Gwinnett Buzz

Looks like Jason Thompson is the fall guy.  Thompson is the acting planning director for the City of Snellville.  Yes, he made a mistake on the Chick-fil-a entrance controversy, but how many of us have not made mistakes when we are new on a job?  However, in the crematory flap, Thompson simply issued a building permit to the Cremation Society of the South in accordance with an existing ordinance.  Even City Manager Russell Treadway acknowledges this.  If there is a group “at fault” in the crematory case, it is the Snellville City Council.  Doesn’t the council have to enact new ordinances and modifications to existing ordinances?  If someone was supposed to take action to ensure that a crematory could not be built next to a residential area, it would be the City Council.  Thompson certainly does not deserve to be the scapegoat for the council’s oversight.  This is not surprising given the reaction surrounding this case.

Councilman Robert Jenkins is asking for a review to “find out what happened so the problems can be corrected so this doesn’t happen again.”  What happened is fairly simple to understand as Bob Griggs puts in his very direct post at TalkGwinnett!:

Technically, there is no fault. Through the lack of express prohibition, the city allows a crematory to operate in the zoning designation for the subject property. Further, the non-residential use fronts Hwy. 78, where it should be.

In addition to Jenkins’ probe, there are Snellville residents gathering money for a lawsuit.  A lawsuit for what?  The city followed the existing ordinances.  Are they going to sue over what changes the council should have made to the land use ordinance?  Is there a legal responsibility to enact any specific ordinance or regulation?  No, so what is the grounds for the lawsuit?  If we could sue everytime an elected official does not do as the citizens think he or she should, our courts would have a logjam of cases decades long.

Tags: Bob Griggs, Chick-fil-a, City of Snellville, crematory, Jason Thompson, lawsuit, Planning and Zoning, Robert Jenkins, Russell Treadway, Snellville, Snellville City Council

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