Annexation efforts in DeKalb County fell into three categories as of late Thursday on the final day of General Assembly’s legislative session, none of them really satisfying for Avondale Estates, Decatur and Clarkston.
Avondale Estates’ annexation passed early Thursday evening, but without two commercial properties, Rio Circle and the DeKalb Farmers Market, that city leaders deemed essential to the plan. As a result, Mayor Pro Tem Terry Giager said the city would pull the entire bill
Decatur’s annexation bill fell apart late Wednesday afternoon, failing to get the required four signatures from state senators.
At press time Thursday, there still was no resolution to Clarkston’s annexation master plans.
Clarkston hoped to annex two areas, a light industrial/commercial area west of current city limits and south of the railroad tracks, and a residential area from I-285 west to the existing northern and eastern city limits and north of the tracks.
Even before Thursday’s vote Giager was worried about the farmers market. He said that founder and President Robert Blazer had delivered letters to each of the 56 senators asking them to vote against Avondale Estates’ annexation.
“I met with Robert face to face (on Wednesday),” Giager said. “I don’t think he’s against us at all. But he’s basically saying things are moving too fast and he’d like another year to look at things.”
Avondale’s map would nearly double the city’s population (currently 3,360), but Giager has said all along the city couldn’t annex anything without the commercial property because they would increase the total assessed property value, currently 11 percent commercial, 89 percent residential, to 24 percent commercial.
The predominant reason Decatur failed was because of the commercial revenue currently going to DeKalb County schools that, with annexation, would go into City Schools Decatur. Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss estimates that amount at $6 million going to CSD in the first year after annexation.
But in truth, Decatur’s annexation began unraveling two weeks ago when it only got sponsorship for about 70 percent of its original master plan. The revised plan didn’t include Suburban Plaza or the four commercial centers at North Decatur Road and Clairemont Avenue, both coveted by the city since the late 1950s.
There’s been vigorous opposition to Decatur annexation from those neighborhoods surrounding that North Decatur/Clairemont commercial district, Clairmont Heights, Medlock and McLendon.
“I’m hearing that legislators received a lot of emails opposing our annexation,” Decatur Mayor Jim Baskett said. “I’m sure a lot came from those neighborhoods, but I’m sure many came from people who don’t live anywhere near Decatur and who are uninformed. I think the feeling among senators is that they didn’t have enough time to determine where emails were coming from.”
This was confirmed on Wednesday by Sen Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, who sponsored the bill.
“Other senators,” she said, “felt that there was too much controversy with Decatur and too little time to work it out.”
“I’m not saying it’s impossible to get this done,” she said, “but we’re going to wait and see how things develop over the next year.”
Meantime, Baskett said he’s uncertain regarding the future of Decatur’s annexation.
“I think over the next year there will be a continuing discussion about annexation and municipalities,” he said. “But it’s far too early to say if Decatur will enter into that conversation.
About the Author
