http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&subsectionID=84&articleID=56963
The Gwinnett Daily Post
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Planner donated to two on BOC
Permit request states no contributions made
By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 05, 2009
LAWRENCEVILLE - A planning commissioner with a stake in the fate of a rezoning request made campaign contributions to county commissioners despite answering to the contrary on the request application.
District 1 Planning Commissioner Mark Gary failed to disclose his contributions to two county commissioners on a special-use permit application for an 18,500-square-foot waste transfer station being considered near the intersection of Winder Highway and Ga. Highway 316.
Attorney Jonathan Kendall, the representative for Transfer East, the corporation seeking to build the station on Alcovy Industrial Boulevard, answered "no" when asked if the applicant had made campaign contributions in an amount greater than $250 to any member of the Board of Commissioners within the last two years.
Gary is the applicant with Transfer East. According to campaign contribution disclosure reports, Gary made two separate $2,000 contributions to District 1 Commissioner Shirley Lasseter and Chairman Charles Bannister in 2007, which is within two years of Kendall's signed application, dated Oct. 31, 2008.
The first donation was made to Bannister May 24, 2007, by the Gary Holding Group. The second contribution was made by builder and developer Gary individually to Lasseter on June 13, 2007.
Kendall said he was not authorized to comment Wednesday.
In January - a month before the case came before the county's planning commission - Gary was appointed to the board by Lasseter.
When it was considered Feb. 17, Gary did not participate in the discussion or vote. In fact, the commission passed the case on to the Board of Commissioners offering no recommendation. Gary's abstention, as well as the abstention of Commissioner Kevin Kenerly's two appointed planning commissioners, meant a quorum of five votes in support of a motion couldn't be reached.
Kenerly's planning commissioners didn't vote because of Kenerly himself abstaining in the debate because his mother is living at the Noble Village Senior Living Center, which Gary owns and operates along with his brother.
In a letter dated Feb. 17 from Kenerly to County Clerk Diane Kemp, the District 4 Commissioner wrote, "I understand that the applicant in case number SUP-09-007 is also the owner of the Noble Village Senior Living Center in Gwinnett County. My decision (to refrain from participating) is made on the basis that, while I do not have a legal conflict in this matter, I would like to avoid any appearance of impropriety as the board considers this special-use permit application."
Gary did not file a letter explaining his abstention.
The Board of Commissioners tabled the case at its Feb. 24 meeting until March 17 in order to further study the request.
Repeated calls since Friday to county attorney Van Stephens to see how the current application might be affected by Gary failing to disclose his campaign contributions went unreturned.
From the Georgia Bulletin, March 9, 2009
http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2009/03/05/suit/
Archdiocese, Mission File Suit To Block Waste Station
Published: March 5, 2009
ATLANTA—A suit has been filed by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission Church against Gwinnett County and Lancaster Enterprises to block a proposed solid waste operation next to the church in Norcross.
On Feb. 3, Gwinnett County commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a rezoning and special use permits allowing the solid waste transfer station to be built, even though the county Planning Department and Planning Commission had recommended that the requests be denied.
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said that the archdiocese regretted having to file a legal action but felt that all attempts to work with the county had been fruitless.
“Everyone involved in this process—the local church, the community, the surrounding businesses—agrees that the Shackleford Road site is not a proper location for this operation,” the archbishop said. “We ask that the commission prayerfully reconsider the impact on the community and take action to reverse their decision to place a solid waste station adjacent to a church.”
Father Francis Tuan Tran, administrator of the mission, who came with a thousand of his parishioners to several public hearings to oppose the project, agreed.
“We conduct services at our church seven days a week,” he said. “The noise, smells and traffic will disrupt our services. We have invested millions of dollars in converting a vacant property to a church and a center for religious education and parish activities, and we have a multi-million dollar expansion in the works. Asking our congregation to practice their faith next to a trash operation is wrong. We are disappointed that the Gwinnett County Commission overlooked these factors.”
The mission has 4,000 members and Father Tran said about 800 children come to the church regularly for Mass and faith programs.
The archdiocese contends that the proposed waste operation, called a “solid waste transfer facility,” would involve several hundred garbage trucks per day running in and out of the property, where the garbage and other materials would be transferred to larger trucks for transport to a nearby landfill.
The suit, which will be filed in Gwinnett Superior Court, alleges that the county’s action was a “manifest abuse” of its zoning power. In addition, the suit alleges that the county’s decision to locate the trash operation on this particular property was unconstitutional because of the way the county treated the Vietnamese church.
The owner of the property, Lancaster Enterprises, who sought the rezoning, is also named. The suit alleges that the operations on the property would create a nuisance under Georgia law, urges that the rezoning of the parcel be overturned and that the court enjoin all solid waste operations on the property.
