The North Decatur cityhood movement in DeKalb County has gone “dormant” due to the lack of support from legislators, according to a press release from the initiative’s board.
“After conducting several meetings, reworking maps, and discussing possible political solutions to our local issues, it is now apparent that we do not have the legislative consensus needed to move a cityhood bill in the legislature in a manner that would be conducive to the community building necessary to create a city in our proposed area,” reads a signed statement from North Decatur Cityhood Initiative (NDCI) board members John Ayoub, Angela Barnett, Amy Parker, and Allen Venet,
As proposed, the City of North Decatur would extends from Embry Hills in the north to Atlanta, Decatur, and Avondale Estates in the south. It is bounded by I-85 on the west and I-285 on the east (excluding the portions within the cities of Brookhaven, Tucker and Clarkston) and includes a population of approximately 82,000 people. .
The NDCI statement continues: “While our legislators see the benefits of creating a city, they have not been able to convince the requisite number of fellow DeKalb legislators to move our bill forward as a local bill. As a result, we now view our movement as dormant. It is not dead, but the political climate necessary to move forward currently does not exist.”
The proposed City of North Decatur rose from the ashes of previous cityhood efforts in roughly the same geographical area – Vista Grove, LaVista Hills, Lakeside City, and Briarcliff.
The NDCI statement encouraged supporters to continue sharing their ideas on how to move the cityhood pan forward and engage with legislators.
“We will watch the political climate as we move through this election cycle and the upcoming legislative session, and revisit our mission at several points to determine what actions are appropriate for our future,” the statement said.
The lack of political support is a harbinger for the Buckhead cityhood movement, which stalled in the Republican-controlled legislature earlier this year.
Georgia voters who pulled a Republican ballot in the May 24 primary overwhelmingly said Buckhead residents should be able to vote whether to break away from Atlanta, but a poll conducted by opponents of Buckhead residents in June showed more than 60% of voters living in Buckhead are opposed to cityhood efforts.
Voters in Cobb County also defeated three cityhood efforts during the May 24 primary.