are a city that abounds with civic pride and community involvement.

You can expect to see great things in the future from all the citizens of Lilburn.

Mayor and City Council of Lilburn, Georgia