LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA, USA, June 7, 2006: An ornate Hindu temple that would rise on 4 acres just outside the Lilburn city limits got a thumbs down Tuesday from the Gwinnett County Planning Commission. Citing a recommendation from the county planners, the nine-member panel ruled the marble-and-stone structure topped with domes and spires would be out of character with homes and offices surrounding the site at Lawrenceville Highway and Braden Drive. The unanimous vote came after three nearby residents told planning commissioners they are not opposed to a temple being built there, but they have concerns about the traffic and stormwater runoff it would generate. “You’re going to have a major traffic jam there,” said Gary Singleton, who lives on Braden Drive. At issue, though, was not whether a temple can go on the property, but rather how big it can be and what materials can be used to construct it. The land’s current zoning calls for glass and brick buildings, and it does not allow the marble and stone that would be used for the 13,200-square-foot temple. When the land was rezoned for a day care in 2004, the glass-and-brick building requirement was established at the behest of area residents, who wanted to ensure whatever went there meshed with existing buildings, according to county planners. Also, the spires — the highest would reach 67 feet — require a tall structure permit from the county.
The temple and an adjacent community center, which would initially serve about 50 members of the Shri Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism, would enhance the surrounding area, said Ramesh Suhagia, president of Lilburn-based Construction Management & Engineering Service. “The way it is designed it looks huge, but it is really a compact structure,” Suhagia told planning commissioners. The temple would be an exact replica of a Swaminarayan temple in India that is central to the branch’s faith, and the building blocks for the temple would be carved overseas and shipped here, Suhagia said. It would be built to accommodate future growth and could hold 200 worshippers. Less than a mile away, a larger Swaminarayan temple is under construction inside the Lilburn city limits. That temple going on 32 acres at Lawrenceville Highway and Rockbridge Road will serve another Swaminarayan sect, BAPS. The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners will hold another public hearing and take a final vote on the temple request on June 27.