Why the Georgia General Assembly Should Pass
New Annexation Regulations

Mike Beaudreau's Opinion - from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett Section on Sunday, March 25, 2007

The Georgia General Assembly is considering legislation that would modify the state’s laws regarding annexation of unincorporated county land by cities. Passage of this legislation is in the best interests of Georgia residents who are tired of sprawl, overcrowded schools, and traffic congestion, and who support private property rights.

Current law allows counties to object to proposed annexations; however the annexing city is under no requirement to honor the objection.   The proposed legislation would allow contested annexations to go before a five member panel whose decisions on land use and zoning would be binding for three years.

The existing annexation law envisioned cases where property owners sought annexation by cities in order to gain access to additional services not provided by the county.  While this model worked well when most of Georgia was rural, and most development was taking place within cities, it doesn’t work in today’s counties, especially suburban ones.

As metro Atlanta grew over the years, suburban counties saw vast increases in population, especially in low-density, unincorporated areas.  These counties developed the transportation, water and sewer, and public safety infrastructure to serve the needs of new residents, and developed land use plans to manage growth.  Gwinnett County has been a leader in this area, constructing the F. Wayne Hill water treatment plant, adding one of the metro area’s largest systems of parks and libraries, and building roads, including Sugarloaf and Ronald Reagan Parkways, to promote mobility.

The county is presently updating its Unified Plan, which will govern land use and transportation planning through 2030.

What does this have to do with annexation? Since 2000, over 5,800 acres of Gwinnett County’s land has been annexed by its cities. Most of these annexations have been in the fast-growing north and east parts of the county, and the primary reason for these annexations was to gain higher-density zoning than the county’s land use plan allowed. 

These annexations cost county residents in a number of ways.  For example, annexations and subsequent rezoning to high density residential use of land in the path of the Sugarloaf Parkway extension has already cost the county an additional $2,470,000 in land acquisition costs, and there is still more land to purchase. 

Annexations can also alter the ratio of residential to commercial property, which ultimately costs all taxpayers more.  Because it costs counties more to provide services to homeowners than it does to provide services to commercial or industrial properties, annexation and rezoning of land intended for business to high density residential forces the county to raise taxes to pay for the increased services to residents.

Finally, annexations affect the property rights of nearby landowners. Their property can lose value when spot commercial or high density housing is constructed next to them. Because they don’t live in the city, they have no voice in the annexation decision.  The proposed changes to the law will give their county elected officials the ability to protect landowners’ rights.

In the vast majority of cases, annexations are not a problem, since few, if any, land use changes are proposed. Since 2003, only 14% of proposed annexations in Gwinnett would result in a change in land use that affects the county’s ability to provide for citizens’ needs. The proposed changes to the state’s annexation law will give counties the ability to have their concerns heard by a neutral panel that would balance the needs of the city and county, along with the private property rights of landowners, to determine an equitable solution. If the panel decides that the annexation should proceed, counties will have some time to prepare for the land use changes and additional service requirements that the annexation will bring about.

The proposed changes to Georgia’s annexation laws will not only affect residents of counties just outside Atlanta’s Perimeter highway. To Gwinnett’s north, Jackson County is now facing the same growth and planning issues experienced here.  Rockdale County is opposing annexation of its land by nearby Covington. And, just this week, the Census Bureau added an additional seven counties to the Atlanta metro area because of its growth.

By updating our annexation laws to match today’s reality of county-provided planning and services, all Georgians will benefit from coordinated and well-planned growth, reduced costs for county-provided services, and better land management.

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