The June 1 meeting of the South Fulton Parkway Alliance was primarily an occasion for representatives from the City of East Point to present their annexation plans to the South Fulton County group intent on having only quality development on the local landscape. Alliance members also heard from Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards, who responded to the East Point proposal and to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s recent invitation to residents of unincorporated South Fulton to be annexed into Atlanta.

A contingent of department heads and other representatives from the city attended the monthly meeting to brief the alliance on East Point’s annexation proposal. City Manager Lisa Gordon gave the proposed new boundaries and an explanation of the city’s fiscal and service plans for the two areas identified for annexation.

We’ve done our homework, we know our costs and we’re prepared to serve new citizens,” she said.

Gordon said East Point’s current population is 40,707. If the two areas targeted for annexation came into the city, the population would increase by 6,000, she said. The area first considered for annexation was much larger, she added. Alliance members questioned the cost of serving the area targeted for annexation and how those services would be accomplished. Gordon maintained that East Point could effectively serve everyone that wished to come into the city. East Point’s annexation plans call for adding approximately 9,500 acres to the city, a figure more than double the current 8,832 acres.

Given the city’s current 12.369 millage rate, alliance members asked if including such a large geographical area would result in a tax increase. Gordon was emphatic that the city’s cost analysis showed that taxes would not have to increase. Several alliance members during and after the presentation called that projection into question.

During the presentation, alliance member, Fulton County Planning & Zoning Commissioner and South Fulton Concerned Citizens (SFCC) Steering Committee member Sandra Hardy noted the population of more than 55,000 people in the expansive and rapidly growing areas of unincorporated South Fulton. While East Point had been admittedly spoken with other South Fulton cities on annexation issues, Hardy felt that East Point and the other cities would benefit from having a dialogue with the proponents of South Fulton’s incorporation.

“East Point has reached out to the cities. I think you need to reach out to us,” Hardy said, acknowledging the common ground shared by both. “We’ve reached out to you because we have (similar) issues every day.”

Gordon responded, saying that she believed East Point had extended that recognition.

Also at the meeting, Commissioner Edwards made brief comments on the annexation efforts of both East Point and the City of Atlanta. He noted the millions of dollars East Point currently owes Fulton County, adding that East Point is a great city but they had not enhanced the downtown area to make it a focal point. Speaking directly to the annexation effort, Edwards said if East Point wants to expand it boundaries, why didn’t they do it 10 years ago. Those remarks exemplified his feelings on annexation in general.

“I’m against annexation,” Edwards said. “It was originally intended to increase services to an area. But this (current) annexation business has gone crazy.”

Edwards also took the opportunity to express his feelings on statements coming earlier in the week from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. In a statement to the Atlanta City Council, Franklin said Atlanta’s door would be open to South Fulton residents that might want to “strongly consider joining a healthy and prosperous City of Atlanta.”

Edwards did not miss the chance to note the timing between Franklin’s remark and a recent newspaper article touting the emerging, upscale development at Le Jardin on Ga. Highway 92, four miles north of Fairburn.

“Le Jardin is in the Metro section and a week later the mayor of Atlanta is welcoming them in,” Edwards said smiling.

South Fulton Parkway is a major thoroughfare following an east/west route through unincorporated South Fulton County from the intersection of I-85 and I-285 to the Chattahoochee River and Carroll County. South Fulton Parkway Alliance was formed in 1994. Its mission is to protect the parkway area and to ensure quality development with high standards.

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