Suit Filed to Keep Dump Away from Church
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Suit_Filed_to_Keep_Dump_Away_from_Church_030409
Last Edited: Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009, 10:32 PM EST
Created On: Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009, 10:00 PM EST
Denise Dillon
Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The Archdiocese of Atlanta has jumped into the fight to block a waste transfer station. A lawsuit has been filed over the building of a garbage dump next to a church in Norcross.
The fight has been going on for months, church members collected petitions and held prayer vigils but that didn't work and now there's a legal battle.
"We do not think that the Gwinnett County Commission truly considered the full impact on the people who live nearby and those who worship at the church," said Archbishop Wilton Gregory.
Archbishop Gregory said a lawsuit was the last resort but the church had to step in to prevent a waste transfer station from being built next to the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church in Norcross.
For months, parishioners prayed and packed commission meetings armed with petitions and asking for the waste transfer station to be denied, but commissioners approved it.
"I'm puzzled how they failed to recognize the adverse affect or [how they] chose to neglect concerns we raised," said parishioner David Pham.
The congregation, made up of 4,000 members is worried about up to 800 garbage trucks a day that would dump trash at a nearby site to be sorted before it can be moved to other locations.
Church members said their church belongs to the community and to God and should be treated with dignity.
Gwinnett County commissioners refused to comment, saying they had not officially been served the lawsuit papers yet.
Archdiocese sues Gwinnett over waste facility
By MICHAEL PEARSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta said Tuesday that it is suing Gwinnett County over its decision to allow a waste transfer station to be built next to one of its churches in Norcross.
The lawsuit accuses Gwinnett County of abusing its authority in approving rezoning for the site on Shackleford Road adjacent to Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission.
The lawsuit, which also names the land’s owners, Lancaster Enterprises, also argues the transfer station would amount to a nuisance prohibited under Georgia law.
“We ask that the Commission prayerfully reconsider the impact on the community and take action to reverse their decision to place a solid waste station adjacent to a church,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory said in a statement.
County attorney Karen Thomas said the county has not yet been served with the lawsuit and declined comment.
In addition to the church community, business leaders in the area opposed the transfer station, saying it would endanger efforts to redevelop the area.
Find this article at:
http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/03/03/gwinnett_lawsuit_archdiocese.html
Atlanta
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1465501§ionID=1
Gwinnett OKs waste transfer station near church
Charles Edwards
ATLANTA, GA (2009-02-03) The only Vietnamese church in Gwinnett County is getting a neighbor and it's not happy about it.
A solid waste transfer station will be build near church grounds after the Gwinnett Commission yesterday narrowly approved a land use application.
Most of the people at Tuesday's commission meeting were members of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs' Catholic Church in Norcross. They heard Commission chair Charles Bannister acknowledge solid waste transfer stations aren't popular.
BANNISTER: "But the fact is there are always neighbors and these facilities which simply have to exist somewhere in the county of 800 thousand residents and growing."
Bannister and two others on the 5 person Commission voted yes.
Lancaster Enterprises will operate the waste station. The company will have to follow 34 safety rules. But that doesn't satisfy church member Su Le.
LE: Very disappointed. Even people broke down and cry. It's just like a slap in our minority face."
Le and others don't feel the Commission is taking Gwinnett's Vietnamese community seriously. And parishioners of the 4 thousand member church say they'll remember come election time. © Copyright 2009, WABE
Community News
NORCROSS:
Church holds vigil; trash plan opposed
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/02/01/waste0201.html
By Cameron McWhirter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, February 01, 2009
A Catholic congregation was set for a noon-to-midnight prayer vigil Saturday in anticipation of a Tuesday vote by Gwinnett County commissioners on whether to put a garbage facility next door to their church.
The Holy Vietnamese Martyrs’ Mission, set in a former car dealership near the intersection of I-85 and Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross, claims about 4,000 members. Hundreds were expected to attend the vigil.
Church supporters have gathered thousands of signatures on petitions and have enlisted the assistance of Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory. They want to stop the county from allowing developers to build a garbage transfer station on abandoned property down a hill from their 2-year-old church.
“We’ve got a garbage problem in this county, but you don’t put a transfer station next to a church,” Archdiocese spokeswoman Patricia Chivers said.
At a December vote by the Board of Commissioners, two of five commissioners —- Chairman Charles Bannister and Kevin Kenerly —- voted for the transfer station. Neither returned calls for comment on Friday. Two other commissioners voted against it. One commissioner was absent, and the vote was postponed until this Tuesday.
Hundreds of church supporters are expected at that meeting. Large crowds appeared at previous public meetings.
