City of Briarcliff Initiative to Release Cityhood Feasibility Study Results Tonight
Decatur Metro | December 17, 2013 | 1:55 pmBuilding on the news and discussion yesterday surrounding the city of Decatur’s short-term plans to pursue annexation in the coming year – mostly to areas northeast of the city – residents looking to create a City of Briarcliff sent in this announcement this morning.
The City of Briarcliff Initiative announces Briarcliff has been confirmed to be the most feasible cityhood plan currently proposed for central DeKalb County by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
Atlanta, GA, December 16, 2013 — The City of Briarcliff Initiative has scheduled a Tuesday, December 17, 2013 press conference to officially announce the results of an independent cityhood feasibility study. The study, conducted by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia has confirmed that Briarcliff is the most financially feasible cityhood plan currently proposed for Central DeKalb County.
The press conference is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17, 2013, 2:00pm at the Toco Hills Shopping Center near 2105 Lavista Rd. A follow up public meeting to review the results of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government study will be held on Thursday, December 19, 2013, 7:00pm at Briarcliff United Methodist Church (4105 Briarcliff Rd. NE, Atlanta GA).
“An independent study has confirmed what so many in central DeKalb already knew that Briarcliff is positioned to be the most sensible city for central DeKalb,” explains Allen Venet, President of City of Briarcliff Initiative. He adds, “Our proposed city has a strong blend of residential, commercial and industrial areas. Our map is smart and does not abandon neighborhoods. We believe the members of this community deserve the chance to publically vote on Briarcliff cityhood.”
Keith Hanks, member of the executive board comments, “The Briarcliff cityhood plan is funded by local citizens. Over 99% of funds donated have come from local residents within the proposed city limits, making this a successful grassroots effort. Our next step includes refining cityhood plans, translating into necessary legal language and presenting as a proof of concept to the Georgia House of Representatives in the next session.”
For more information about the City of Briarcliff Initiative visit briarcliffga.org or 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.
The City of Briarcliff website has a link to the Vinson Institute Report. Appendix A shows a map of the proposed city as evaluated. On the south the boundary extends to the existing city limits of Decatur or the CSX railroad. The north boundary is I85. The east boundary is I285. The west boundary is the city of Atlanta.
Looking more closely at the map, Briarcliff includes some area south of the CSX railroad that is northeast of Avondale Estates.
So how long until these secessionists start trying to rewrite the state constitution to have their own school systems?
They already are. Trying.
Let’s hope so! Something has to take the pressure of City of Decatur.
Yes, at the expense of Dekalb’s poorest and most vulnerable households. You think the schools south of Memorial are bad NOW?
(full disclosure – we moved from South Dekalb into CoD for this exact reason. oh no, revenue-negative household leeching off the city’s teat!)
So it was OK for you to opt out of those failing schools, but not everyone else? That would seem to be the implication of what you’re saying.
Wacky:
Just wanted to point out that city creation by itself has nothing to do with schools. No city can create a new school system. (Yes, there is a discussion by Dunwoody to get a constitutional amendment to permit it; but that’s a long shot right now.)
Cities in almost all cases have taken over zoning and permits, parks management, policing, and road management IN THEIR AREAS. The creation of Briarcliff will pull about 4% of OUR property taxes, and eliminate county police and road maintenance and parks maintenance in our area. that happens to be the amount the County claims it’s spending for our parks, police and roads. Hardly a crisis for south DeKalb. the City of Decatur, BTW, pulls more than that!