Dresden East Residents Organize to Fight Brookhaven Boundaries

Dresden East residents resolved Thursday night to organize the community of more than 1,200 homes in an effort to stop or slow down a process that seeks to include its commercial district into the proposed City of Brookhaven, but leave out its residential area.

Questions rang out among the more than 60 residents at a second meeting hosted by Rep. Elena Parent, District 81, at cafeteria. Residents here said they are worried that their commercial district was “cherry picked” to add additional tax base to the area currently being studied by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. They said their options to annex or incorporate themselves at a later date is threatened by the plan.

"The problem is that there has been no discussion for our neighborhood. We haven't been welcomed into this conversation at all," said resident Elmer Veith. "We've just been handed the fact that, 'Hi, we're taking the commercial area that surrounds your homes. You're not part of our town. Have a nice day.' We haven't been given an option to opt in or out."

Among other concerns, residents complained that emails to board members of the group charged with raising money for the study and Rep. Mike Jacobs, District 80, who spearheaded the effort to incorporate Brookhaven, went unanswered.

Jacobs told Patch in a phone interview Friday he has read the emails and understands the concerns of the Dresden East residents and will give them due consideration when its time to make a decision about boundaries for the proposed City of Brookhaven.

"Now is a time to be patient because we are talking about something that is going to run its course within approximately one months time," he said referring to the study. "The Citizens group ultimately may roll that study area back and I ultimately may decide to go with a smaller set of boundaries."

Jacobs said his only motivation for leading the effort is he believes residents will be able to enjoy better services at a lower cost than DeKalb County delivers them. Jacobs said the commercial district was chosen by the Citizens for North DeKalb as "simply an area to study" and will not necessarily be part of the permanent boundaries.

Parent however encouraged residents to take ownership of their community during the discussion.

"You don't want your neighborhood's destiny determined by other people," Parent said. "People need to decide the destiny of this community as much as possible."

Justin Childers, a new resident to Dresden East, expressed his concerns of the lack of involvement his neighborhood has had in the process and said he'd be willing to get involved to help organize his neighborhood.

"It says to me that they took what they wanted and what would benefit them without thinking of our neighborhood," Childers said.  “You don’t accidentally draw the map that they’ve drawn and not have a reason for it."

The controversial discussion around whether Brookhaven should move toward independence from DeKalb County has been an on-and-off topic for years and a conversation some thought had since died, was resurrected by Jacobs' bill in March.

Brookhaven and areas in unincorporated DeKalb County receives its essential services, including trash, police and fire from the county. Proponents of the idea of incorporation or annexation want more local control over planning, zoning and land use.

Skeptics said the community's tax base would not support the idea. The study, which Jacobs said is expected to be completed by the end of October, will reveal the tax support for the community.

Meanwhile, Dresden East residents said they will continue to organize and notify their community.

"They backed us into a corner where we have to make a choice," Childers said. "The dog that gets backed into a corner bites."