The summer of annexation is coming to a close with the force of a few megatons. Palmetto, Union City and Fairburn are looking to end September with the addition of thousands of acres to their cities beyond the thousands already annexed.

Palmetto Planning Commission Sept. 21 and Palmetto City Council Sept. 25 will hold public hearings on 111 properties on more than 2,200 acres. Those properties are located on the north, east, northeast and northwest areas of the existing city. Many of the properties are located in the vicinity of Atlanta Newnan Road, Rico Tatum Road, Wilkerson Mill Road, Ono Road, Hobgood Road, Johnson Road, Tatum Road and Williams Road.

Union City will continue its annexation efforts with public hearings geared to bring approximately 2,100 more acres into the city. The properties are located largely along the South Fulton Parkway, on the north and south sides of the highway and on both the east and west sides of Ga. Highway 92. Approximately 80 acres in the Christian City area will also be considered for annexation, along with properties on Stonewall Tell Road and Flat Shoals Road. Public hearings will be held by Union City’s Planning Commission Sept. 18 and 25 and by the city council Sept. 19 and 26.

Fairburn is continuing its annexation efforts next week with consideration of including several existing industrial sites into the city. Those include the Owens-Corning facility on Roosevelt Highway and the U.S. Food Service and Adesa properties along the Oakley Industrial corridor. Fairburn is considering approximately 200 acres of the Shugart-Parrott property at I-85 and Gullatt Road, 30 acres along Spence Road near U.S. Food Service and the remaining small parcels on Ga. Highway 74 near I-85, including the Waffle House, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds and the small parcel south of World of Beverage adjacent to the Fayette County line. Possibilities for residential annexation include the Park Lane and Line Creek subdivisions totaling approximately 350 homes and several small tracts along White Mill Road.

Fairburn council members Sept. 11 voted to annex approximately 468 acres owned by CSX Railroad and 556 acres of industrial property owned by M.D. Hodges. The CSX Intermodal is located on the west side of the city and south of Roosevelt Highway. The Hodges property is situated primarily south of I-85 and bordered by Oakley Industrial Boulevard, west of Spence Road and extending to Graham Drive on the east.

Chattahoochee Hills residents recently petitioned Palmetto to join the city but were told the effort would be too time consuming due to the large number of public hearings required to bring an additional 40,000 acres of properties into the city.

The existing cities of South Fulton County and the City of Atlanta have until Oct. 30 to annex, according to provisions laid out by the General Assembly during the 2006 session. After that date, no annexations can occur until residents of unincorporated South Fulton County vote in June 2007 on forming the City of South Fulton and the City of Chattahoochee Hills. Existing cities would be free to continue annexations if the incorporation efforts of the new cities fails. Most cities, however, have expressed little desire to annex further. The current attempts, they say, are motivated by the legislative action that caused their long-term expansion plans to be accelerated by the passage of Senate Bills 552 and 553, calling for the creation of the new cities.

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