Dreams of creating the cities of Tucker and LaVista Hills won’t come true unless supporters of the idea can compromise in their border war, said state lawmakers during a packed public hearing Wednesday.
Leaders of the cityhood efforts are fighting over coveted commercial property surrounding Northlake Mall, as well as the more residential area near Spaghetti Junction.
A legislative subcommittee is trying to create workable maps for each community before the upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly next month.
More than 100 people attended Wednesday’s public hearing, held to gather information about where cityhood advocates think boundaries should be drawn.
“If the people in this room want something to happen, they’d better get their act together and come up with a map that we can approve,” said Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming. “There will be some happy people and some unhappy people no matter what the outcome is.”
Leaders of each side said they would still want to become cities even if they lost all of the contested areas. But it’s unclear how financially feasible each city would be if it loses too much commercial property, which generates a great deal of tax revenue to fund local government services.
Border battles scuttled efforts for cityhood during this year’s legislative session. So far, organizers haven’t been able to find middle ground.
Both groups gave presentations to the subcommittee about why they believe their potential cities deserve to gain the disputed territory, which includes about 23,000 residents.
Some of those residents said they’d rather be included in LaVista Hills, which would start an independent police force that’s could be more responsive to 911 calls than DeKalb County police.
Advocates for Tucker said the 122-year-old community’s historical footprint includes the mall and residential areas, and they said those properties should also be part of the proposed city. A city of Tucker wouldn’t start a new police department, but it could be added later.
“My main concern is that the city of LaVista Hills would have its own police force, which is a critically important issue for myself and my family,” said Sylvia Murphy, who lives in the fought-over area to the southeast of the intersection of I-285 and I-85.
Another resident, Neal Stubblefield, told lawmakers he’s more comfortable with Tucker than LaVista Hills, which didn’t announce its name until last month.
“Tucker is not the vision of someone who woke up a couple of years ago and decided to form a city,” he said. “It’s a real community with a real identity. It’s been Tucker since 1892. Many people assumed it had been incorporated a long time ago.”
LaVista Hills was the product of an alliance between two previous communities that had sought cityhood, Lakeside and Briarcliff. Those neighborhoods were able to work out their differences, but they remain in conflict with Tucker.
One solution would be to cut off Tucker’s boundaries at I-285 and prevent it from reaching inside the perimeter, said Charles DeWitt, the CEO of Resurgens Bank and a leader of the Northlake Business Association.
He said the area’s business community wants to remain unified in a single city.
“We kind of feel like we’re the hidden gem,” DeWitt said. “Without a strong business district, the cities would struggle to survive.”
The committee’s hasn’t announced when it will meet next. A compromise map would have to be approved by a majority vote of its members.
If new cities are approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Nathan Deal, residents would then vote on the idea.
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