The Georgia House of Representatives stood firm Tuesday on the borders it mapped out between the proposed cities of LaVista Hills and Tucker, rejecting a change by the state Senate and setting up a last-ditch attempt to find a compromise before this year’s legislative session ends Thursday.
The House voted down the Senate’s map, which would have moved about 2,000 residents from Tucker to LaVista Hills. The area is located near Livsey Elementary, southeast of Spaghetti Junction.
Representatives made the argument that the Senate should have respected borders agreed on by leaders of both cityhood movements. A House subcommittee drew a map in December that was intended to solidify the borders and avoid jockeying for territory late in this year’s legislative session.
Time is running out for lawmakers to strike a deal. But if lawmakers are able to agree on the boundaries and pass bills for each city in both chambers, residents will vote on cityhood in November.
“It came out of the Senate a different animal,” said Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, the sponsor of the LaVista Hills bill. “At the end of the day, I want to give the people in this area a chance to vote on it.”
Unless the Senate yields to the House, a conference committee of lawmakers from each chamber will be appointed to try and resolve their differences over the next two days.
“Each side should get an opportunity to vote rather than no one winning,” said Rep. Billy Mitchell, D-Stone Mountain, the sponsor of the Tucker legislation. “The alternative is that we don’t work it out and nothing happens.”
The disputed 0.62-square-mile area is located near Chamblee-Tucker Road, and it includes residences, a QuikTrip, a Wal-Mart, a Waffle House and a few other stores.
Taylor and Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, conducted a survey over the last few days indicating that 57 percent of residents in the community wanted to be in LaVista Hills, 24 percent chose Tucker and 19 percent didn’t have a preference. The survey gathered 195 responses, representing about 10 percent of people who live in the neighborhood.
But Tucker supporters doubted the veracity of the survey.
“I’m very confident that, at this time next week, we’ll be talking about passing a referendum,” said Frank Auman of Tucker 2015. “At some point, somebody has to say ‘OK.’”
Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, said members of the House stood by their colleagues who set the borders last year. He said he hopes LaVista Hills and Tucker, as well as a proposed city of Stonecrest, all pass the General Assembly this year.
“They wanted to emphasize their position, and I can’t fault them for that,” Millar said.
The House voted 106-62 to reject the Senate’s changes to the LaVista Hills legislation, House Bill 520.
Representatives also objected to the Senate’s related amendments to the Tucker measure, House Bill 515. The House didn’t vote on Tucker because no one objected to the motion to disagree with the Senate.
LaVista Hills would include about 69,500 people, stretching from an area outside Emory University to the eastern perimeter of I-285.
A city of Tucker would be home to about 32,800 residents and extend eastward from the perimeter, with some land inside the highway.
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