Efforts to create or expand cities in north DeKalb County appear to be gaining steam.
The state House of Representatives recently endorsed legislation allowing voters to decide whether to create a new city called Ashford, which would be located between Chamblee, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs.
The house on Feb. 17 voted 101 – 57 to approve a July 31 vote on whether to create the city that had been known in previous versions of the legislation as Brookhaven.
The legislation is now headed to the Senate for consideration.
Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, one of the authors of the proposal, called the House vote “seismic.” Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-DeKalb County, the other author, called the vote “a big step forward.”
“You are never guaranteed a majority in the General Assembly,” Jacobs said.
“I am very pleased a strong majority of my colleagues saw fit to let this go forward and to let the people vote,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Elena Parent, a Democrat who represents District 81 in DeKalb, has introduced legislation to allow the city of Chamblee to annex areas that include residents who have objected to the movement to create the city of Brookhaven.
“I was requested to do so by the Dresden East Civic Association on behalf of most of the neighborhoods in that area,” Parent said. “With the discussion about Ashford and the fact those neighborhoods felt they need to protect the commercial property near their neighborhoods [from being taken into Ashford without them], frankly they felt like they needed to act.”
The annexation has support from Chamblee city officials, Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson said. It would call for an annexation vote in November. If approved, the annexation would add about 2.25 square miles to the city and increase the population by about 11,500, he said. That would bring Chamblee’s population to about 27,000.
A small portion of the area in the proposed Chamblee annexation overlaps a small area in the proposed city of Ashford, officials said. “There is a border dispute,” Clarkson said.
The proposal to create the city of Ashford drew sharp opposition from many members of the DeKalb County delegation to the Legislature.
Opponents claimed Jacobs and Taylor had arranged an end-run around other DeKalb lawmakers by making their proposal a state-wide bill.
They argued the proposal should have been “local legislation,” meaning it would require approval of the DeKalb lawmakers before winning consideration before the whole Legislature.
“This is not your issue. This is my issue,” Rep. Howard Mosby, D-Atlanta, told lawmakers before the vote. “I’m asking you to allow us to control what’s going on in our community… Let us do our job.”
Jacobs later responded that he and Taylor followed the same legislative procedures that were used to create Dunwoody. He said the idea to create the city originated with residents of the area.
“This truly was a grassroots effort,” Jacobs told his fellow House members. “We had a group of about 30 citizens from this area that met just about every week.”
DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis also weighed in against the proposal.
“I am not against cityhood because I believe citizens have a fundamental right of self-governance,” Elllis said in a press release. “I am, however, against an unfair process which disenfranchises DeKalb County voters and allows the cherry picking of the choicest commercial districts and neighborhood amenities by cityhood advocates.”
Ellis called on the state Senate to stall the bill so the state could further study how cities are created.
“Caution is necessary if we are to protect the future viability and sustainability of municipalities and counties,” he said.
Parent told her fellow lawmakers before the House vote that the state needed to develop a better way to create new cities than the one now in place.
“We just need a better process that allows a voice for for all those people who are directly affected and do not have a voice,” she said.