Incoming Commissioner Shirley Lasseter, whose district includes the contested property, has not yet voted on the issue.
Lee Tucker, an attorney representing the property’s developers, has said it is a good location for the facility.
Church members fear garbage smells, traffic, noise and health hazards if the station is approved.
The station would be a place for smaller trucks to bring trash from across the county. The garbage would then be put into larger trucks and hauled to a landfill.
Nearby businesses don’t like the proposed station any more than the church.
Gregory Dexter, 62, heads a commercial real estate business nearby. He said that if the station goes in, businesses renting his properties will see the steady stream of garbage trucks and leave.
“It’s just not fair,” he said.
The Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District and Norcross also oppose the plan.
Chinh C. Nguyen, 41, a church councilman, said the congregation —- made up of mostly working-class immigrants —- raised $1.7 million to buy the property and fix it up. They have plans to build a new chapel in the area where the dealership’s showroom once stood. He said the church has talked with lawyers and it will file a lawsuit if the garbage facility is approved.
“We will do what we have to do to protect ourselves,” he said.
Mission Asks Other Parishes For Support On Rezoning Issue
http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2009/01/22/rezoning/
STEPHEN O’KANE, Staff Writer
Published: January 22, 2009
NORCROSS—Following the strong showing at a Gwinnett County public hearing on Dec. 16, the members of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission are taking to the proverbial streets, hoping to drum up even more support in opposition to the building of a waste transfer station adjacent to their property on Shackleford Road.
The December meeting was the second public hearing on a proposition to rezone the piece of land next to the church for waste transfer uses. Father Francis Tuan Tran, administrator of the Norcross community, brought more than 600 people with him to the first meeting, which ended with a recommendation by county planners to deny the requests for rezoning and a special use permit.
More than 1,000 showed up at the second public hearing, only to learn that the decision would be tabled until a February meeting. Father Tran knew there had to be some action taken, so he and several parishioners are making an effort to reach out to the surrounding Catholic community.
Father Tran said that this most recent effort began with Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, who wrote a letter to all of the Gwinnett pastors, asking for their support.
“The archbishop … and the Communications Office really helped us in many ways,” Father Tran said about spreading the word.
“The Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission in Norcross is working in opposition to a zoning change that would allow a waste transfer station to be built on property located adjacent to their church,” the letter from Archbishop Gregory began.
“I am writing to ask you to assist Father Francis Tuan Quoc Tran by making your parishioners aware of this zoning change because many of your parishioners are Gwinnett County residents,” the archbishop continued.
Father Tran and his parishioners have also been busy on this issue. He said that there were 10 groups formed at the mission church with the purpose of visiting neighboring Gwinnett County churches to share necessary information about the proposition.
The groups have been speaking at Masses on the weekends as well as handing out flyers with information on the dangers of this motion and how others can help. Many Catholics have given their signatures or their permission to join in a petition supporting the stance of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church.
“Many are directly calling the commissioners,” Father Tran said. “Our brothers and sisters, they really support us.”
Nearly 2,000 people have already shown their support for the petition, but Father Tran hopes the number will rise to 10,000 by the time of the Feb. 3 meeting.
The community at Holy Vietnamese Martyrs is holding a prayer vigil on Sat., Jan. 31, from noon until midnight at their home church. They have invited all their neighboring Catholics to pray for them as they ask for God’s will to be done.
The priest is happy that they have been successful with this most recent effort because in weeks prior, other Gwinnett Catholics “really didn’t know what was going on.”
“Now we have a lot of activity,” said Father Tran.
For Catholics living in Gwinnett County, a link with more information about how to contact the county commissioners is available at the archdiocesan Web site, www.archatl.com.
At Hearing, 1,000 Oppose Waste Transfer Station
http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2009/01/01/wts/
STEPHEN O’KANE, Staff Writer
Published: January 1, 2009
(L-r) Allan Anderson, senior vice president of Dexter Companies, LLC, and Craig Flanagan, vice president of leasing for Duke Realty Corporation, share the front row with Dennis Kelly, project manager for Catholic Construction Services, Inc., and Father Francis Tuan Tran, administrator of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church, Norcross. All four men also shared a common opposition to the proposed development of a waste transfer station in their community. (Photo by Michael Alexander)
LAWRENCEVILLE—Father Francis Tuan Tran, administrator of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church, stood in solidarity with nearly 1,000 of his parishioners Dec. 16, hoping numbers would help prevent approval of a new waste transfer station next to the mission.
The priest addressed the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners at a public hearing, pleading with board members to consider the dangers and possible side effects of rezoning land to build such a property so near to the church on Shackleford Road in Norcross.
