Residents: Lilburn mayor should step down or be removed

A group of Lilburn residents on Monday night asked that Diana Preston step down or be removed as mayor, calling her involvement in plans for a giant mosque in a local neighborhood "a betrayal."

"I strongly believe Mayor Preston is doing wrong for the community," Lorraine Lobos told the City Council. "At this time ... I want her to be out of her position. I see betrayal on her part."

But not everyone called for Preston's dismissal. Resident Jim Mowrey said the accusations "don't make any sense. I support the mayor."

At the advice of the city attorney, Preston stepped away during the public's comments, which drew howls of protest from the crowd of more than 120 people at City Hall.

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!" one resident shouted.

The call for Preston's removal comes nearly two months after Lilburn city leaders denied a rezoning request by the local Muslim congregation of Dar-E-Abbas for a 20,000-square-foot mosque, cemetery and gymnasium on about 8 acres at U.S. 29 and Hood Road.

The congregation, which has worshipped there for the past 11 years, owns 1.4 acres of the land and wanted to buy an additional 6.5 acres to accommodate the city's growing Muslim population. Preston owns four of those acres and has maintained she had a right to sell the property.

Despite the city's rejection of the rezoning application, which has since sparked a lawsuit against the city, residents said Monday that Preston's actions represented a conflict of interest. Even though she recused herself in meetings, residents said she holds sway with the City Council and zoning matters.

Resident Angel Alonso told the council that Preston violated a state code by not filing a conflict-of-interest form and asked the council to vote to remove her.

If that vote doesn't happen within two weeks, the community will launch a recall effort, Alonso said after the meeting.

In November, both the Planning Commission, a recommending body, and the City Council  ruled against the congregation, saying the rezoning would pose traffic and noise problems, create spot zoning and run afoul of the city's land-use plan. Preston did not attend the council meeting or the Planning Commission meeting.

In addition to asking for Preston's removal, residents also took city officials to task for failing to respond to an alleged incident in which resident Janie Hood said she was threatened after the Nov. 18 meeting.  The Lawrenceville Police Department is investigating.