The City of Decatur’s Communication Officer Casie Yoder released this statement from the city this afternoon …

The City of Decatur has intentionally created an attractive, accessible and safe environment for public life. This combined with the city’s role as the county seat of DeKalb County means people gather here all the time, whether for a festival, to enjoy the nice weather or to demonstrate about an issue they feel passionately about. We are viewed as the civic heart of the county and this creates the challenge of democracy in Decatur. Over the past few weeks there have been several protests in and around the Square on both public and private property.

“Our police officers have responded appropriately and professionally by instructing participants that they cannot protest on private property without permission from the owner,” stated Mayor Jim Baskett. “They can protest on public sidewalks as long as they do not obstruct others from using the sidewalks and if they want to have a parade they would need to secure a permit. In the future we would hope that if these individuals are interested in making a statement to DeKalb County that they would choose a venue more closely associated with the county that would allow their voices to be heard by those they are trying to reach.”

Decatur is committed to civic space and public discourse. Civic space is a crucial component of any community, including ours. Peaceful gatherings play a valuable role in our society and will continue to be treated with respect by city staff and the Decatur Police Department.

Police Chief Mike Booker confirmed that, “The Decatur Police Department respects and acknowledges the individual right of every person in this country to assemble peaceably in public. Every Decatur officer is trained to respond to protests and protestors respectfully and professionally. This department will continue to uphold the highest standards when balancing protestors’ constitutional rights with the rights of others who may be impacted.”

UPDATE: We’ve received more details from the City Manager.  This is must read for all you annexation junkies…

• The area in the proposed legislation is valued in DeKalb County tax records at approximately $396,347,000.  Of that value, $111,711,000 (28%) is residential; $262,278,000 (66%) is commercial and $22,358,000 (6%) is exempt.
• This is consistent with the City’s annexation objectives and will provide sufficient property tax revenue to the City of Decatur ($4.9mm) to cover our costs and provide property tax revenue ($7.6mm) to the City Schools of Decatur that will exceed their costs.
• The proposed legislation incorporates 70% of the real property value included in the City’s overall annexation master plan, with an area that is 2/3’s commercial property. The inclusion of Decatur Terrace adds 4% to the overall plan.
• Annexation is a long-term investment in the future of the City and the City Schools.

The legislative process is not perfect and requires negotiation, compromise and cooperation.  The members of the Georgia House of Representative who represent Decatur have various parts of the master plan in their districts, with Rep. Drenner having the very significant share so her sponsorship of a bill for the legislative areas she represents is a major part of the over all plan. None of the proposed annexation master plan areas are located in Rep. Oliver’s district.  All four legislators co-signed Rep. Drenner’s bill.

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Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss followed up with us regarding the commercial and residential breakdown of the proposed annexation area presented by Rep. Karla Drenner to the Georgia Legislature on Monday, which includes pieces of Annexation Areas B and C from the Master Plan and the addition of residential neighborhood of Decatur Terrace.  Here it is —

• 66% Commercial
• 28% Residential
• 6% Exempt

We don’t have data that breaks out the impact on the school system, but as a general rule commercial areas benefit the school system because they pay into it without contributing any students.

Decatur’s current residential/commercial ratio is 85% residential/15% commercial.

After we learned a few more details yesterday of the partial Decatur annexation legislation submitted by Georgia State Rep. Karla Drenner on Monday, we followed up for reaction from the Decatur City Commission to get their thoughts on the partial annexation and the new inclusion of the neighboring residential neighborhood of Decatur Terrace.

Decatur Mayor Jim Baskett responded this morning…

A lot is happening with our legislative agenda, and decisions are being made very quickly.
We did not have the option of moving forward with our overall map and plan.
The map that is before the legislature now has a great deal of commercial and is a large part of what we set out to annex.
Going forward we will see where we are at the end of this legislative session and determine how we will move forward with the rest of the plan. An updated annexation master plan report will be available after the session is over.