The meeting was the second public hearing on the rezoning. Father Tran brought more than 600 people with him to the first meeting a few weeks earlier, which ended with a recommendation by county planners to deny the requests for rezoning and a special use permit.
He had hoped that, with more people, the commissioners would see how strongly parishioners oppose the plan.
Commissioners immediately agreed to move the issue to the top of the Dec. 16 agenda, after seeing that the Gwinnett Justice Center auditorium, as well as the hall outside and an entire extra room were full of protesting members of the Norcross mission.
“Let me say that the delay is a result of the overflow crowd,” said Charles Bannister, commission chairman, as the hearing began a few minutes late.
Lee Tucker of the Mahaffey, Pickens, Tucker law firm, which is representing the land owner, Lancaster Enterprises, addressed the board first, outlining the need for a waste transfer station in the area.
“We all generate trash,” Tucker began, adding, “It has to go somewhere.”
Tucker claimed that a new transfer station would keep more trucks off of the road and, in the end, improve the health of the area by safely and quietly moving trash away from Gwinnett County.
“All activities would be indoors,” Tucker said. “There would be no outdoor handling.”
He added that the proposed plan for the nine-acre property includes two buildings designed to look like office space and provided renderings of a possible land plan. Tucker also argued that the location is appropriate for the use proposed because of office properties nearby and a quarry located across the street.
Allan Anderson, vice president of Gwinnett Corporate Center, which is responsible for nearly 3 million square feet of office and warehouse space near the property, took the podium to counter the remarks made by Tucker.
“This is a totally inappropriate use for the property,” said Anderson.
He said that putting in a waste transfer station would drive businesses away from the area due to the increased traffic and possibly unsanitary conditions, and he urged the commissioners to deny the request.
Dennis Kelly of Catholic Construction Services also addressed the board and introduced Thuy Nguyen, a member of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission.
Nguyen and her husband, Felix, have lived in Gwinnett County for more than 15 years. She is a registered nurse who has been employed by Gwinnett Medical Center for the last decade. The couple has an 8-year-old daughter, Jasmine.
“My family and I are members of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission Catholic Church, which currently has 4,000 members,” Nguyen began. “We, too, share in your mission, in that we help each other become better citizens for the church and community.”
She expressed her concerns about the air pollution, dangerous truck traffic and increased noise level that a waste transfer station would bring to the area and cited her first-hand experience with patients who have acquired airborne infections requiring long hospitalizations.
“I am worried that the fumes that rise with heat, foul odor and debris could be harmful to their health,” she said about the children she works with every Saturday at the church.
“But my greatest concern is that of a mother,” she continued. “My daughter—as well as many other children—comes to the church to worship and learn about God, and to participate in other activities. I am deeply disturbed that my only child, who has asthma, could be exposed to such a detrimental environment. I am sure that any loving parent would greatly share in my concerns.”
Nguyen also noted that current law does not allow a liquor store to operate next to a school or daycare center.
“How can we fathom a waste station next to a church school, that has more children present than a daycare,” she asked the board.
“As a member of the church, I urge you. As a teacher, I ask you. But as a mother, I beg you. Please deny the proposed rezoning request to build a solid waste transfer station,” Nguyen concluded.
“Please keep us safe and healthy,” Jasmine chimed in at the end of her mother’s address.
Father Tran addressed the board last. After highlighting the many concerns he and the mission had, he asked those present who opposed the rezoning to stand up.
Nearly the entire room stood. Those who were patiently watching in the halls stood. Those who were watching the hearing on televisions in a separate room stood.
“Please help us to protect our community,” said Father Tran.
Bannister then allowed the board to offer motions. Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, District 4, made a motion to approve the rezoning with stipulations.
He said the truck traffic was a major consideration, suggesting that it be limited to approximately 80 trucks per day and that a new traffic light be considered near the property. The vote on his motion ended in a 2-2 tie.
Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, District 3, then offered a second motion.
He asked the representatives of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission to what degree there had been collaboration between themselves and the current owners of the land. Both sides agreed that there has been no talk outside of the two public hearings.
Beaudreau motioned to table the decision until the Feb. 3 meeting, suggesting in the meantime that the two parties begin discussing compromises or possible solutions. By February a new commissioner will have joined the board.
The motion received a majority vote, tabling the decision until then.
