Fight for cityhood in metro Atlanta
The contestants: Tucker, a historic 122-year-old community, and LaVista Hills, a new group that combines two formerly feuding communities that failed to win cityhood last year — Lakeside and Briarcliff.
Contested areas: Commercial property surrounding Northlake Mall and a residential area near Spaghetti Junction.
Population of disputed areas: About 23,000 residents.
Business view: The Northlake Business Association says its members prefer to remain in a single unified city, according to a story by AJC reporter Mark Niesse.
Fulton cityhood efforts: According to AJC reporter David Wickert, more than 90,000 residents of south Fulton County may get a chance to create a city out of their own vast neighborhoods and business districts. But even as they ponder that possibility, other cities are eyeing some of the same neighborhoods for annexation. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has courted residents of unincorporated Sandtown, offering a 10-year property tax freeze if they join the city. "Atlanta is financially stable. It has a high bond rating," said Sandtown resident Dan Young. "It has the resources to do things that we may want to do as a community."
Other cities have annexations in the works, too. Supporters of the proposed city of South Fulton — which would cover 105 square miles and stretch from Atlanta to Chattahoochee Hills and from College Park to the Douglas County line — say such annexations would not adversely affect their plans. But the prospect of existing cities gobbling up prime neighborhoods and commercial property adds another element of intrigue to a regional incorporation movement that already has seen plenty.
