Adults-only hotel causes controversy in Cumming

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Plans to build an adults-only hotel in Cumming are not sitting well with some neighbors.              
 
But the hotel's developer says it will be good for the neighborhood.
 
The property in question is on Antioch Road in Cumming. An Ohio developer wants to build a 25-room adults-only hotel. The problem is for some people, it sits directly next to a church.
 
Travis Bridgeman is pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cumming. He says he wasn't happy when he learned a developer wanted to build the hotel next door.
 
"We don't feel it's appropriate right here next to the church," Bridgeman said.
 
He told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik he's concerned about the precedent it would set.
 
"I feel it's a gateway to something that could be worse," Bridgeman said.
 
Paula Duncan lives in a nearby subdivision and has started a petition to keep the hotel out.
 
"I understand this gentleman has a business and he can have it anywhere. I'm just not sure it was really thought out as far as a location surrounded by families and a church," Duncan said.
 
John Kranjec already owns one Belamere Suites outside of Toledo, Ohio and describes it as a five-star getaway for couples.
 
"We attract people from newlyweds all the way up to 50th anniversaries and everybody in between," Kranjec said.
 
Kranjec says his hotel will not attract criminals or a less-than-wholesome crowd. He says the land is already zoned for a hotel and intends to build there.
 
"I wouldn't put a product out there that didn't benefit the community.  Period," Kranjec said.
 
The Forysth County Commission will take up the project in August.

WSBTV