Hundreds of interested residents were on hand last night, Aug. 20, as community leaders and other stakeholders talked potential cityhood or annexation for the Druid Hills community. The meeting was held at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus.
Those in attendance heard from interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May, who encouraged the community to remain as part of unincorporated DeKalb County rather than becoming a city (as part of the proposed City of Briarcliff) or seeking annexation into Atlanta. He said the county would be more responsive to the needs of residents. Duriya Farooqui, Atlanta’s Chief Operating Officer, gave an overview of what annexation into the city would mean.
The Druid Hills community has been weighing its options after ongoing disputes with the county and suspended CEO Burrell Ellis, who neighborhood leaders accused of being unresponsive. One of those disputes has been the Druid Hills Civic Association lawsuit to prevent a developer from building seven homes on a small lot on Clifton Road.
At the end of the meeting, attendees were given a survey to fill out with their opinions on Druid Hills’ future. We’ll report the findings as soon as they’re released.