Hopeful parishioners stood up and began filing out of the building, forced to wait until February to learn the fate of the property next door.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
http://gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=37&ArticleID=55176
War over wasteChurch fights proposal for neighboring waste transfer station
By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Staff Photos: Josh D. Weiss
Chinh �C.C.� Nguyen, right, points out the land where the waste transfer station is planned as Pastor Francis Tuan Tran watches from behind. The Church is upset because the transfer station would be in close proximity to the church and they fear the smell and other associated problems could negatively impact the congregation.The location of the proposed waste transfer station is just east of I-85, north of the Beaver Ruin Road exit. Property owners in the area are not happy about the proposal.NORCROSS - There's an old saying for people of faith that says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And following that advice certainly applies to the members of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs' Mission. Unfortunately for the church though, its neighboring land owners aren't showing they practice that same mantra.
With about 4,000 members, in two years the predominantly Vietnamese congregation has turned the property formerly known as the Timmers Chevrolet dealership located just off Beaver Ruin Road and its intersection with Interstate 85 into its sanctuary, Vietnamese language school and a place of worship. As church spokesman C.C. Nguyen likes to say, they put a lot of "sweat equity" into the property. And now these same church members are fighting like mad to keep their church and the surrounding environment free from the smell of garbage and truck emissions.
The reason for the fight is that the congregation is now caught up in a rezoning dispute with its neighboring property owners - JEM Land Development and Lancaster Enterprises. Working together, these two entities have petitioned the Board of Commissioners for a rezoning from light industry district (M-1) to a heavy industry district (M-2) to build a waste transfer station at the location, a move the church, the planning commission, the planning department, the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District and neighboring business and property owners adamantly oppose. What's interesting is the move to build the waste transfer station comes just a few months after the church signed an agreement with those same property owners that said they would voluntarily sell the group one acre of its land for a mixed-use development to be built on the site.
At last month's Board of Commissioners meeting, with outgoing commissioner Lorraine Green absent, the commissioners deadlocked on the vote to rezone the property 2-2 and ended up tabling the case until the Feb. 3 day meeting. At the time, Commissioner Mike Beaudreau said he wanted new Commissioner Shirley Lasseter to chime in since the property was in her district. At that same meeting, Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, who supported the rezoning along with Chairman Charles Bannister, expressed concerns to the church that he was worried about them leaving the property after they outgrew it.
According to everybody associated with the church, the congregation isn't going anywhere - ever. Matter of fact, they eventually plan to build a brand new church on the same site and already have renderings drawn showing what the property will eventually look like.
"As soon as we pay off this property, we intend to run a capital campaign to build a new church, and everybody in the church knows that," Nguyen said. "It's coming and that was our plan in the first place when we moved in. We're not going anywhere."
The Archdiocese of Atlanta, which technically owns the property where the church is presently located, confirmed this fact and said it is not the church's policy to abandon sites once the congregations get too large.
"This community has plans to build," said Pat Chivers, the director of external communications for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. "And the Archdiocese is committed to long-term property use by the church."
To support the church in its fight against the rezoning, the Archdiocese plans to make announcements in each of its 11 parishes in Gwinnett this weekend urging parishioners to contact their commissioners to vote against the rezoning. Nguyen said their congregation is also formulating a petition that could have as many as 100,000 signatures on it to present to the commissioners prior to the Feb. 3 vote. Finally, he said the church plans to hold an all-day prayer vigil to pray the commissioners do the right thing Jan. 31.
"We're willing to work with our neighbor," Nguyen said. "But the general feeling here in the church is that maybe we'd be treated differently if we weren't immigrants. Our members feel very strongly about this case."
As for what the new district 1 Commissioner is thinking, Lasseter said she's in research mode, gathering information from the county about the need for a waste transfer station in Gwinnett. She acknowledged there have been a number of denials for waste transfer stations during the last few years.
"I don't know what the right thing to do is at this time," Lasseter said. "But we probably need two, three or four of these in Gwinnett so we need to figure out where they need to go."
The idea that Gwinnett needs more waste transfer stations is why attorney Lee Tucker, who represents the landowners in the rezoning, said the location next to the church is perfect.
"There is no residential property anywhere close to this site," Tucker wrote in an e-mail. "I cannot imagine a better location than this one in that it's surrounded by industrial property, is across the street from an active 350 acre rock quarry, and is located in immediate proximity to a highway interchange (Interstate 85). And it's almost directly across 85 from a recycling center on Satellite Boulevard."
The church flat out disagrees with Tucker's assessment that next to their church is a perfect location. They worry about the potential smells from the trash, especially since they are located about 40 feet above elevation from where the transfer station would be located. They also are concerned about the number of trucks that would be traveling daily up and down the two-lane Shackleford Road dropping off garbage. Simply put, they say there are just too many unknowns about the problems that this type of facility could potentially bring to its members.
"It's an untold health hazard and anything can be said on paper," Nguyen said. "What about Hotlanta in the summer? We're from Vietnam and we know about humidity," he said. "We know that with the heat those smells will rise. We don't care how much machines they have to control the smell. Reality says the smells will come up every day. And the noise from the trucks - we have daily mass. How are we going to bear that?"
