The Future of DeKalb County

How the Proposed New Cities Will Transform DeKalb County

This map incorporates the decision of the House Governmental Affairs Committee regarding the final boundaries for the proposed City of Tucker and the proposed City of LaVista Hills. Also shown are the current annexation plans for Decatur, Avondale Estates and Stone Mountain.

The talked about annexation of Druid Hills by the City of Atlanta is also included, although it has little change of ever happening. That proposal will have to be approved by the DeKalb Delegation of the General Assembly as a Local Bill, a remote possibility given how this proposal will devastate the DeKalb County School District.

Both the proposed City of Stonecrest and the City of South DeKalb are also indicated, although neither proposal is likely to be considered in the next legislative session. The city limits for South DeKalb have been adjusted from their current proposed map, in deference to the future annexatioin interests of Stone Mountain, Pinelake and Clarkston.

The recently approved annexations for Doraville and Brookhaven are fully incorporated. Note the islands now found between Doraville and LaVista Hills, as those voters recently rejected the Doraville annexation. Will they be forced into LaVista Hills? That seems to be Sen. Millar's intention.

Brookhaven Meddling . . . Again?

Brookhaven Considers Annexation South of I-85 to Include Executive Park & Children's Hospital of Atlanta

The City of Brookhaven is considering applications from Executive Park and the nearby Children's Hospital of Atlanta for annexation into the City.  As those properties under consideration are exclusively commercial, they can be annexed by Brookhaven using either the 100% method or the 60% method, both procedures allowing annexation solely by a vote of the Brookhaven City Council. The state legislature is not involved, and a referendum by residents (there are none) would NOT be required.

The annexations, if they proceed, will have a potentially serious impact on the proposed City of Lakeside/Briarcliff. I say potentially due to the fact that this area was NOT included in the proposed City of Lakeside until the very last map, engineered by Rep. Mike Jacobs (R), Brookhaven, which would be version 7 for Lakeside.  It was NOT included in the feasibility study for Lakeside. This area has always been included in the proposed City of Briarcliff proposed boundaries and feasibility study.

This is an interesting twist for Brookhaven for three reasons. First, when Dunwoody first formed, they had initially sought to include major commercial properties south of I-285, but backed off when complaints were noted that they would be depriving any future city south of I-285 from potential revenue. Dunwoody deferred to the then non-existent possiblity of a City of Brookhaven, at that point merely a twinkle in the eye of Rep. Jacobs. Second, Brookhaven found itself in a serious kerfluffle when it tried the same play with Century Century, after Chamblee had already been allowed to pursue annexation of the area by the state legislature. Brookhaven eventually backed away from that battle. And third, when the City of Lakeside's first map was issued, both Brookhaven and Chamblee pundits objected to Lakeside jumping I-85 to include revenue-rich commercial properties. Lakeside immediately deferred to those concerns.

IT'S ALIVE!!!

The DeKalb Government Operations Task Force lives! For REAL!

Yesterday, May 29, 2014, DeKalb Interim CEO finally issued details of the DeKalb Government Operations Task Force, tasked with EXPLORING and STUDYING various issues related to county government, city annexations and new city incorporation, and HOST distribution.

Its first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, 6 to 8PM, in the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, in downtown Decatur.

Lee May's original Executive Order for the Task Force can be found HERE.

Following is the complete news release from DeKalb County with photos and links for the Task Force members, followed by a quick commentary from the City of Briarcliff Initiative's esteemed Herman Lorenz.

ETA: Changes to the Task Force membership on June 2, 2014.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver's Town Hall Meeting

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver

Incorporation Town Hall Meeting

Last night, May 6, 2013, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D), Decatur, held a Town Hall Meeting at Clairmont Hills Baptist Church, featuring several members of DeKalb County's delegation to the Georgia General Assembly, other local elected officials, and spokesmen for the various community groups investigating incorporation. They were there to discuss the various cityhood bills that were dropped in the final days of the General Assembly, the goals and concerns of the local communities, and the impact incorporation may have on DeKalb County. Overall, it was a compelling and comprehensive review of the current community interests in incorporation.

Legislators in attendance at the meeting included:  Sen. Fran Millar (R), Dunwoody, Sen. Jason Carter (D), Decatur, Rep. Michele Henson (D), Stone Mountain, Rep. Pam Stephenson (D), Atlanta, Rep. Tom Taylor (R), Dunwoody, Rep. Howard Mosby (D), Atlanta and Rep. Scott Holcomb (D), Atlanta.

Conspicuous by their absence were Sen. Steve Henson (D), Tucker, Rep. 'Coach' Williams (D), Avondale Estates, and Rep. Billy Mitchell (D), Stone Mountain.

The sole representative for DeKalb County was Commissioner Jeff Rader, District 2. In view of the importance and potential impact incorporation will have on DeKalb County, it was very disappointing that no other elected official from DeKalb County was in attendance. Among those absent, along with CEO Burrell Ellis, were Commissioner Elaine Boyer, District 1, Commissioner Kathie Gannon, Super District 6, and Commissioner Stan Watson, Super District 7. Considering the fact that much of the motivation driving the incorporation movement is directly related to the failure of county leadership, it is quite telling that our elected officials chose not to be involved or to engage their constituents in these important discussions.

The various community groups represented at the Town Hall Meeting included the Lakeside City Alliance (Bernie Knight), Tucker Together (Michelle Penkava), City of Stonecrest (Jason Lary), Briarcliff (Don Broussard), Druid Hills Civic Association (Bruce McGregor), and Chamblee Annexation (Elmer Veith).  Other speakers included Tom Gehl of the Georgia Municipal Association, Nancy Love of the Civic Association Network (CAN) and Andrea Arnold, representing the City of Decatur.

Audio Recording of the Town Hall Meeting

For those of you who were unable to attend the Town Meeting but would like to hear the entire presentation, a recording of the entire two-hour long meeting can be found here.  In particular, I am making this audio recording available for the senior leadership of the LCA who were not in attendance.

The City of Stonecrest

Jason Lary and his Seal
for the City of Stonecrest

The Proposed New City of Stonecrest

An article posted today in the On Common Ground News describes the proposed new City of Stonecrest, located in the far southeastern corner of DeKalb County. Led by Jason Lary, the new city has the support of Sen. Ronald Ramsey, Sr., (D) Decatur, representing Senate District 43, which includes the Stonecrest area.

The article on the City of Stonecrest can be found here.

Update:  Newer maps of Stonecrest can be found here.

Maps of Stonecrest can be found here.

A Tale of Three Cities

A Tale of Three Cities

As a gesture of love and reconciliation, I've assembled three maps in an effort to bring together the three competing city hood efforts.  Currently, we have groups representing Lakeside, Lavista Hills (or Briarcliff) and Tucker.  Each have developed maps that overlap the others.  As we move through this process we will have to learn, at some point, to compromise.  Let this be the start of that conversation.

A pdf version of the maps can be found here.

One potato, . . .

The City of Lavista brings everyone together, into one, big, happy family.  This city takes its name directly from Lavista Road, which spans this proposed city from one end to the other.  This City would have approximately 135,000 residents.

DeKalb County Suburban Development 1945-1971

Here is a link to a fascinating map which illustrates suburban development in DeKalb County between the years 1945-1971.  This map is on a website maintained by Paul K. Graham, a genealogist.  The map was developed by students in a Georgia State University class on Historic Preservation.

DeKalb County 1945-1971 (pdf)