Sandy Springs city council to vote on Church of Scientology expa - CBS Atlanta 46

Sandy Springs city council to vote on Church of Scientology expansion

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SANDY SPRINGS, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -

The Church of Scientology hopes to get what it's been asking for tonight in Sandy Springs after a three-year lawsuit against the city.

The church won one battle in 2009. Sandy Springs' city council allowed the property to be rezoned from office space to a church.

Neighbors like Robin Beechey weren't happy.

"We gathered signatures of nearly 1,000 and fought against the original proposal and against the larger proposal," said Beechey.

The church wanted more. It wanted to expand and convert the current underground parking area into worship space. That request was denied. The church responded by filing lawsuits in court. The case was pushed into mediation. Now a similar plan is up for a vote again.

The issue will go before the city council at 6 p.m. Tuesday as a result of mediation.

"The local residents are just as opposed to it as they were before and we haven't had proper time to prepare," said Beechey.

Beechey said their opposition has nothing to do with who wants to expand and everything to do with their concern for traffic flow and what they feel is the proper use of the space.

"It's trying to cram far too much onto that site. We would have been against it whatever the church was, it has nothing to do with Scientology. It's an unsatisfactory use of that site," said Beechey. 

No one from the city would comment before the vote.

CBS Atlanta reached out to the Church of Scientology. No one was available Tuesday afternoon for comment.

Check back for updates on this story.

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