The state Senate has approved legislation to create a city of Brookhaven.
Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, sponsored the bill in the Senate. He said everything “went according to plan” and the bill was approved on March 26 in a 36-14 vote.
“I’m not surprised that it happened,” he said, citing the success of bills to create the cities of Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Dunwoody and Peachtree Corners in recent years.
The bill will now go back to the state House of Representatives for approval of amendments to the bill, including changing the name of the proposed new city to Brookhaven from Ashford. If passed, it will move to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The House is expected to vote on the proposal on Thursday, March 29, said Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-DeKalb.
The bill would allow residents within the proposed boundaries to vote in a July referendum on whether or not they would like to create a city.
Jacobs, who introduced the bill along with Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, said he is glad that the proposal has made it through one of the final steps in the legislative process.
“Obviously, I am pleased that the citizens are likely to have their say on July 31,” Jacobs said.
House Bill 636 has been amended several times through numerous hearings over the course of the legislative session.
“I hope the citizens recognize that the improvements to the bill during legislative process were made because of citizen input,” Jacobs said. “We changed the structure of the City Council because specific neighborhoods requested it. We further tweaked City Council boundaries within the past couple of weeks because other neighborhoods requested those changes. This truly has been a process where citizens who brought forth legitimate, substantive concerns were listened to and had their concerns addressed.”
Jacobs said if the bill is signed by the governor, it does not create a city but makes way for a referendum.
“On the one hand, it is a relief to be almost finished with the legislative process. But the real work by citizens leading up to the referendum and after the referendum has only just begun,” Jacobs said.