The Brookhaven City Council is one step closer to annexing Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Executive Park following its meeting Tuesday evening.
The city could approve the move as early as Thursday. The two commerical properties total 160 acres on the east side of I-85, fronted by North Druid Hills Road and stretching to Briarcliff Road.
“Is it a good fit for us?” said Mayor J. Max Davis at Tuesday’s meeting. “You bet.”
The meeting was open to public comment, but few residents voiced their concerns.
A problem for Brookhaven is that two other city groups are licking their chops for the same property.
Executive Park and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are also part of a map put together by a Druid Hills group wanting into Atlanta, and are also part of the newly-coined LaVista Hills, which submitted its cityhood map Monday.
Mary Kay Woodworth, chairperson and organizer of LaVista Hills, addressed Brookhaven leaders on Tuesday, pleading with the council to take a “three-to-four month timeout to see if [LaVista] can get our referendum.”
Woodworth said she was “disappointed” with Brookhaven, and that the two parcels are “an integral part of our proposed city.”
State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Atlanta) also said Brookhaven officials should move cautiously.
“I feel strongly in annexing residential and commercial [properties] together,” said Millar. “I think there’s time to slow this down.”
A referendum is not required for Brookhaven to annex the commercial properties.
According to a report from City Manager Marie Garrett, the properties would generate about $155,000 in taxes in the first year.
Though Brookhaven officials could approve annexation Thursday, they have the option to wait the full 60 days after the petitions were filed and vote next month. Councilman Bates Mattison knows the plan has support in Brookhaven, but worries about a battle with its neighbors.
“We don’t want to make enemies with our neighbors outside the city [in Druid Hills and the proposed LaVista] or with our legislators,” Mattison said. “But I’ll tell you this, I’ve heard loud and clear from the folks in Brookhaven. They want this annexation.”
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