Tucker conceded that nobody wants to be located next to a waste transfer station or landfill, but said the use for one in a county the size of Gwinnett is absolutely necessary.
"We generate a lot of municipal solid waste and construction and demolition waste in Gwinnett County as is evidenced by the county's attempts to standardize residential garbage service over the last few years," Tucker wrote. "It is common sense that the waste has to go somewhere and the fact of the matter is there are no available municipal solid waste landfills in the county."
NORCROSS
Catholics fighting waste plant: Commissioner insulted us
City to vote next month on transfer station proposed next to church
http://www.ajc.com/gwinnett/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/01/06/gwinnett_waste_station.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
By MICHAEL PEARSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
The members of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Mission in Norcross didn’t need much more ammunition in their fight against a proposed waste transfer station next to their church, the site of a defunct Chevrolet dealership.
But, they say, Commissioner Kevin Kenerly gave them just that at a Dec. 16 public hearing.
In moving to approve the waste transfer station, Kenerly told the overflow audience — almost all church members — that while churches are important, he was reluctant to deny the developer’s request because “you might outgrow that piece” of land.
“If you do outgrow that piece, it’s still Timmer’s Chevrolet to me,” he said.
C.C. Nguyen, spokesman for the church community, said the comment came across to his fellow parishioners as an insult.
“It took us 12 years to get to this point,” he said. “We have worked our tails off to build what we have today.”
The sentiment is shared by officials with the Archdiocese of Atlanta, which oversees Catholic parishes in the metro area.
“I personally found it equally as offensive,” said Dennis Kelly, project manager with Catholic Church Services Inc., the church’s real estate wing. “We don’t go out and buy property on a temporary basis. Our parishes are there forever.”
Kenerly didn’t return a telephone message left on his cellphone and left Tuesday’s County Commission meeting before a reporter could ask him about the church’s concerns.
The church has already twice packed to overflowing the auditorium of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center for public hearings on the project, and has launched an online petition drive to further demonstrate opposition to the project.
Now, the church is trying to recruit Catholics from other Gwinnett parishes to flood the county with messages before the scheduled Feb. 3 decision on the project.
There’s some 23,350 families registered to Catholic parishes in the county, Kelly said.
“That’s a sizable number of voters,” he said. The developer’s attorney, Lee Tucker, argues that all of the waste dumping and transferring would occur inside the building, which would be made to blend in with the surrounding offices and warehouses. Its location near I-85 means landfill-bound trucks loaded with garbage will be off surface streets onto the highway quickly, he has said.
But church members say the waste transfer station would endanger the health and safety, as well as the sense of community, of its 4,000 member families and some 800 children who attend Sunday school classes and other events at the church. Nearby business and building owners also oppose the proposal.
Suit Filed to Keep Dump Away from Church
Published : Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009, 10:32 PM EST
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Suit_Filed_to_Keep_Dump_Away_from_Church_030409
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The Archdiocese of Atlanta has jumped into the fight to block a waste transfer station. A lawsuit has been filed over the building of a garbage dump next to a church in Norcross.
The fight has been going on for months, church members collected petitions and held prayer vigils but that didn't work and now there's a legal battle.
"We do not think that the Gwinnett County Commission truly considered the full impact on the people who live nearby and those who worship at the church," said Archbishop Wilton Gregory.
Archbishop Gregory said a lawsuit was the last resort but the church had to step in to prevent a waste transfer station from being built next to the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church in Norcross.
For months, parishioners prayed and packed commission meetings armed with petitions and asking for the waste transfer station to be denied, but commissioners approved it.
"I'm puzzled how they failed to recognize the adverse affect or [how they] chose to neglect concerns we raised," said parishioner David Pham.
The congregation, made up of 4,000 members is worried about up to 800 garbage trucks a day that would dump trash at a nearby site to be sorted before it can be moved to other locations.
Church members said their church belongs to the community and to God and should be treated with dignity.
Gwinnett County commissioners refused to comment, saying they had not officially been served the lawsuit papers yet.
Norcross Church Fights to Keep Trash Dump From Opening Next Door
Published : Saturday, 31 Jan 2009, 7:01 PM EST
Edited By: Leigha Baugham | MyFOX ATLANTA
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/Norcross_Church_Fights_Next_Door_Dump_013109
NORCROSS, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - The fight continued Saturday in Norcross over plans to build a garbage dump next door to a church. Members of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission held a vigil Saturday to raise public awareness and prayers in the fight against the dump.
