Lilburn mosque's supporters, foes to sound off Thursday night

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By Shane Blatt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Lorraine Lobos bought her Lilburn house in 2003 for the idyllic charm and tranquility.

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An artist's rendering of the mosque that the congregation of Dar-E-Abbas hopes to build. Members of the congregation say it has outgrown its two 2,000-square-foot buildings on the same property.

Residents mad over mosque

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"Our house is behind 4 acres of land with beautiful trees," said the 36-year-old homeowner in the St. Albans subdivision. "You see birds. You see Bambis. It's so beautiful."

That beauty will be destroyed, Lobos said, if the city approves plans for a 20,000-square-foot mosque, gymnasium and cemetery on about 8 acres of land -- some of which is currently owned by Mayor Diana Preston -- at U.S. 29 and Hood Road.

"It's going to disturb the peace we're enjoying, the peace I've worked so hard for, the peace I've sacrificed so much for," said Lobos, a mother of two who works and attends college full time.

Lobos and hundreds of other residents are expected to descend on Lawrenceville Thursday to speak out against the rezoning and special use permit requested by the local Muslim congregation of Dar-E-Abbas.

Lilburn's Planning Commission rescheduled its last meeting Oct. 22 after more than 300 people flooded City Hall's council chambers, which seats 150. City leaders, expecting another packed house, moved the meeting to the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.

Residents say the mosque is simply out of place. They say it would pose parking, traffic, drainage and noise problems, and disturb the community's small-town way of life. And then there's the issue of the cemetery.

"We might be having barbecues in our backyards, and they might have a funeral going on," said Ilene Garry, a 14-year homeowner. "It's just the wrong space."

But Wasi Zaidi, a founding member of the 11-year-old congregation, said the group has outgrown its two 2,000-square-foot buildings on the same property. It needs the additional space to accommodate Lilburn's growing Muslim community and the 90 families who worship there.

Traffic and noise would be minimal, Zaidi said. The main services are Friday night, and the mosque would front U.S. 29 -- away from residences -- he stressed.

Besides, he added, the two-story mosque -- a replica of a shrine of the Islamic hero Hazrat Abbas in Karbala, Iraq -- would help beautify the city and is smaller than the 27,000-square-foot Hindu temple less than a mile down the road. As for the cemetery, passers-by wouldn't be able to see it from the road, he said.

The Lilburn City Council is expected to vote on the matter Nov. 18.

Doug Dillard, the attorney for the congregation, said the proposal is not inconsistent with other churches in the area, most of which back up to residential areas. He said if city leaders reject the plans, "our recommendation would be to file a lawsuit, challenge it as arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional."

The congregation owns 1.4 acres of land and is looking to buy an additional 6.5 acres. Preston, the mayor, owns four of those acres. To avoid a conflict of interest, Preston will not attend the City Council meeting or vote in the event of a tie.

"I'm not influencing anybody -- the Planning Commission or the City Council," Preston said this week. "I'm not trying to put any opinion forward at all."

Preston stands to reap $450,000 in the sale of her land, 3,300-square-foot house, barn and tennis court.

"People think I'm committing a felony. I have a constitutional right to sell the property," she said. "I've been to other cities with mosques and churches and cathedrals, and everyone gets along. I didn't realize this would cause such a ruckus."

If you go

What: Planning Commission meeting

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville

What's next: The City Council is expected to vote on the matter Nov. 18.