Voters in a handful of north-central DeKalb County neighborhoods will decide next week if they want to join Chamblee.
Residents in the area that stretches south along Clairmont Road to I-85, known collectively as Dresden East or DECA, asked the state for the referendum this winter. The impetus: The initial, but later altered, Brookhaven boundaries included commercial strips such as Plaza Fiesta and Century Center but none of the people who live nearby.
The worry was if Brookhaven cityhood passed, the homeowners would be surrounded by cities on three sides and the interstate on the fourth.
Concern over becoming an island remains now that Brookhaven is slated to begin in December, and the measure is expected to pass. If it does, DeKalb will take a $5 million revenue hit, and Chamblee will add about 11,000 people and become the county’s third-largest city, with 27,000 people.
“I think initially, most folks were not terribly unhappy with DeKalb, but the more we looked at things after Brookhaven, joining Chamblee just becomes more attractive,” said Jordan Fox, a sales manager who lives in Wakefield Forest.
Chamblee has had limited time to prepare for the potential growth since state lawmakers approved the referendum last spring. Still, the city has set aside money to hire 29 people, 23 of them sworn police officers, it projects it will need to cover the area.
At the same time, the city stands to gain that $5 million that the county loses. The money comes from property taxes, business licenses and even potentially fines from bad drivers along I-85.
Mayor Eric Clarkson said the city has already negotiated a deal to pay the county to handle garbage pickup in the area for three years. But all other services will come from a City Hall three miles away.
Without annexation, Chamblee is just 4.8 square miles. If the Dresden East neighborhoods join, Chamblee will increase to 7.8 square miles.
“One of the exciting things I see is the possibility that the south part of the city will get more residents to complement all of the business growth we’ve seen in that area,” Clarkson said.
The annexation would be the second time in as many years that Chamblee has grown its borders. In 2010, residents in Huntley Hills asked to be added to the northern part of Chamblee.
That extended Chamblee’s border to I-285 in the north and also led it to share borders with Dunwoody and Doraville. That municipal cluster will soon include Brookhaven, though just about a quarter of county residents live in cities.
About the Author