For 12 hours, parishioners and other supporters prayed with the single purpose of getting Gwinnett County commissioners to vote down a rezoning that might change the church forever.
"They are really upset," said church member Tuan Tran.
More than 800 children attend services at Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission. The church has a total of 4,000 members and they are worried about the environmental and safety impact of a plan to build a waste disposal transfer station next door to church property.
An estimated 80 trash trucks would dump their loads at the site and the garbage would sit at the site until it can be sorted and trucked elsewhere.
In the last the years, the congregation has invested more than $1 million in the sanctuary and surrounding property and have built much of it themselves.
The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioner recently delayed the vote on the zoning plan. The vote could be taken up again Tuesday, which gave a sense of urgency to the church's Saturday mass.
WSB News
http://wsbradio.com/localnews/2009/01/church-fighting-gwinnett-count.html
Church Fighting Gwinnett County By Jon Lewis @ January 7, 2009 9:55 AM
NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) Members of a Catholic church in Norcross are trying to rally fellow Catholics to help them fight a proposed waste transfer station next to their church.
Gwinnett county commission board members are set to decide on the project at their Feb. 3 meeting. Parishioners of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Mission are trying to recruit other Gwinnett County Catholics to bombard the county with messages before that meeting.
Church members were angered last month when Commissioner Kevin Kenerly said at a public hearing that churches are important but the waste transfer station should be approved because the church might outgrow the land.
Kenerly did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday morning.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Gwinnett officials advise ‘no’ vote on waste station
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/12/04/gwxwaste.html
By
Patrick Fox
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, December 04, 2008
With more than 600 attending their Wednesday night meeting, Gwinnett County planning commissioners recommended denial for a developer who wants a new waste transfer station on Shackleford Road.
Lancaster Enterprises wants to rezone 9 acres near I-85 and Beaver Ruin Road from light industrial to a heavier industrial category, and their request includes an application for a special use permit for a waste transfer station.
Jeff West, from the county planning office, said his staff supported a denial. The county’s land use plan recommends commercial retail use for the property.
The final vote on the transfer station application is scheduled before the County Commission Dec. 16.
Speaking in favor of the request, attorney Lee Tucker, representing Lancaster, said Gwinnett County has no landfill.
“We all generate trash,” he said, “and most folks realize it has to go somewhere when it leaves the curb in front of your house.”
Tucker said the proposed station would collect the garbage into one central enclosed location, then transfer it to large trucks that would have easy access to the interstate.
But opposition was plentiful and vocal.
Cong Chinh Nguyen, representing the congregation of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church, which sits adjacent to the site, said the 3,000-member church needs a “safe, clean and healthy environment.”
The proposal would be an assault on the area, said Allan Anderson, vice president of Gwinnett Corporate Center that controls more than 3 million square feet of office and warehouse space along Shackleford Road.
GwinnettDailyPost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=53533&SectionID=6&SubSectionID=&S=1
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Residents say no to transfer station
Planners side with opposition against waste facility
By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer
Thursday, December 04, 2008
LAWRENCEVILLE - Renowned reggae superstar Bob Marley once sang, "Get up, stand up. Stand up for your right."
With what occurred at Wednesday's lone planning commission meeting for the month, the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs' Catholic Church congregation must have certainly heard the song.
That's because when it was time to let the commissioners know how they felt about a proposed solid waste transfer station being considered next door to their sanctuary near Interstate 85 and Beaver Ruin Road, the members present stood up in opposition at the request of one of its priests. And with a standing-room-only, packed auditorium, that effect was quite powerful.
"Our community has more than 3,000 members," church spokesman C.C. Nguyen said. "We need to have a safe, clean and healthy environment surrounding our church for the protection of our children, our congregation and our daily activities. The proposed usage of this parcel as a waste transfer station is clearly not compatible with the surrounding uses of the area."
The church wasn't the only opposition present either. District 3 Planning Commissioner Chuck Warbington had to abstain from voting because his Gwinnett Village community improvement district, of which he is the director, had already written the Board of Commissioners voicing opposition to the proposed project.
"The subject property is labeled as a preferred office future use that included higher densities with a major emphasis on office professional uses mixed with a combination of retail and residential uses," the letter reads. "The 2030 plan specifically discourages large, free standing commercial/retail, all forms of new industrial and residential, except those that are a part of a higher density mixed use development. The proposed use certainly does not meet these requirements."
Speaking on behalf of the applicant - Lancaster Enterprises - attorney Lee Tucker asked the commission to consider where two members of the opposition lived. With one residing in Snellville and the other living in Duluth, Tucker said, "Where do you think their trash is going to go? It's going to be all over the road, and that is exactly the reason why we need this near an access point to the interstate."
