Hope the city is seeing this. Maybe they have outgrown the building they are in. Maybe it should not be in a residential area.

The police need to do a better job of keeping vehicle traffic moving. The police and church leaders should educate the congregation to use the crosswalks at the traffic light. The police should also not let them drop people off on the side of cumming street and cause traffic backup and/or a wreck. The police should enforce ANY and ALL traffic violations they see when at this location to educate the congregation of the rules of the road that they should have learned when they had to take the driver’s test to get their driver’s license.

We are aware that some individuals attending events at Hanuman Mandir are engaging in behaviors that may be unduly impacting traffic, and we are in communication with the temple leadership regarding ways to better manage their events to discourage that.

On the matter of parking at the Fiserv facility or the school, while both entities are aware that their property is being used by those attending services and/or events at the Hanuman Mandir Temple, neither the company nor Fulton County Schools has expressed concern over that use of their property. Such shared use of parking is quite common throughout the community. In fact, parishioners of Alpharetta First Baptist Church have long used property owned by the City for parking to attend services.

Regarding attendees at Hanuman Mandir services and events crossing the street outside of a marked crosswalk, this does not represent a violation of law. Under Georgia law, a pedestrian may legally cross a public road outside of a crosswalk or intersection, the rules are just different than what applies if they do so using a marked crosswalk. When a pedestrian crosses the road in a marked crosswalk, drivers must stop and yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian. When a pedestrian crosses the road at a point other than within a marked crosswalk, the pedestrian must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles unless the pedestrian has already entered the roadway. While it is certainly the City’s preference and recommendation that pedestrians cross the street only in marked crosswalks, they are not legally required to do so.

Finally, while the number of attendees attending services and events at Hanuman Mandir has certainly increased since its opening, our Fire Marshal has not observed the approved safe capacity of the facility being exceeded.

We certainly understand the impacts and inconveniences that can accompany a religious facility being located near one's home. Many Alpharetta residents live close to houses of faith across our community, and there are certainly occasions when they are inconvenienced by activities at the facility or when they have observed a pedestrian or motorist accessing or leaving the facility do something that they felt was unsafe. It does not, however, make those activities or behaviors illegal or something in which a local government can or should intervene.

Religious assemblies and institutions enjoy numerous protections under the law to ensure the principles of religious freedom that are the basis of one of the most important rights we all enjoy. To date, we have not observed any violations of law or ordinance at Hanuman Mandir that would waive those protections.

This is a terrible non-answer and the result of constant inaction will eventually result in a serious injury or fatality at this area. There are signs posted saying not to cross there yet people do so are you saying that those signs are incorrect? Then why are they there? Your answer about pedestrians crossing the road effectively says that a pedestrian can wander into the road anytime and any location that they want. If in a crosswalk cars must stop but outside of a crosswalk as soon as a pedestrian is in the road a car must stop. Same thing different words. Make this better. Are you also aware that patrons to that facility are parking at the school during school hours too? Are we actively ignoring the safety and protection of the children at school as well? If the school parking lot is full and the Fiserv parking lot is packed do you seriously believe that the tiny building where everyone is headed is not above capacity? Are all of the cars passing through the double lines in the road, making constant u-turns, stopping in the middle of both Cumming St and Henderson Pkwy also ok? When an unfortunate incident occurs what will be the liability of the City? That puts the tax money paid by all of us in jeapordy for something that can be easily fixed and addressed but isn't. Protect the kids at school, protect the drivers on the roads and protect the patrons of that facility and do better. Much much better.

Thank you for contacting the City of Alpharetta. Your service request ID is #14978.

How long are the tents going to be there. We have lived year 20+ years and it’s obvious they have outgrown this location. The enormous crowds and traffic situations for a quiet surface street is unacceptable. Only a matter of time something serious happens as this location cannot accommodate that many pe

See above

So, can ANYONE from the city tell us how we as citizens of this city, can civilly and legally force them out.

If you are dissatisfied with the responses here, you may want to contact your elected officials (Mayor and City Council) at CityCouncilandMayor@alpharetta.ga.us

This issue has been marked as a duplicate of issue 16398119.

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