Sandy Springs: $CN CHURCH & $CN Federal Lawsuit Coming

Tigger

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Dec 15, 2009, 11:05:02 PM12/15/09

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Lawsuit coming, despite Sandy Springs' OK of Scientology church �|
ajc.com

http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulton/lawsuit-coming-despite-sandy-242245.html

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Quote:

Scientology is coming to Sandy Springs – but a federal lawsuit is
coming first.

“Absolutely,” said attorney William Woodson Galloway, when asked if
the Church of Scientology will pursue a religious liberty lawsuit
following a vote Tuesday that limited the size of the church in Sandy
Springs. “We are not happy with the result.”

The result was a 3-3 vote by the City Council on Tuesday night that
tried to find a common ground between outright denial of the rezoning
of the office building at Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive and
agreeing to the church’s request to add a fourth floor to the
building...........................End of quote (M

ethercat

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Dec 16, 2009, 12:08:15 AM12/16/09

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Tonight's brief report:
http://forum.reachingforthetippingpoint.net/index.php/topic,2758.0.html

Background here:
http://forum.reachingforthetippingpoint.net/index.php/board,16.0.html

--
|_____|__| |\__/,| (\
|__|_____| _.|o o |_ ) )
|--------------------------| ethercat |----------------(((---(((--------|
|_____|_____|_ http://ReachingForTheTippingPoint.net _|_____|_____|_____|
|__|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|__|
|_____|_____|____ Scientology - Through the Door _____|_____|_____|_____|
|__|______|_____|__ http://ThroughTheDoor.net/ ____|_____|_____|_____|__|
|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|

Astrid

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Dec 16, 2009, 11:18:47 AM12/16/09

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On Dec 15, 9:05 pm, Tigger <Tiggerinthe...@webtv.net> wrote:
> Lawsuit coming, despite Sandy Springs' OK of Scientology church |
> ajc.com
>

> http://www.ajc.com/news/north-fulton/lawsuit-coming-despite-sandy-242...

>
> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
>
> Quote:
>
> Scientology is coming to Sandy Springs – but a federal lawsuit is
> coming first.
>
> “Absolutely,” said attorney William Woodson Galloway, when asked if
> the Church of Scientology will pursue a religious liberty lawsuit
> following a vote Tuesday that limited the size of the church in Sandy
> Springs. “We are not happy with the result.”
>
> The result was a 3-3 vote by the City Council on Tuesday night that
> tried to find a common ground between outright denial of the rezoning
> of the office building at Roswell Road and Glenridge Drive and
> agreeing to the church’s request to add a fourth floor to the
> building...........................End of quote (M

Right, they need to expand the space in their empty buildings. All the
cult has going for it is square footage and stars like Cruise who
embarrassed himself with the nutty video and Travolta who probably
didn't do the best for his son, and Kirstie with her eating disorder.
So they are going to make Scientology synonymous with "religious
freedom" hoping enough right wing Christians don't notice they believe
Jesus is an implant.

Tigger

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Dec 17, 2009, 9:27:47 AM12/17/09

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LOL.....Way to go CO$....No doubt a lawsuit will make the (spit)
"church" welcome and the residents more "comfortable". What a
giant footbullet. Can $CN get any more stupid?

Tigger

Quote:

ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - After a controversial city council vote, the
Church of Scientology says it's suing Sandy Springs for religious
discrimination.

In a split vote last night, the Sandy Springs city council approved a
rezoning request by the Church of Scientology to relocate its
headquarters there.

