Residents of north-central DeKalb County took a step closer to becoming Georgia’s newest city under a bill approved Wednesday by a Senate committee.

State Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, sponsored Senate Bill 270 to create the city of Lakeside. The proposal has been controversial because of overlapping boundaries with two other would-be cities, Briarcliff and Tucker.

Members of the Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee voted 4-3 to approve the Lakeside bill under a new map that again adds neighborhoods outside of I-285 to the city, including the precincts at Livsey and Midvale elementary schools that are in Millar’s district. The new map also takes in part of Toco Hills and Merry Estates along LaVista Road that had been included in the Briarcliff proposal.

The bill now heads to the Senate Rules Committee, which will decide whether to allow SB 270 to reach the Senate floor. Approval in the Senate would send the issue to the state House, which has held off on cityhood this year because of the boundary disputes.