About a month ago I wrote about south Forsyth’s NIMBY mosque on Tidwell Road. Looks like Alpharetta is in the news for the same reason; except in this case, an existing mosque wants to expand. I am hesitant to write about this a second time, since this debate can get heated, but here goes.
The Islamic Center of North Fulton operates a small mosque on two lane Rucker Road. They want to expand the facility to 15,000 square feet. Here is an article about it. Local residents are opposed to it for pretty much the same reason some in Forsyth were opposed to the Tidwell Road location. Traffic.
If you have any doubt that bigotry plays a part in this, then read the comments from the link above. Or check out this debate thread from the same Appen Newspaper website. Again, I hesitate to post this for fear that I bring legitimacy to the nonsense these guys are pushing.
Look folks, people in the Islamic faith worship differently than Christians or Jews. They go in for prayer and they leave. It is more of a slow trickle of people going in and out, not the mad rush you might see going into a Sunday morning service at a Christian church. If you’re gonna have a religious group in your backyard, I’d say a mosque should be your first choice!
Also, there are already two fairly big churches on Rucker Road right now. St. Thomas Aquinas boasts a membership of 3,200 families! Restoration Church of God is also nearby.
I’m embarrassed to see some in my community react this way to people of a different faith. Let’s get these zoning requests approved and move on.
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I grew up with bosnian parents and live on rucker road. I’m educated and open minded. Even though I’m not muslim, my family was close with many bosnian muslims. I grew up drinking turkish coffee and appreciate that I come from a culture influenced by the ottoman empire. So I’m pretty offended that people assume those on rucker rd are racist rednecks. I moved into a subdivision off of rucker knowing that the current islamic center was in my back yard and I didn’t think twice about it as it looked residential. The plans proposed however was not what I expected when I made the investment in my home. A place of worship is lovely, but the plans call for a gym, daycare, rec facility etc. What’s being proposed is more than a mosque. It sounds like this ceneter is looking to save a few bucks on their facility rather than finding a suitable location for the size of their project. I’m an engineer, so I’m not stupid and understand the square footage being proposed. This isn’t a debate about racism; this is about lower to middle class families stressed about propety values. In an age where people are transferred across the counrty for work, the ability to market and sell your home is a concern.