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COMMUNITY
Chamblee voters prepare for annexation referendum
BY MELISSA WEINMAN
melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net
Both Brookhaven and Chamblee want
to annex the lucrative Century Center
commercial property near the intersection
of 1-85 and Clairmont Road. For a larger
version go to ReporterNewspapers.net.
Chamblee officials say they are pre
pared to annex a large tract of land south
of the city - as long as voters and a judge
rule in their favor, that is.
On Nov. 5, for a second time in two
years, voters in the Dresden East area will
have the chance to choose whether or not
they would like to become part of the city
of Chamblee. If approved, the annexa
tion would increase the size of Chamblee
by about 11,000 residents.
Meanwhile, Brookhaven City Council
voted Oct. 8 to annex the Century Cen
ter office park, a large commercial prop
erty which is also part of the area on the
Nov. 5 Chamblee annexation referen
dum. Chamblee city officials say they are
prepared for the potential growth — just
as they were last year before the annex
ation referendum failed by a slim mar
gin. State legislators agreed to put the an
nexation referendum back up for a vote
this year due to issues with the ballots in
2012.
“A lot of the planning for this par
ticular annexation was done last year in
preparation for that vote,” said Chamblee
Mayor Eric Clarkson.
Acting Chamblee City Manager and
Police Chief Marc Johnson said the city is
interviewing for 28 additional employees
in the police department: 23 sworn offi
cers and five civilian employees.
“We’ve been recruiting police officers
for several months now,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Chamblee would need
to spend about $1.1 million for capital
expenses in 2014, including cars, com
puters and equipment for the new offi
cers. “The total for recurring cost for first
five years would be between $2.4 and
$2.5 million,” Johnson said.
Johnson said those numbers would
need to change if Century Center does
not become a part of Chamblee.
“It would lower some of the need for
police response in that area, but it would
also be a drastic reduction in the revenue,
no one knows how much for sure. Were
just airing on the side of caution,” John
son said. “We would be cautious about
filling all those positions prior to the
courts deciding.”
On July 1, Highwoods Properties, the
owners of Century Center applied to be
annexed into the city of Brookhaven.
Because Century Center was already
included in the Chamblee annexation
referendum, Chamblee officials filed an
injunction to stop the Brookhaven an
nexation vote and on Aug. 16, DeKalb
Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie
blocked Brookhaven from annexing the
property until after an Oct. 24 hearing.
On Sept. 17, Brookhaven filed an
emergency motion asking the Supreme
Court to lift the injunction imposed by
the DeKalb judge.
In the motion, Brookhaven claimed
the DeKalb judge overstepped her au
thority because, “The Superior Court en
joined a state legislative function, which
is entirely inappropriate and outside the
jurisdiction of the Superior Court.”
In its response, the Georgia Supreme
Court sided with Brookhaven, stating
“that the injunction prohibits a vote by
the City Council of Brookhaven on the
annexation of Century Center or other
wise interferes with acts of a legislative
character.”
The high court ruled Oct. 3 that
Brookhaven had the right to vote to an
nex the Century Center office complex.
However, the court’s ruling only ap
plied to the city’s ability to vote, leaving
the dispute over the annexation open.
“This order only stays interference
with the legislative process. To the extent,
if any, that the interlocutory injunction
entered by the Superior Court is direct
ed toward executive or other non-legisla
tive acts in furtherance of annexation, the
interlocutory injunction remains in full
force and effect,” the Supreme Court rul
ing states.
Johnson, Chamblee’s acting city man
ager, said he’s “not really surprised” by the
ruling, which he described as a technical
ity. He said regardless of the results of the
annexation referendum or the judge’s de
cision, the two cities likely will go back
to court.
“It’s pretty much destined to be decid
ed in Supreme Court,” Johnson said.
In a statement, Brookhaven City
Manager Marie Garrett said, “the city
policy is not to comment on pending lit
igation. We do not wish to comment on
this case.”
Jordan Fox, president of the Dresden
East Civic Association, said with no other
items on the ballot for the area this year,
the challenge will be making sure people
get out and cast their vote on the annex
ation referendum. “The main thing that
DECA has tried to do is make sure peo
ple are informed, make sure people know
there’s an election,” Fox said.
Citizens For Chamblee is the main
group that has been advocating for the
annexation. But Fox said DECA is “cer
tainly not shy about saying we support
everything the Citizens for Chamblee
group is doing.”
Fox said this year, there’s more of a
sense of urgency surrounding the annex
ation referendum. He said the possibili
ty of Century Center joining Brookhaven
would leave DECA with few other op
tions.
“If we don’t annex into Chamblee,
we could really be left without a tax base
surrounded by other cities,” Fox said. “It
could really have a negative impact on
this area.”
He said he’s also worried that the con
flict over Century Center between Cham
blee and Brookhaven will confuse voters.
“In some aspects, it’s created confusion
among some voters, which we’re trying to
clarify. It makes them think we could be
annexed into Brookhaven, which is high
ly unlikely,” Fox said.
Fox said DECA has
also battled fliers and “ro-
bocalls” telling residents
to vote against the annex
ation. He said the anti
annexation materials are
coming from groups using
names similar to the civic
associations, such as The
DeKalb Annexation Edu
cation Coalition (DAEC)
and DeKalb Concerned
Citizens (DCC).
“We wanted to people
to know they’re not coming
from us because they’re us
ing a name similar to ours,”
Fox said.
Clarkson, the mayor of
Chamblee, said he thinks
the annexation would be a
good thing for his city.
“I think it’s great that
people have opportunity to
choose a form of govern
ment that is more local and
I believe more responsive,”
Clarkson said. “I think it would help us
to make a stronger community overall if
the folks on our southern border were
also Chamblee constituents.”
In 2010, Chamblee annexed an area
to the north known as the Huntley Hills/
Gainesboro area. Clarkson said that area
was smaller than this proposed annexa
tion, but it was proportionally similar for
the city at the time.
“The previous annexation ... has
strengthened our community,” Clark
son said. “You get a sense of community
from living in a city.”
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