Decatur to extend borders to add 11 lots

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

The city this week agreed to extend 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 annexation of the Midway Woods neighborhood, in part because of residents’ concern about an influx of students into 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 overcrowded Winnona Park Elementary School be denied.

In 2005, 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 —- agreed to become part of Decatur.

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

Decatur still plans to delay any large-scale annexation plans —- to square in borders and control entry points —- until 2011.