Commissioner Patti Garrett echoed the Mayor’s statements and emphasized that “we were unable to move forward with our original map but still have a significant amount of commercial property included and Representative Drenner requested the addition of Decatur Terrace.”  She added “I think we have all been made keenly aware that the legislative process for getting annexation considered is a complicated and complex process.”

I’m going to see if its possible to get a commercial/residential breakdown of the current partial annexation area.  Stay tuned.

Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss has confirmed that Rep. Karla Drenner has included Decatur Terrace, a neighborhood of 147 residential parcels south of East College Avenue on Decatur’s eastern border, in her Decatur annexation bill that she introduced to the legislature on Monday.

Decatur Terrace petitioned the City of Decatur back in October 2014 for inclusion in its annexation plan, but wasn’t ultimately included in the city’s Annexation Master Plan.

The partial Decatur annexation bill only includes the annexation of parcels within Rep. Drenner’s district.

That said, all of this may be for naught.  Rep. Drenner told Decaturish the other day that she has doubts whether any of the annexation bills will pass the Legislature this year.

UPDATE: Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss has confirmed that Rep. Drenner added Decatur Terrace to the partial Decatur annexation bill that she sponsored and read on Monday.

The AJC reports…

State Representative Karla Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, read three local annexation bills Monday, including a portion of Decatur and all of Avondale Estates. Each passed through the policy committee, and now need 9 of 16 signatures from DeKalb delegates to reach the House.

In a surprise move, however, Drenner introduced the Avondale master plan minus the Decatur Terrace neighborhood, south of College Avenue between Avondale and Decatur.

The AJC also reported that Avondale’s acting Mayor and City Manager said that Decatur Terrace would be added to Decatur annexation map.  However, City Manager Peggy Merriss has stood by the existing Decatur Annexation Master Plan and repeatedly stated that the city doesn’t want to include any more residential areas in its annexation efforts, due to concerns with school enrollment levels.

I’ve followed up with Ms. Merriss for comment.

Photo courtesy of Rep. Karla Drenner’s Facebook Page

We followed up with Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss about this morning’s report that Rep. Karla Drenner would support the Decatur’s annexation plan for the areas in her district.  Ms. Merriss said “Currently only Rep. Drenner has been willing to sponsor a bill and we believe that it will be introduced today or tomorrow.”

As for the other annexation areas not included in Rep. Drenner’s district, Ms. Merriss believes that “given the session deadline for the 2015 General Assembly, we have concluded that we will have to take a look at other options after the General Assembly has concluded.”  She clarified that this includes trying again in the 2016 General Assembly.

The AJC is reporting that Representative Karla Drenner D-Avondale Estates will sponsor an annexation bill for the City of Decatur that includes areas that are part of Decatur’s Master Annexation Plan AND the area that Drenner represents.  (You can view her district map HERE).

It’s basically all properties highlighted in annexation area B east of Church Street (which would include DeKalb Medical Center, Patel Plaza, Kroger, the new apartments at Church Street and Milscott Drive), north of DeKalb Industrial, and north of East Ponce up until the DeKalb Farmer’s Market (Progressive, Wagalot Kudzu, etc). It would also include Decatur Annexation Area C, which includes the United Methodist Children’s Home and some neighboring residential.

It won’t include Suburban Plaza or 4 commercial centers to the west (i.e. Publix, Emory Commons, North Decatur Plaza, etc).

City Manager Peggy Merriss indicated that the city will work with Rep. Drenner on the partial annexation.  She also noted that the annexation of Suburban Plaza/North Decatur Road/Clairemont Road “doesn’t look promising for this year.”  Rep. Rahn Mayo represents House District 84, which includes this area.

In related news, the AJC also reports that Rep. Drenner will also support Avondale’s annexation plan after the pro-annexation candidate, Jonathan Elmore, won last week’s Mayoral election.

Drenner tells the AJC she will submit the bills next week, provided she gets the nine necessary signatures from DeKalb County delegates.