Gwinnett County, GA

In February 2002, the Gwinnett County Municipal Planning Commission unanimously approved a request for a special-use permit by the Georgia Islamic Institute of Religious and Social Sciences (GIIRS) to construct a five-acre cemetery on New Hope Road in Lawrenceville. However, residents' opposition delayed the planning commission's vote multiple times. The project was approved with conditions requiring the Muslim community to reduce the number of burial plots from 1,500 to 1,276, install an eight-foot-tall wooden fence, use wooden caskets for burial and stone or metal grave markers, and establish a maintenance fund.

Geneva Cunningham

2002

The Georgia Institute of Religious Sciences sought a special use permit to rezone 5 acres of land for a 1,500-plot cemetery off of New Hope Road about 3.5 miles away from their mosque in Lawrenceville, GA.

After five months of planning commission delays, the Islamic Institute of Religious and Social Sciences was granted a special use permit for the New Hope Cemetery with conditions. These included reducing the number of plots from 1,500 to 1,276, inserting a groundwater monitoring well, installing an eight-foot-high wooden fence, paying a minimum of $5,000 for land maintenance, and creating a $5,000 fund for the cemetery’s landscaping fees.

In September 2001, the Georgia Islamic Institute of Religious and Social Sciences (GIIRS) requested a special-use permit for a five-acre cemetery project called the New Hope Cemetery on land zoned residential, about 3.5 miles from its mosque in Lawrenceville, GA. At the time, there was only one other Muslim cemetery in the Atlanta area, and GIIRS needed a space to bury its loved ones. Although a mosque and an educational center had been built by GIIRS without opposition, the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks resulted in several public hearing delays (Nurse, 2001, Jun 20). On September 18, the case was slated for review, and five months later, in late February of 2002, the New Hope cemetery was approved unanimously (Ga. Officials OK, 2002, Feb 26). To mediate conflict between GIIRS and opponents of the cemetery, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners called for certain conditions: digging a groundwater monitoring well, installing an 8-foot-high wooden fence along the adjacent neighborhood, creating a permanent maintenance fund, and using wooden caskets and stone or metallic markers (Feagans, 2002, Feb 27).

The property in Lawrenceville sits on New Hope Road—a piece of land zoned residential that required a special-use permit to construct a cemetery with 1,500 burial plots. At the public hearings, local community members voiced concerns about Muslim burial practices, citing worries about groundwater contamination and the overall appearance of the cemetery (Nurse, 2001, Jul 20). Comparisons were frequently made between the planned cemetery in Lawrenceville and the existing Muslim cemetery in Lovejoy, GA, which contained pre-dug holes and several collapsed graves (Feagans, 2002, Feb 26). In response, Dr. Hafiz A. Ghaffar Khan, the president of GIIRS, stated, “There can be some cemeteries here, Christian cemeteries, that aren’t very well maintained. We shouldn’t blame one for the actions of another” (ibid.).

Despite the residents’ concerns, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the special-use permit unanimously, 4-0. However, it decreased the size of the cemetery to 1,276 plots and attached more than twenty zoning conditions to its approval. Community members remained dissatisfied with these changes, as they had requested a brick wall and the use of body bags. One neighboring resident stated, “It’s disgusting. That wooden fence is going to fall down eventually” (Feagans, 2002, Feb 27). By contrast, Khan reported his happiness with the Board’s decision, promising to hire a groundskeeper, prohibit graves within 110 feet of the Grayson Oaks subdivision, and “follow every restriction” (ibid.). New Hope Cemetery has been operational since January 2004.

In 2019, faced with the New Hope Cemetery reaching full capacity and unable to accommodate future burials, GIIRS sought a special use permit for a ten-acre cemetery in Bethlehem, GA, with a capacity of up to 7,827 graves (Yeomans, 2019, Jan 1). This situation echoed the controversy in 2004, underscoring ongoing challenges in managing burial spaces. The Gwinnett County Planning Commission recommended approval of the new cemetery with certain conditions, such as restricted hours of operation, fencing, and a landscaped buffer (ibid.). However, due to concerns over groundwater contamination, the Board of Commissioners deferred GIIRS's request until March 5, 2019, from its initial consideration on February 6, 2019 (Yeomans, 2019, Feb 26). Despite these hurdles, the New Muslim Cemetery was eventually approved and has been operational since August 2020.

References

• Feagans, B. (2002, February 26). For Lovejoy, Islamic graves, and furor, are no big deal. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Available from NexisUni.
• Feagans, B. (2002, February 27). Muslim burial ground OK’d, but Gwinnett tacks on limits. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Available from NexisUni.
• (2002, February 26). Ga. Officials OK Islam Cemetery. The Associated Press. Available from NexisUni.
• Nurse, D. (2001, June 20). Planners OK higher-density subdivision; cemetery on hold. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Available from NexisUni.
• Nurse, D. (2001, July 20). Soil test results “mixed” at Muslim cemetery site; Neighbors still apprehensive. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Available from NexisUni.
• Yeomans, C. (2019, January 1). Islamic group seeking. Gwinnett Daily Post. Web. 
• Yeomans, C. (2019, February 26). Gwinnett commissioners table decision on Islamic cemetery near Bethlehem. Gwinnett Daily Post. Web.

June 11, 2024