The leader of Gwinnett County’s state House delegation is proposing making Peachtree Corners its own city in efforts to fend off annexation attempts and preserve the area’s aesthetics.
State Rep. Tom Rice introduced the legislation, HB 396, on Monday that calls for residents to vote on incorporation for a new city that would handle planning and zoning, code enforcement and trash collection. Services such as firefighting and law enforcement would be handled by the county.
“This would allow local control of an area that is highly dense through local enforcement,” said Rice, R-Norcross.
Under the legislation, the new city would be run by a mayor with a $9,000 annual salary and six council members to each be paid $6,000 annually.
If approved by state legislators, the area's residents could vote on incorporation in a November referendum. If approved, the city would have about 35,000 residents, Rice said, making it one of the largest in the county.
The proposal is supported by a recent study from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, which found an incorporated Peachtree Corners could generate enough revenue to pay for some basic services and cover costs such as elections and administration.
The United Peachtree Corners Civic Association is also backing Rice’s legislation because it provides a “city-lite” level of government with few services, as opposed to previous proposals that included things such as public safety and required more property taxes to support them. In 2005 the association strongly opposed incorporation plans.
The Vinson study of the city-lite model estimated Peachtree Corners could exist on fees along with low property taxes of 1 mil per household, or $120 on a $300,000 home, said Mike Mason, the association’s president.
The low property taxes combined with trash fees that would likely be lower than what the county charges make for a good deal, Mason said.
Incorporating Peachtree Corners has long been discussed in Gwinnett, but it peaked in 2009 when the city of Norcross considered annexation of the Technology Park area of Peachtree Corners, Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson said.
Johnson said his city has supported Peachtree Corners’ incorporation, but if approved, the boundaries for the new jurisdiction would limit Norcross’ future growth.
“This is not about Norcross because they are just trying to do what’s in their best interest,” Mason said. “This is about preserving the vision of Peachtree Corners.”
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