Mulberry Mayor Michael Coker, representing Gwinnett County’s newest city and largest by land mass, said the local government’s initial focus was planning and zoning, code enforcement, and stormwater management.
“The idea behind Mulberry was that we wanted more local control over what got built in the city,” Coker said. “We felt, right or wrong, and people disagree on this, that maybe some of the decisions that were being made at the county level from a zoning standpoint did not fit the character of what we wanted involved.”
Mulberry is battling Gwinnett County’s lawsuits over the existence of the nearly two-year-old city and the constitutionality of its charter, according to Coker. He is an attorney and has lived in Mulberry since he was 8.
Creation of Mulberry
The city of Mulberry is about 26 square miles in the northeast corner of Gwinnett County, on both sides of Interstate 85. Its two public high schools are Mill Creek and Seckinger.
“We are essentially one of the only remaining places in Gwinnett that is not yet developed,” Coker said. “[Mulberry] has a very agricultural feel. You’ll see horse farms … cattle farms.”
In Georgia, the General Assembly must pass legislation creating a city government. Mulberry voters approved Senate Bill 333 in 2024. Shortly after, Gwinnett County joined a Fulton County case arguing against the city’s incorporation.
The state legislature passed SB 138 in 2025 after Mulberry began operating, requiring the county to continue providing services until negotiations with the county concluded.
One key charter provision barred the city from levying its own property tax, but the city council repealed it earlier this year. Other amendments strike the municipal services restriction and the requirement that voters approve future charter changes.
“The county’s position is that even though the charter was amended, when it was passed, it was, according to them, unconstitutional; and therefore, it’s still invalid,” Coker said. “That’s their new legal argument.”
Like Peachtree Corners, Mulberry still does not collect city property taxes. County and school taxes are unaffected.
Local control
Coker said the city has been operating for two years, and he doesn’t expect a legal decision that shuts down the city. He said some county representatives have “a very different legal opinion.”
“We’re trying to make it better,” he said. “We just hired our new city manager. Chuck Button used to be an administrator for the county … the idea being that this is our olive branch.”
Coker said Mulberry has created a unique equestrian zoning that “preserves that rural feel but still allows that housing to be developed.”
“I think there is a place for high-density housing … around city centers, walkable communities,” Coker said. “But we were having high-density townhouse communities that were placed in the middle of cow pastures that were miles away from the nearest grocery store.”
Coker said other catalysts for city incorporation included a more than 700-unit multifamily complex across from one of the city’s high schools.
“People just felt that was not a good idea,” he said. “It was a very well-respected individual who wanted to build these apartments, and it looked like the county was gonna jam those through, so the city was founded in part to stop that.”
Service delivery negotiations
Several north metro Atlanta cities were founded because residents wanted local control over land use and development.
In 2005, Sandy Springs, just north of Atlanta in Fulton County, was the first city in Georgia to incorporate in more than half a century. Since then, more than 10 new cities in metro Atlanta have incorporated, including Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Mableton, Milton, Peachtree Corners, and South Fulton.
Coker said Mulberry continues to make municipal decisions, regulate planning and zoning, and enforce local code, while the accounting team works on county services. He said they’re behind Mableton, which is closer to forming its own police department.
“That’s where things are right now, thanks to our friends in the legislature,” he said. “Mulberry is a more conservative city, and we’re in a liberal county. Mableton is a more liberal city in a more conservative county.”
Specifically for Norcross, Coker said it’s important that cities negotiate with the county to ensure efficient service delivery without duplication.
“These partnerships require good local governance, both at the local level and at the county level,” Coker said. “It takes putting aside partisan differences, it takes putting aside frustrations … and acknowledging we’re here to do what’s best for our constituents.”
