Politics & Government

Duluth Eyeing Nearby Land to Annex Into City

City would like to annex Gwinnett Place Mall, Sugarloaf Country Club. Cardinal Lake Estates, commercial property along Buford Highway, and remaining parts of Blue Ridge Industrial Park.

The City of Duluth has some ambitious plans to annex land next to the city limits. At the city council’s direction, staff has identified about 13 potential areas for annexation, according to Duluth Planning Director Glenn Coyne.

The areas being eyed for annexation include residential, commercial and industrial properties. The city hopes to convince residents and business owners in these areas of the advantages of becoming a part of Duluth, he said.

City staff will recommend annexation priorities for the city council to discuss at its Aug. 22 work session, Coyne said. The report will include an analysis of the tax revenue the properties would generate balanced against their need for city services.

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“We’re looking at both residential and commercial areas and places where there is light industrial,” he said. “We’re trying to balance the tax revenue and services required.”

The depressed economy, the resulting decline in property tax revenue, and plans by neighboring entities to incorporate, expand and annex prompted the city to look at annexation, he said. Duluth officials had discussed the possibility of annexation in 2005 and revisited the issue in 2009, he said. Seven areas adjacent to the existing city limits had been considered then compared to the current 13.

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“There is an identity problem,” Coyne also said, because many homes and businesses outside the city limits have Duluth addresses. The city’s planning and other departments receive numerous inquiries and requests from an area referred to as “unincorporated Duluth” in Gwinnett County, he said. 

Intern Steven Lau, a senior at Harvard University majoring in economics, is assisting city staff with developing the annexation proposal. Lau is contributing his background in economics to the process, Coyne said. A graduate of Duluth High School, Lau lives in Berkeley Lake. “We are studying areas contiguous to the city that would make sense to annex,” Lau said. Tim Lawrence, geographic information systems manager for the city, is creating maps indicating the proposed annexation areas.

Duluth is looking to bring an area that includes Gwinnett Place Mall, bounded by Steve Reynolds Boulevard, Interstate 85, Old Norcross Road, and Satellite Boulevard, into the city, according to Coyne. Some commercial property along Buford Highway toward Suwanee is also being considered for annexation, he said.

Also, Duluth would also like to annex remaining parts of Blue Ridge Industrial Park in unincorporated Gwinnett County into the city, Coyne said. Part of the industrial park, located off North Berkeley Lake Road, already is in the Duluth city limits. The City of Berkeley Lake also has a piece of the park. A proposal by Peachtree Corners to become a city apparently includes the rest of the park being eyed by Duluth. “Berkeley Lake may be looking at some of this area, as well,” he said.

Other areas being studied for potential annexation by Duluth include Sugarloaf Country Club, Boles Farm subdivision, the Burton Farm, Cardinal Lake Estates, Stephen Hills subdivision, the Davenport Road area, Canterbury Woods subdivision, Leafland Estates, and part of Centurion Hills.

Among the advantages to joining the city, Coyne said, are improved public safety through the Duluth Police Department, access to the parks and programs offered by the city’s highly regarded parks and recreation department at a lower cost than non-residents, and a new stormwater utility fee that is cheaper than Gwinnett County’s. The city also contracts with a single solid waste disposal company, he said.

Study information will be useful in developing an information packet on annexation for distribution, Coyne said. The city would also likely hold community meetings. “We would try to meet with folks and gauge their interest in becoming a part of the city of Duluth,” he said. The process would depend upon strategy decided upon by the city council, Coyne said. Annexation priorities would be set by the city council based on staff recommendations, he said.

The city hopes that residents and business owners in the areas targeted for annexation would want to voluntarily become a part of Duluth. “Then again, we may go to these people, and they say they don’t want to be in the city,” Coyne said.

Annexation methods include landowners, contiguous to the city, petitioning for annexation with 100 percent in favor. This land can be annexed anytime with approval by the council, Coyne said. Then there is the 60%/40% rule, he said, whereby if 60 percent of the landowners apply for annexation, and the area is contiguous to the city limits, the other 40 percent would come along into the city.

Another method requires passage of local legislation by the Georgia General Assembly to place an annexation referendum on the ballot for city voters to decide. The soonest this probably could be done, Coyne said, would be November 2012.


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