With Warbington abstaining, the planning commissioners unanimously denied the request for a rezoning and special-use permit.
The Board of Commissioners will consider the case at its Dec. 16 evening meeting.
Company wants Norcross land rezoned for waste transfer station
http://www.ajc.com/homefinder/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/09/10/waste_transfer_station.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
By MICHAEL PEARSON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The site of the old Chamber of Horrors haunted house in unincorporated Norcross is being floated for redevelopment as a waste transfer station.
JEM Development of Suwanee is asking Gwinnett County officials to rezone the land to allow for the station, which would accept household waste and construction debris from smaller trucks for packaging and final delivery to landfills.
The topic of transfer stations in the area has been a delicate one, with county planners repeatedly turning down rezoning requests from Advanced Disposal Inc. of Georgia.
That company is not involved in JEM’s request. In fact, according to the JEM’s land use attorney, Lee Tucker, the developer doesn’t have a company lined up to run the station.
The site is on the edge of the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District, which opposed Advanced Disposal’s last application for a site on Crescent Drive. The business group said such a station might damage prospects for redevelopment in the area.
Chuck Warbington, the district’s executive director and a Gwinnett County planning commissioner, said he had not heard of JEM’s application until contacted by a reporter.
But he said even though the site is on the edge of the CID’s territory, it could still result in opposition similar to that generated by the Advanced Disposal project.
JEM had previously discussed redeveloping the land in question, a nine acre site at the corner of Shackleford Road and Shackleford Circle, into an upscale mixed-use project featuring residential condominiums, retail, restaurants and offices.
But Tucker said the company has scrapped that plan in favor of the waste transfer idea.
The land is zoned for light industrial. The county would need to upgrade the site’s zoning to a heavier industrial classification and issue a special use permit for the waste station to go forward.
The project must first undergo state review at a Development of Regional Impact. It is scheduled to be heard by county officials in 2009.
http://www.gwinnettforum.com/2009issues/09.0428.htm
Update on Vietnamese Catholic Church garbage station fight Editor, the Forum:
I'd like to give your readers a brief update on the ongoing fight against the solid waste transfer station proposed for the Shackleford Road site.
Earlier this week, Catholic Archbishop William D. Gregory announced that a suit has been filed by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission Church to block the proposed solid waste operation next to the church near Norcross. The law suit named both Gwinnett County and Lancaster Enterprises as defendants. The suit alleges that the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners' action was a "manifest abuse" of its zoning power given the arbitrary nature of the decision. It also targets the owner of the property, Lancaster Enterprises, who sought the rezoning, alleging that the operations on the property would create a nuisance under Georgia law. The suit asks that the rezoning of the parcel be overturned and that the Court enjoin all solid waste transfer station operations on the property.
The law suit was truly the last resort since all attempts to work with the County had been "fruitless." These efforts included thousands of people attending the various public hearings and meetings, hundreds more emails and telephone calls made as well as approximately 10,000 petitions delivered to the Commission for its consideration. The inaction on the part of the Commission clearly illustrated the lack of any accountability. We deserve better representation, and we must demand higher accountability from our elected officials.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and visit our website for the latest update http://holyvietnamesemartyrsmission.weebly.com/news-and-information.html.
Gwinnett OKs waste transfer station near church
Charles Edwards (2009-02-03) null
A religious statue stands in front of Holy Vietnamese Martyrs' Catholic Church. Behind the trees sits 9 acres the Commission rezoned for a solid waste transfer station. Charles Edwards function matchWidth(a,b) { var c = $(a).getWidth(); if(c != null && c != '') { $(b).setStyle({'width': c}) } } Event.observe(window, 'load', function() { matchWidth('photo-photo','photo-container'); }); ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - The only Vietnamese church in Gwinnett County is getting a neighbor and it's not happy about it.
A solid waste transfer station will be build near church grounds after the Gwinnett Commission yesterday narrowly approved a land use application.
Most of the people at Tuesday's commission meeting were members of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs' Catholic Church in Norcross. They heard Commission chair Charles Bannister acknowledge solid waste transfer stations aren't popular.
BANNISTER: "But the fact is there are always neighbors and these facilities which simply have to exist somewhere in the county of 800 thousand residents and growing."
Bannister and two others on the 5 person Commission voted yes.
Lancaster Enterprises will operate the waste station. The company will have to follow 34 safety rules. But that doesn't satisfy church member Su Le.
LE: Very disappointed. Even people broke down and cry. It's just like a slap in our minority face."
Le and others don't feel the Commission is taking Gwinnett's Vietnamese community seriously. And parishioners of the 4 thousand member church say they'll remember come election time. © Copyright 2010, WABE