Chamblee could add 11,000 residents with annexation
- 4/5/12
- Categorized in: DeKalb News
Chamblee could get a little bigger and unincorporated DeKalb County may shrink after the passage of a bill in the last days of the 2012 General Assembly.
Residents in the Dresden East Civic Association (DECA) area neighborhoods gained a chance to decide whether they want to be a part of Chamblee after House Bill 1006 was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal March 27.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Elena Parent (D-81) allows residents in neighborhoods east of Buford Highway, south of Chamblee-Tucker, and north and west of I-85 to vote during the November presidential election on whether they want to annex into Chamblee.
For DECA residents, the annexation movement started with the proposed incorporation of Brookhaven.
“When Brookhaven [proponents] drew their boundaries, they excluded us,” said Nikki Van Der Grinten, president of DECA. “We were a little bit upset about that.
“We were just left out,” Van Der Grinten said. “We just felt ignored.”
Van Der Grinten said residents in the area were attentive to “all the information coming down about the advantages of being in a city—including local control of government.
“DeKalb County government is kind of messed up,” Van Der Grinten said.
“The rumor is that all of north DeKalb will be in a city,” Van Der Grinten said. “All around DeKalb people are frustrated with the government.”
One thing that makes being annexed into Chamblee attractive is that “Chamblee is already in place,” Van Der Grinten said. “We already see what we’re going to get.”
The city has an excellent police department, and strict permitting and code enforcement, Van Der Grinten said. Those factors will be helpful for the community, which has a “problem with late night establishments ignoring [county] rules about closing and loud music.”
Chamblee city manager Niles Ford said city department heads are performing a review of its services to determine the impact that the proposed annexation would have.
“Our people are pretty happy with the level of services we offer,” Ford said. “If that community chooses to annex, it would be our goal to maintain that level of service and improve.”
Estimates are that approximately 11,000 residents would be annexed into Chamblee if the referendum passes. The area also includes Plaza Fiesta, the Century Center office complex and Dresden Park.
Part of DeKalb Peachtree Airport, the state’s second-busiest airport, would also move into Chamblee. The other part of the airport is already in Chamblee.
Richard Stogner, the county’s chief operating officer, said the potential annexation would have “some impact” on the county.
“We will lose all the businesses along Buford Highway,” Stogner said. “I don’t think it would affect anything as far as the operation of the airport.”
Katie, I don't live in the proposed city of Brookhaven, and I never once said anything about DECA residents or what their supposed views on Brookhaven cityhood were. I did use Elena Parent as an example because she voted not once, but twice, against allowing Brookhaven residents to vote on incorporating. So even after the airport and triangle were taken away and DECA residents had the opportunity to vote on their own cityhood, she still voted against the Brookhaven bill.
Elena Parent can say "there's nothing wrong with the creation of cities." You can write that she's "never been against cityhood in general." But she clearly has issues with the formation of cities in Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett over the past several years. So much so that she co-sponsored a bill to change the existing laws on incorporation.
However, my main beef is not with Elena Parent. She and other Democratic state legislators moreso have almost no power to make things worse for me. They can talk all they want about how unfair it is for Dunwoody and Brookhaven to incorporate (while at the same time voting to allow Doraville, Chamblee, Avondale Estates and Decatur to annex unincoporated land) because I know, and they know, they can't do anything about it.
My major issues are with DeKalb County government leaders, who excel at making a bad situation worse.
And I'm happy you'll have the chance to vote to join Chamblee. And if you read this, I'd be interested to know why you and other DECA residents would not have been allowed to vote to join Chamblee without a certain commercial tax base? Which commercial area(s) are you referring to? Is this same commercial tax base now included in the proposed annexation for Chamblee?
I am so sick of the comments demonstrating your ignorance of Elena Parent's (and DECA residents') stand on the Brookhaven issue. We have never been against cityhood. Our complaint was that you were trying to take all of the businesses surrounding our residential areas while leaving us out. Without that commercial tax base, we would not have had the option to annex into Chamblee which means that YOU would have effectively taken away OUR right to vote on cityhood. DECA and Elena Parent have never been against cityhood in general, and we have said that from the very beginning! We never even voiced any opinions against Brookhaven until the boundaries were changed to include the Buford Highway businesses and Century Center. We really don't care whether or not you become a city as long as it does not impact our ability to become a city. Elena Parent has been consistent since the beginning of all of this, so it is NOT surprising that she introduced the bill for annexation.
And it's not just that Chamblee would become "a little bigger", as Mr. Cauthen writes. Chamblee's population as of the 2010 census was 9,892. That means the population of Chamblee would more than double if a majority votes Yes.
The county would lose the rest of the airport, the remaining stores along Buford Highway, and the Century Center office park. Yet here we have Richard Stogner downplaying everything. Of course Stogner, Ellis, and the commissioners hate to lose that big chunk of change from Brookhaven taxpayers. And Emmanuel Jones is still out there crying racism. But only about Brookhaven.
It's okay if Chamblee annexes more land. It's okay if Doraville annexes more land. It's okay if Decatur and Avondale Estates annex more land.
Don't you worry too much CEO, BOC, and south DeKalb legislators. Pretty soon you'll be just as irrelevant as the Fulton County Commission and south Fulton County.