Last month Avondale Estates commissioners approved a resolution to submit an annexation map to the state legislature. That map was actually firmed up last summer and includes the neighborhoods of Forrest Hills and Decatur Terrace, those residential areas south of Rockbridge Road, the American Legion property east of the city and the Rio Circle commercial district.
They also commissioned a feasibility plan from the Carl Vinson Institute—released last month—that showed the plan could add about 1,600 more residents, or a 32 percent increase in population.
Avondale’s next step is convincing the residents in these proposed annexation areas they’re better off in Avondale than in unincorporated DeKalb. For some the alternative could be the recently proposed City of Prosperity, which has several overlaps with Avondale’s annexation map.
All of this may be moot, at least for this year. Earlier this month a new rule passed by the Georgia Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee states that proposed municipalities, like Prosperity, must go through a two-year review process before the legislature will consider approval.
“It’s starting to feel like nothing will happen this year,” Avondale Estates Mayor Jonathan Elmore said. “We have already met with [residents of Decatur Terrace and Forest Hills]. We need to continue making contact, to continue meeting with these neighborhoods over the next year. We need to keep the lines of communications open.”
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