Hundreds of residents packed a Loganville, Georgia, City Council meeting Thursday night to oppose the already-started construction of a nearly 20,000-square-foot, three-story Islamic training center and mosque.
Many argued construction had already begun without proper public notice or a council vote.
Dozens spoke during the lengthy meeting, with some people waiting nearly five hours in the parking lot for their turn, according to reports.
WATCH:
Yesterday at the Loganville City Council, residents showed up to speak against the 29,000 sqft Islamic center they’re trying to build. https://t.co/1R65akkvAW
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) November 13, 2026
The proposed facility at 883 Lee Byrd Road would replace a small existing Loganville Islamic Center that has operated out of a house on the five-acre tract since 2023, after the Lawrenceville-based Georgia Islamic Institute of Religious and Social Sciences purchased the property for $630,000.
Residents expressed frustration that construction was underway and that they were only learning about the scale of the project now, with one speaker demanding the city halt work until permits could be verified and another questioning why the project had not gone through normal channels so the community would know what was happening.
“If required permits were never issued, then why hasn’t the city taken enforcement action? We know no permits [were] issued for work being done, and until the city can verify permits are in place, then I’m calling for the construction work to stop,” one resident said, according to a report from Fox 5.
Councilmember Melanie Long told the crowd the proposal for the building never came before the council and that officials were unsure what would happen next.
City officials have pushed back on claims that the project skipped required steps.
Assistant City Manager Jeff Smith said the center spent 14 months working with the city and submitted plans seven times for engineering, fire safety, and utility reviews before site work was allowed to proceed, and that the property’s zoning permits religious assembly uses on qualifying residential lots of at least three acres without a council vote, the same process used for other churches.
A source told local reporter Cody Alcorn that the center holds proper land disturbance permits and does not need a council vote to proceed, though officials have not publicly confirmed full building permit status.
Dozens spoke against the Loganville Islamic Center’s expansion Thursday, including a group opposed to Islam. A city source says the center has followed requirements since 2023, holds proper land disturbance permits and needs no City Council vote to proceed.
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) November 13, 2026
The project was not on the meeting agenda for a vote.
Speakers at the meeting raised a range of concerns, including traffic, the impact of a large institutional building, flooding outsiders into a small community of roughly 17,000 people, and whether the city had enforced its own rules.
Supporters of the center accused opponents of bigotry.
“I don’t know what we are all here for today. I’ve never felt so much hate, bigotry, [and] racism. I don’t know what your guys’ decision is today, [or] what you guys can decide what we are here for, truly,” another resident said, according to the Fox 5 report.
The post WATCH: Hundreds of Georgia Residents Pack Council Meeting to Protest Construction of 20,000-Square-Foot Islamic Center and Mosque in Their Town appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.