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Community Corner

Briarcliff Statement on HB 665 Cityhood Map

Here is a 2/20 statement from Briarcliff. http://www.prlog.org/12285345-briarcliff-statement-on-hb-665-cityhood-map.html

Atlanta, GA, February 20, 2014 -- The City of Briarcliff Initiative announces the release of an updated version of the Briarcliff map. “February 2014 Draft” is available on Briarcliff’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/briarcliffga and shows hand drawn lines. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (HD-82) will present a formal version of this map to the Legislature. Briarcliff has chosen to defer to the published annexation plans of existing cities, in keeping with the city’s core belief that everyone should have a chance to vote on whether they want to be in a city.
 
The changes to Briarcliff’s map occurs where the proposed City of Briarcliff approaches the existing cities of Decatur, Avondale Estates and Clarkston, each of which have published annexation plans that include unincorporated areas of DeKalb County that also overlapped previous Briarcliff previous maps.  The leaders of those cities, legislators representing those cities, and the DeKalb Municipal Association requested that Briarcliff’s proposal not overlap with those plans.  After careful deliberation, the Executive Board of the City of Briarcliff Initiative voted to defer to the announced plans of those cities.

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver comments, “We're making progress. More people are working together. We have opportunities this session to reach an agreement with our neighbors and move forward.”

“We believe that strong cities, both existing and new, are in the best interest of the residents and of DeKalb County as a whole. As many residents of unincorporated DeKalb as possible should be given the opportunity to vote on cityhood, either in a new city referendum or in an annexation vote,” says Allen Venet, President of City of Briarcliff Initiative. “The legislative process remains very fluid, and residents of the affected neighborhoods should continue to express their preferences to their local city and state legislators.  We want to be good neighbors; we offer to those cites the opportunity to have referendums in those areas for potential annexations.  In the future, any neighborhood voting against annexation to those cities or otherwise declining to be annexed might be annexed into a City of Briarcliff, if that is their choice.  Briarcliff’s Board recognizes that we have many supporters in the areas in within the annexation plans, and we wish to express our sincere appreciation for their support.”

Within “February 2014 Draft” map the updated green border reflects what the revised City of Briarcliff proposal looks like. Briarcliff still includes all of the Medlock, Mason Mill, and Druid Hills neighborhoods as well as Emory University and the CDC. Interstate I-85 and I-285 remain consistent boundaries and are unchanged. Druid Hills and Lakeside high schools and their middle schools remain in the proposed city.
 
Briarcliff remains the city with the best integrity in its community boundary and its economic base. The cityhood group is confident it will be reflected in its government -- if citizens are given the chance by the Legislature.

Breaking news and other cityhood updates can be found on Briarcliff’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/briarcliffga.

About City of Briarcliff Initiative:
The City of Briarcliff Initiative, Inc. is a non-profit corporation chartered under the laws of the state of Georgia. The group seeks to enable residents to form a new city government in central DeKalb County that would serve all people within the community and promote the health, welfare, and safety of the general public.

Media Contact:
Keith Hanks
City of Briarcliff Initiative, Inc.

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