Thursday, December 1, 2011
A federal lawsuit against the city was "without basis," and the city could have won it had Lilburn chosen to fight it, council member Tim Dunn said, according to a report.
A federal lawsuit that claimed Lilburn discriminated against Muslims in rejecting a mosque's rezoning application was "without basis," city councilman Tim Dunn said, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post, and the city could have won the legal battle. The city's insurance would not have covered the cost of the lawsuit, and the court battle, which probably would have dragged on for years, would have to be paid by the city and its taxpayers, City Manager Bill Johnsa said, according to the report. City council called a special meeting this week for training in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The city agreed to carry out the training for its employees and leaders as part of the settlement with the U.S. Department of …
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
A special called meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday for training in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Lilburn City Council will hold a special called meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. The meeting is for training in the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 and "its application in administering the City’s zoning code related to religious use for any rezoning, special use permits, or other land use determination," city hall said in an emailed statement. To settle a federal suit against the city in August, Lilburn agreed to train its leaders, employees and managers in the act. The U.S. Department of Justice had filed a complaint against Lilburn, claiming that the city had discriminated against Muslims in rejecting a rezoning application from Dar-E-Abbas to expand its mosque. The city disagreed that it had …
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Fighting a lawsuit by the Department of Justice would have meant "years of expensive and time-consuming litigation," Mayor Diana Preston and the city council said.
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 …
Friday, August 26, 2011
Lawsuit settlement follows Lilburn city council's approval last week of a revised application for the Dar-E-Abbas mosque.
The city of Lilburn and the U.S. Department of Justice settled a lawsuit alleging that the city discriminated against Muslims in rejecting a rezoning application for a planned mosque expansion. The settlement comes after Lilburn's city council last week approved a revised rezoning and expansion plan by Dar-E-Abbas Shia Islamic Center, ending a two-year heated battle over the issue. The lawsuit was filed after the city rejected two Dar-E-Abbas rezoning applications, and the government charged that the decisions were "based on the religious bias of city officials and to appease members of the public opposed to the construction of a mosque based on religious bias," the Justice Department said in a press release. The council violated the "…
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Lilburn reacts to mosque decision. "It will affect all of us, all of us," one observer said.
Members of the Dar E-Abbas congregation were visibly relieved Tuesday night as Lilburn City Council approved the mosque's expansion plan, ending a two-year struggle that had grown into a discrimination lawsuit and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. "It's a good decision. We really appreciate it," said Syed Abbas after the council voted 3-1 in favor of the proposal. There were a few loud boos and a lot of disappointment expressed after the council's decision, though, announced to a standing-room-only audience at the Calvin Fitchett Municipal Complex Auditorium. Opponents of the proposal had expressed concerns ranging from lights to water run-off and hours of worship during the public hearing, in which both sides were given …
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Lilburn City Hall
76 Main St NW, Lilburn, GA
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
UPDATED: City Council votes 3 to 1 in favor of Dar-E-Abbas' rezoning request to expand its mosque.
With opposing chants of “recall” echoing immediately afterward, the Lilburn City Council approved a rezoning application by a local mosque that seems to have ended a two-year battle over the issue. The Council voted 3 to 1 for approval Tuesday night during a special-called public hearing on the issue at City Hall, allowing Dar-E-Abbas to move forward with its plans to build a 20,000-square-foot mosque at Lawrenceville Highway and Hood Road. Mayor Pro-Tem Tim Dunn and Councilmen Scott Batterton and Eddie Price voted in favor of the mosque's latest rezoning request on approximately 4.05 acres inside the city limits. Councilman Johnny Crist voted against the proposal. The meeting drew a standing-room only crowd, more than half of whom were …
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Lilburn City Hall
76 Main St NW, Lilburn, GA
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A meeting-by-meeting look back at the Dar-E-Abbas rezoning proposal.
For two years, the City of Lilburn and a local mosque, Dar-E-Abbas, have squared off in City Council and Planning Commission meetings. With the issue — the mosque's request for rezoning so that it can expand its facilities — in front of the City Council tonight, here's a meeting-by-meeting look at what transpired in open forums. The information below is based on the minutes from these meetings available on the city's website. Nov. 9, 2009: Dar-E-Abbas’ request for rezoning and a Special Use Permit is on the City Council agenda, with a recommendation (approved) that a public hearing be rescheduled for Nov. 18 at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Building, following a Nov. 12 public hearing in front of the city Planning Commission. Nov…
Wanna hear something funny? It's National Tell a Joke Day.
Welcome to Tuesday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of the year. Here are some other things to know about the day. The weather: The thermometer will top out at about 90 degrees, with no rain on the horizon. The low tonight will be a cool 65. Back on the table: There will be a public hearing and a called city council meeting at 7:30 p.m. on the revised rezoning plan for the Dar-E-Abbas mosque. Gas prices continue downward, with the average cost of a gallon of regular gas at $3.594 on average in the U.S. and $3.545 in Georgia, according to AAA. Of the most recent prices reported to www.georgiagasprices.com for Lilburn, $3.48 was the lowest for a gallon of regular, and the highest was $3.59. Today in history: Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo …
Monday, August 15, 2011
The plan to be considered by the Lilburn City Council Tuesday has some changes from previous request.
The revised rezoning plan for the Dar-E-Abbas mosque expansion that will be considered at Tuesday night’s special called Lilburn City Council meeting has changes that addresses some of the previous concerns. But no matter what the Council decides at the 7:30 p.m. public hearing (and possible vote), it won’t be the last word on the plan. If the plan for Highway 29 at Hood Road is approved by the Council — which has twice denied previous requests — it would still need to clear additional hurdles to get a development plan approved. A development plan would be much more in-depth than the conceptual plan the Council is considering. For example, according to Doug Stacks, director Lilburn Planning and Economic Development, “a site plan for …
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Lilburn City Hall
76 Main St NW, Lilburn, GA
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Thursday, August 11, 2011
Guaranteed to tell you something you didn't know yesterday
Good morning, Lilburn. It's Thursday, Aug. 11. Here's a digital checklist for the day. 1. Dar-E-Abbas Info: If you’ve spent any time on this website the past several days, you’ve probably noticed the emotional — and not-so-friendly — opinions generated by the mosque’s zoning request to expand its facilities inside the city limits. As many know, the City Council will take up the issue once again Tuesday at City Hall with a public hearing and possible vote (previous requests have been denied twice). If you are interested in learning more about this issue, there are ways to do that. You can click on one of the Lilburn Patch stories attached to this file. Use the search words “lilburn mosque” in your browser and see what others have said or …
Susan Coker
12:39 pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011
It's a sad commentary on our country that people have to settle out of court, making them pay and look guilty, when they are not - just because they can't afford the fight in court. more ›