A cemetery under construction in Cobb County has raised concerns among residents who say they didn't know about the project before it started.
The East Cobb Islamic Center's proposal for a cemetery in west Cobb was granted a Special Exemption certificate by county staff after meeting the minimum requirements.
Cemetery proposals that meet the county's minimum requirements, including a minimum lot size of ten acres and an overall parking and landscaping plan approved by county staff, are issued a certificate and do not require a public hearing or a vote by the Board of Commissioners.
Residents near the construction site say they only learned of the cemetery plans when the construction equipment started digging into the 13.1-acre property off Macland Road.
"A cemetery in my backyard is not what I want," resident Francine Jefferson told Channel 2 Action News. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep it there."
Abdul Amer, chairman of the ECIC board of trustees, said that he recently met with the president and vice-president of the neighborhood's homeowners association to discuss the project.
"This is like any other cemetery built in Cobb County," Amer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We follow the same rules everyone else has followed. I'm surprised they're surprised."
The new cemetery would be the only Muslim cemetery in Cobb County, according to the ECIC.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid sent out a newsletter in June saying she was concerned about the approval process for the project. The Board of Commissioners will discuss a moratorium on new cemeteries until April 1, 2017 on Tuesday.
The Community Development Agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.