History was made June 19 in south Fulton County as Chatt Hills residents gave overwhelming approval to form the new city of Chattahoochee Hill Country. A turn out of more than 47 percent of registered voters resulted in 83 percent approving the charter of the new city, set to begin operations in December.

Those voting in the north precinct, located at Rico Community Center, cast 391 votes for the new city while 104 voted against the measure. Those voting at the south precinct location at Palmetto Elementary School were nearly unanimous in favor of the new city, with 154 “yes” votes and only six votes in opposition. Twenty-two absentee votes were held at Fulton County and were not included in the vote tally.

Chatt Hills has 1,381 registered voters, including 877 in the north precinct area and 504 in the south precinct, according to Fulton County Elections Registration Chief John Sullivan.

Speaking after the election, Chatt Hills Organizing Committee President Tom Reed said the work of a dozen committees with 140 members had provided the means to effectively inform and educate area residents.

“This is amazing proof that doing things with integrity pays off. We said from the beginning we’d report the facts, whether positive or negative, to bring the information to everyone,” Reed said. “We did that and it proves the point that it was the right thing to do. And we’re going to carry that through as we set up the city.”

The new city will hold elections for the mayor and city council in November and begin municipal operations in December.

The city of Chattahoochee Hills possesses significant land mass, totaling approximately 32,000 acres, though it has a population of less than 2,100. The Chatt Hills area has long been one that promotes a radically different view of growth and development than what is customarily experienced in metro areas across Georgia and the United States. This viewpoint is especially significant due to its close geographical proximity to Atlanta and the world’s busiest airport.

In conjunction with the Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy, that view of inevitable growth calls for the development of three villages and several hamlets while leaving as much as 80 percent of the entire Chatt Hills area green. Large percentages of greenspace are also planned within the hamlets and villages. The Hill Country’s first hamlet, Serenbe, has 70 percent greenspace and the first village, the recent county-approved Friendship Village, is designed to have approximately 60 percent greenspace.

The movement that led to the formation of the new city began nearly two years ago and was bolstered in the 2006 session of the General Assembly by Senate Bill (SB) 553 introduced by Sen. Kasim Reed. The bill was introduced in tandem with SB 552, the legislation that provided for a vote on the new city of South Fulton, the other large area making up unincorporated south Fulton County. The vote on Chatt Hills sister city has been temporarily delayed.

Commenting on the June 19 landslide vote, Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards congratulated Chatt Hills for being organized enough to be persuasive.

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