Groups Seek To Remove Billboard Near Historically Black Cemetery

JOHNS CREEK, GA -- Two Johns Creek community organizations and an impacted resident have filed a petition of appeal to challenge the approval of a billboard near a historic cemetery.

The action filed with the Georgia Department of Transportation challenges the agency's August 2016 approval of a digital billboard in close proximity to the Macedonia African Methodist Church Cemetery on Medlock Bridge Road near its intersection with State Bridge Road.

The organizations argue that the billboard, now operated by Clear Channel outdoor, is within 500 feet of the cemetery, a violation of state law.

“This billboard disrespects the living and the dead,” said John Bradberry, founder of Preserve Johns Creek Inc., one of the groups seeking to ensure the cemetery is afforded all the respect and protection it deserves.

The Action Outdoor Advertising application in question for the location at 9780 Medlock Bridge Road was initially denied by GDOT in July 2016 for being within 500 feet of the cemetery, the organizations state.

State law prohibits the construction of billboards within 500 feet of a public park, playground, public recreation area, public forest, scenic area or cemetery.

However, Action Outdoor appealed the denial and “GDOT subsequently issued the permit without identifying any basis for the change in position," the organizations said.

It was only after the permit was issued that GDOT investigated the location of the billboard. It later determined that the cemetery occupies only a portion of the two-acre premises notwithstanding that Fulton County had long before designated the entire two-acre parcel as a historic cemetery, the organizations note.

This determination "was in error and an abuse of discretion on the part of GDOT,” according to the petition for a hearing filed by the organizations.

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The Macedonia African Methodist Church Cemetery is the final resting place of April Waters, born into slavery in 1853 and freed under the Emancipation Proclamation; she died in 1938, according to records. She and scores of others are buried in the cemetery in marked and unmarked graves.

“I and many others worked very hard to get Fulton County to recognize and preserve the Macedonia African Methodist Cemetery nearly 20 years ago,” said Kirk Sarkisian, a member of the Warsaw Historic Preservation Society, the other petitioning group. “GDOT does not have the authority to redefine the boundaries of this important historic cemetery.”

The other petitioner is Edward Thompson, an impacted Johns Creek resident for whom “light from the improperly permitted sign enters his residence, creating a nuisance,” according to the filing.

For more information, visit the Preserve Johns Creek website or StopJCBillboards.org.

Image via StopJCbillboards.org