'Buckhead City' bill drops hours before committee recommends process changes

ATLANTA - Members of the House Study Committee on Annexation and Cityhood outlined their recommendations Thursday afternoon to improve the process.

"The whole purpose of this committee is to look at where we are now, thinking about where we're going and what's coming down the road and try to put plans in place that will help us in the future," said state Rep. Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia, the chair of the study committee.

Chairman Anderson said as Georgia continues to grow, requests for annexation and cityhood have too as residents look for more services in newly developed areas.

The study committee specifically focused on how to improve arbitration and dispute resolution between local governments.

Just hours before the meeting, Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, pre-filed a bill that would carve "Buckhead City" out of the city of Atlanta. 

Sen. Beach cited the recent rise in crime in the city.

"Over the past few weeks, we have heard testimony first-hand from Buckhead residents who feel their needs are not currently being addressed and what the proposed incorporation would entail. I believe it is now the time for citizens in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta to have the ability to determine for themselves whether to form their own city and establish services which would be more responsive to their needs. I look forward to working with stakeholders at all levels to move this legislation through the process during the 2022 session," Sen. Beach said in a statement.

Buckhead is not the only community looking for legislative approval to form a city. Lawmakers have also filed legislation to incorporate East Cobb, Lost Mountain, Mableton, and Vinings in Cobb County.

Rep. Anderson said while he anticipates lawmakers will draft legislation based on the study committee's recommendations for the upcoming session, he said it will not impact those cityhood proposals currently in the works.

"Timing will not allow any changes we make to impact the cityhood applications that are currently with the General Assembly," Rep. Anderson explained. 

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