DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/22/08
The movement gained steam two years ago in north Fulton County, when Sandy Springs residents voted to form their own city.
Since then, two more north Fulton communities — Milton and Johns Creek — and one in south Fulton — Chattahoochee Hill Country — jumped on the incorporation bandwagon. The wave is now poised to spill over county lines.
 Phil Skinner/AJC | ||
| The Cheek-Spruill historic farmhouse, Dunwoody's unofficial town center, epitomizes the kind of country charm that many homeowners aspire to when they think of a Dunwoody address. | ||
 Phil Skinner/AJC | ||
| Dunwoody shoppers flock to Perimeter Mall and its surrounding business district. If the area becomes a city, residents will have more control over future growth. | ||
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Like their Fulton neighbors, some residents in north DeKalb are convinced they are better suited to manage their own affairs than county government. They want to create a city of Dunwoody.
And momentum appears to be on their side.
This past week, the state Legislature gave them the green light to vote on the issue. Gov. Sonny Perdue has said he'll sign the bill. The final hurdle to the referendum may be a review by the federal Department of Justice, which needs to confirm the election complies with the Voting Rights Act.
If all goes smoothly, Dunwoody residents could vote to form their own city on July 15.
If the measure passes, Dunwoody would become metro Atlanta's fifth new city in the past 28 months.
Only residents of the proposed city of South Fulton, who voted in September 2007, rejected the chance to incorporate.
Truman Hartshorn, a retired professor of urban affairs at Georgia State University, said the trend toward incorporation stems from metro Atlanta's dramatic growth. Some residents view their county government as distant in both miles and mind-set.
"People tend to think the money and attention of their [county] government is going elsewhere," said Hartshorn, who lives in DeKalb just south of the proposed city of Dunwoody. "People think they aren't getting the attention they need, and think a city would be more responsive to their needs."
Some Dunwoody residents are fed up with growth.
For more than 20 years, the influential Dunwoody Homeowners Association has opposed dense development. DeKalb commissioners have consistently approved dense projects.
The effects on Dunwoody were exacerbated by dense growth just across the county line. Fulton County commissioners were approving similarly dense developments despite protests from unincorporated Sandy Springs.
The result of the counties' dense zoning policies is a Perimeter Center business district that straddles the two counties, anchored at Perimeter Mall. It brings in about 150,000 workers a day, plus shoppers. The traffic count on I-285 near the mall is about 270,000 a day, about the same as the Downtown Connector.
Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos said voters created that city largely out of frustration at the Fulton commission's pro-development policies.
"Things were being forced on us, like the thousands and thousands of apartments that we fought tooth and nail," Galambos said. "We'd go down to the County Commission and put on a big show and had no success in stopping it."
Business leaders weren't happy, either.
They formed two Community Improvement Districts and pay them extra property taxes to ease traffic congestion. The Perimeter CIDs now provide shuttle service and have helped build sidewalks and improve intersections. It led the effort to build a bridge over I-285, just south of the mall, which opened late last year.
The board that oversees the districts voted to remain neutral on Dunwoody's incorporation. Its executive director, Yvonne Williams, said there are lots of lingering questions about how the new city would help provide the level of financial assistance to traffic issues the county has.
"I'm going to be optimistic," Williams said. "We have commitments that Dunwoody will support our initiatives. Whether that's going to be reality, we'll have to wait and see."
Dunwoody resident Robert Wittenstein said growth is the main concern of many who favor incorporation. Others want a higher police presence. For him, parks are the big issue. Especially the baseball fields.
Wittenstein said the ball fields in Dunwoody Park are in atrocious shape. He said DeKalb maintains other parks and recreation facilities, but not the diamonds where his two sons play. He was pleasantly surprised when his son, Adam, played a game Thursday in Atlanta's Chastain Park.
"They actually have a warning track at the edge of the field, which to Adam was a luxury beyond belief," Wittenstein said. "The contrast to our field in Dunwoody is like night and day."
Chastain is an Atlanta park and its ball field is maintained by Northside Youth Association, said city parks Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen. And to Wittenstein, that's the kind of innovative thinking that a city of Dunwoody could provide.
"I don't expect miracles overnight," Wittenstein said. "The point is to make the community a better place and hopefully other kids will get the benefit."
