I'm Not Playing Around!

Cheryl Miller January 30, 2014 at 11:20 AM

rwf, last chance to remove the post about me from your website. I'm not playing around. Your post is false and harmful to me personally. Remove it, please.

Posted to The Tucker Patch, 1/30/2014, to a Herman Lorenz blog post, Where Are We (and Is That a Question For the Post Office?)

Check out the original article, here.

And, apparently, this article will be continued, after the break.

Three Mile Island

Three Mile Island

In 1965 the Georgia General Assembly, in its infinite wisdom, enacted a law that required a three mile separation between the city limits of any new city and the city limits of any currently existing city.  The immediate effect of this law was to prevent the creation of any city anywhere in the Atlanta Metro area.

There were several reasons behind this law. First, the City of Atlanta had been eyeing, ever since its last major expansion in 1952, the growing suburbs of north Fulton County, specifically the unincorporated community of Sandy Springs. Secondly, Fulton and DeKalb Counties had been growing in political power along with their growing suburbs, and they had become very protective of that power. So, with one blow, this law protected the future annexation interests of the City of Atlanta, and gave the two county governments an easy means to shut down any discussion of creating any new city.

City of Stonecrest, Feasibility Study Prepared by the Carl Vinson Institute

Feasibility Study of the Proposed City of Stonecrest, prepared for the Stonecrest City Alliance by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, dated December, 2013, posted January 14, 2014.

Annexation Methods in Georgia

Annexation Methods in Georgia

December 19, 2001

In Georgia, there are five ways for cities to annex property inside the city's corporate limits. These methods are briefly described below:

Local Legislation Method
This method of annexation requires a local act of the General Assembly. Prior to 1996, the General Assembly could annex any property into a city simply by passing a local act amending the city's charter. In 1996, the General Assembly added a restriction on its own power to annex by local act. If an area proposed for annexation by local act of the General Assembly is comprised of more than 50% residential property (by acreage) and includes a population exceeding three percent of the city's population or 500 persons, whichever is less, then the annexation must be approved by referendum. The 1996 amendment has hindered attempts to annex large residential areas in some cities.

100 Percent MethodThis method of annexation must be initiated by the 'written and signed applications of all the owners of land" proposed to be annexed. This method may only be used to annex contiguous areas, as defined by O.C.G.A. Section 36-36-20.

Prior to the passage of HB 1439 in the 2000 Session, the 100% Method was not available to municipalities located in counties having populations of 100,000 or more. When the original legislation authorizing annexation under the 100% method was approved in the 1960s, only the cities in Fulton County were affected by this population provision. However, the number of cities and counties affected by this legislation increased with each decennial census and, based on 1990 census figures, the restrictions extended to cities located in the counties of Bibb, Chatham, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Muscogee, and Richmond.
(Continued on next page.)

 DeKalb County - Map of Proposed Cities & 
 Possible Existing City Annexations 

Map of the City of Clarkston's Annexation Study Areas

City of Stone Mountain Proposed Annexations

Throwing its hat in the ring, the City of Stone Mountain has proposed a massive annexation plan that ultimately includes the Stone Mountain CID, which includes the Stone Mountain Industrial Park and the Royal Atlanta Industrial Park, as well as the Smoke Rise neighborhoods.

Attached here is the feasibility study prepared by the City, titled City of Stone Mountain Annexation Study, January 17, 2014.

In their presentation to the Smoke Rise Civic Association, January 16, 2014, City Manager Gary Peet highlighted several advantages that Stone Mountain would offer the Smoke Rise neighborhoods, including improved local police coverage, improved trash services at a lower cost, and a full service city at a lower tax rate than Smoke Residents are paying now, to the County, and lower than they would pay if included in the proposed City of Tucker.

Stone Mountain pursued this study and annexation proposal at the request of several business interests located in the Stone Mountain CID, who were interested in an alternative to the chaotic situation currently found in the incorporation movement in central DeKalb County.

City of Stone Mountain Annexation Study, January 17, 2014

Map of the proposed annexation, including the proposed City of Tucker.

City of Tucker, Feasibility Study, Prepared by the Andrew Young School

Feasibility Study for the Proposed City of Tucker, prepared for Tucker Together and Tucker 2014,  by the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, dated December, 2013.

City of Briarcliff, Feasibility Study Prepared by the Carl Vinson Institute

Feasibility Study of the Proposed City of Briarcliff, prepared for the City of Briarcliff Initiative by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, dated December, 2013.

City of Lakeside Feasility Study, Prepared by the Carl Vinson Institute

Feasibility Study of the Proposed City of Lakeside, prepared for the Lakeside City Alliance by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, dated November 20, 2013.

Smoke Rise Community Meeting - January 16th

The Smoke Rise Community Association is sponsoring a community meeting to consider cityhood implications.

The meeting will be held at 7:00pm on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at the Smoke Rise Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.

Presentations will made by Tucker 2014 and the City of Stone Mountain. Tucker 2014 is currently working with our local legislators in the General Assembly to pass a bill allowing the community to vote on incorporation.  The City of Stone Mountain has proposed annexing the Stone Mountain CID and the adjacent Smoke Rise neighborhoods as part of a comprehensive annexation plan that would make the City of Stone Mountain's area 7.5 times larger.

Attached is a map illustrating Stone Mountain's proposed annexation.