It was like a judicial version of David and Goliath. This time Goliath won. Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford ruled Nov. 21 in favor of the cities of Atlanta and south Fulton County in a court challenge brought by South Fulton Concerned Citizens (SFCC), the citizens group spearheading the move to form the new City of South Fulton. Judge Bedford’s decision affirmed the recent annexation of more than 13,000 acres of land in unincorporated in south Fulton. SFCC attorney Josh Belinfante said his clients would appeal the decision.

The crux of the issue involves a legislatively-approved June 2007 vote by unincorporated residents to form the City of South Fulton. In their long-stated view of Senate Bill 552, existing cities believe SB 552 left open the door for annexations prior to that vote, insisting that such annexations are the only defense against becoming landlocked if unincorporated residents vote to incorporate next year.

SFCC brought suit against the annexations, saying that those actions disenfranchised voters in the affected areas and significantly eroded large portions of the new city’s prime commercial and industrial land.

In Superior Court Tuesday, a fleet of attorneys representing the existing cities, industrial property owners and developers opposed Belinfante in their insistence that the General Assembly intended no prohibition on annexations. Among the many promoting the annexations were Dennis Davenport and Bernard Taylor. Like their counterparts, they argued that various interpretations of SB 552, and even a City of South Fulton map drawqn by legislators and approved by state Attorney General Thurbert Baker, did not prohibit the annexations. In the end Judge Bedford agreed, saying that he would grant the motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“I assume the legislature was well aware of what it was doing,” Judge Bedford said in his assessment of the many interpretations of SB 552 argued by both sides. “If they intended that the surrounding cities couldn’t annex they would have spoken to that.”

Agreement with the court’s decision was plainly evident on the faces of Union City Mayor Ralph Moore, Palmetto Mayor Clark Boddie and Fairburn Mayor Betty Hannah. All three had long-maintained that their cities were acting within the legislative intent of SB 552. During the summer of annexation the cities annexed 13,283 acres of unincorporated land. Union City annexed 5,330 acres while Palmetto added 3,840 acres and Fairburn added 4,113 acres, effectively doubling the cumulative size of those cities.

Speaking for South Fulton Concerned Citizens, Belinfante said his client would appeal the court’s decision.

“We knew this was going to be appealed one way or the other,” Belinfante said, anticipating a ruling on the appeal by the end of the year.

login to post comments