But the council denied the Church's request to build an extra floor on
the site.
End of Quote

Read the rest of the story Here:

WABE: Church of Scientology to sue Sandy Springs after vote
(2009-12-16)

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1589694/Atlanta/Church.of.Scientology.to.sue.Sandy.Springs.after.vote

ethercat

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Dec 19, 2009, 12:36:22 AM12/19/09

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Videos of the final Mayor and City Council meeting are here:
http://www.youtube.com/Reach4theTippingPt

There are some funny moments in the numbers 5-10 videos, as the City
Council members try to come to terms with exactly what scientology is.

realpch

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Dec 19, 2009, 5:11:10 PM12/19/09

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<snip>

Very interesting layout of various operating theories. We bought it
after our guys figured we could do whatever we wanted with it, within
the boundaries of the zoning codes (note, we do not know the details of
those discussions, but those of us who've been around ars for awhile
probably suspect the worst). Therefore, we're entitled to do whatever we
want to do with it, as we're telling you we bought it in good faith. We
require more square footage to conduct our religious activities, and we
have a right to this, but of course, we will stricty enforce a limit on
the number of occupants in our security controlled facility, and you can
come and check it if you like. And of course the usual: if we don't get
what we want, you're a bunch of bigots and we're gonna sue you.

Peach
--
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
Save some dough, save some grief:
http://www.xenu.net
http://www.scientology-lies.com

ethercat

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Dec 20, 2009, 8:26:08 PM12/20/09

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Pretty much, Peach, you're right. They hired the highest profile lawyer
in Sandy Springs, one that the govt. parties involved knew on a first
name basis, and who is also specialized in religious land use. His
partner, Dillard, is currently doing the same type of thing over a zoning
denial for a mosque in another city/county.

It just didn't make sense to the City Council that if they needed the
space to "practice their religion," that they didn't buy a large enough
building to begin with. At one point in a previous meeting (or a letter;
all these filings are running together in my head by now), Galloway went
so far as to suggest that if they were denied, that the city should
reimburse them their purchase price.

The whole reason they wanted to enclose the basement is that the floor
load rating (how much weight the floor will hold per square foot) on the
1st floor isn't enough to put a sanctuary (75 lbs. per sq. ft. vs. the
required 100). The original zoning/variance application proposed to
handle this with a warning sign, which is something that apparently Sandy
Springs wouldn't allow (nor should they), so they amended the application
to include enclosing the underground parking, which would have eliminated
30 of the parking spaces. If it hadn't been for that, they could have
used the building at any time. Basically, they got nothing, after 10
months of paying their high-profile lawyer. All because they wanted a
pretend sanctuary.

Some well-placed education cemented the neighbors' opposition, and they
kept their opposition purely on zoning considerations. While some wanted
the rezoning application denied altogether, the SS govt. did the best
thing, strategically, to let them use the building as it is, but to not
give them anything they didn't already have. I think the city of SS is
in a pretty good position so far as a RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and
Institutionalized Persons Act) lawsuit goes. I hear, but haven't
verified this myself, that the lawsuit must be filed within 30 days of
the last meeting. It should be entertaining.

realpch

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:14:46 PM12/20/09

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ethercat wrote:

<snip>

Aha! I didn't know about the load bearing aspect, and for a sanctuary,
yet! Cripes, why don't they just skip it? Or put in one of those little
closets they have in hospitals. Throw in an organ and a stained glass
window, and voila!

I liked the doubletalk about the use of the place. There will not be a
lot of people, but it will also be the most important center in the
area, and people will come from miles around to do courses. Maybe they
think they'll all be taking buses, and will not need parking spaces.

ethercat

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Dec 20, 2009, 10:09:06 PM12/20/09

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On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:14:46 -0800, realpch wrote:

> Aha! I didn't know about the load bearing aspect, and for a sanctuary,
> yet! Cripes, why don't they just skip it? Or put in one of those little
> closets they have in hospitals. Throw in an organ and a stained glass
> window, and voila!

I'm guessing - they think that here in the south, you can't be taken
seriously as a church without a sanctuary? Lots of churches here are in
tiny little houses, so that's probably not it. The sanctuary was only
going to be 1200 sq. feet anyway.

> I liked the doubletalk about the use of the place. There will not be a
> lot of people, but it will also be the most important center in the
> area, and people will come from miles around to do courses. Maybe they
> think they'll all be taking buses, and will not need parking spaces.

The same sort of doubletalk has been going on throughout the whole 10
meetings; it's been funny to watch how Galloway has squirmed and tried to
suck up to the SS govt. And I thought zoning meetings were supposed to
be boring. :D