Decatur adds 11 lots to city limits

Decatur has expanded a bit, though probably for the last time until it can develop a specific annexation plan.

The city this week agreed to extend its borders to the south to add 11 lots after the owners asked to join Decatur, with support from nearby city residents.

The move comes just five months after the city backed off a large-scale annexation of the larger Midway Woods neighborhood, in part because of residents’ concern about an influx of students in the highly regarded school system.

There are three school-age children in the annexed area, with two enrolled in private school. District Superintendent Phyllis Edwards said in a memo that the district would not block this annexation but asked that new requests that would affect the already overcrowded Winnona Park Elementary be denied.

“Rarely do I see city residents who live in a neighborhood come to the city and ask that their neighbors be annexed. I think that speaks highly,” City Commissioner Fred Boyken said. “But it will be more difficult to accept the next group. We don’t want to annex piecemeal.”

In 2005, the homeowners on Midway Road and McKinnon Drive fell one voter short of the 60 percent requirement to request annexation. This time, 10 of the 15 voters — or 66 percent — signed a petition asking to become part of Decatur.

The lure, they said, was not the schools. Instead, they wanted emergency services, such as police and fire, and also to officially be a part of the city whose shops, eateries and parks they already frequent.

“We already feel we’re part of the city. We’re just not,” said Melissa Smith.

City Manager Peggy Merriss said the city could extend services to the homes without an increase in costs. She added that she was unaware of other petitions requesting annexation.

Decatur still plans to delay any large-scale annexation plans — to square in borders and control entry points into the central DeKalb County city — until 2011.

City officials are working to gather more data about possible annexation areas, including Midway Woods and Forrest Hills to the south and the mostly commercial areas to the north.

The delay also lets the city do a long-term cost/benefit analysis for taxes and gives the school district time to plan for its school population.

“Our goal has long been to clean up our boundaries,” City Commissioner Jim Baskett said. “That was somewhat derailed, but it remains a long-term goal.”