Zoning fight shakes up bucolic Milton

The north Fulton city of Milton is facing its first major legal battle challenging the lifestyle it was created to preserve.

A developer is suing the city to reverse a decision last month that prohibits it from building an upscale apartment complex along Deerfield Parkway, one of the city’s main commercial corridors.

This is Milton’s first big land-use skirmish and possibly the most important. If the court sides with the developer, Crescent Resources, it could open the door to the type of development city founders hoped to avoid when they incorporated six years ago.