Lilburn gives in, approves worship-center plan

By Joel Anderson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lilburn officials, faced with a discrimination lawsuit and federal investigation, gave in Tuesday night after nearly two years of resistance and approved a local Muslim congregation's request to expand its worship center.

Enlarge photo

Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com An architect's rendering of the proposed new Dar-e Abbas building.

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The council voted 3-1 in favor of the congregation's application. Only Councilman Johnny Crist opposed the plan.

The decision enabled Dar-E-Abbas -- which was twice denied rezoning requests by the council -- to build a 20,000-square-foot center at the intersection of Lawrenceville Highway and Hood Road.

"Our neighbors might be mad now, but we love them," said Wasi Zaidi, who helped found Dar-E-Abbas in 1998. "Our arms are open to them."

Dar-E-Abbas attorney Doug Dillard said the congregation would drop its federal discrimination lawsuit against Lilburn and pursue the purchase of nearby properties.

However, the issue might not be over for Lilburn: the Department of Justice has confirmed it is investigating whether the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act by rejecting the zoning applications.

Nearly 200 people lined up outside City Hall for more than an hour before the meeting, passing through a security checkpoint at the entrance that Lilburn police instituted a week ago. Eleven residents spoke in opposition to the plan; two voiced their support.

The four-member council was deadlocked on a December vote involving the zoning request, prolonging a yearlong conflict among Dar-E-Abbas, city leaders and a vocal group of residents who opposed the expansion.

The Dar-E-Abbas congregation, which owns and worships on 1.4 acres, originally sought to buy and rezone an additional 6.5 acres for an expanded mosque, gymnasium and cemetery to accommodate the area's growing Muslim population.

Council members denied the application, prompting a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against the city in December 2009. The congregation later downsized its plans, but that request failed in December.