STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. — Backers of the city of Eagles Landing say they’re looking forward to a vote to ratify their city in November – now that Gov. Nathan Deal has signed controversial legislation to create it. Opponents say they expect to sue before then.
The unprecedented new city would peel off portions of the city of Stockbridge.
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Go to Stockbridge and near its city center, you’ll find modest neighborhoods with vintage homes and casual landscaping. A few miles south at Eagles Landing, the city center would be a gated country club – flanked with designer homes and yards to match. Some of those homes are on the fringes of what is now in the city of Stockbridge, but due to be "de-annexed" into Eagles Landing.
But don't look for any apologies from Eagles Landing backers.
"It’s more like they’re pillaging us," said Vicki Consiglio, who has led the Eagles Landing effort. "They’ve taken and gutted our community for their own benefit without giving us the amenities that we need in this area, which are parks and libraries and good code enforcement."
If approved by voters, Eagles Landing would take many of Stockbridge’s pricier properties and put them in the new city. Only voters within the proposed city would be allowed to vote, excluding thousands of Stockbridge voters from the decision.
"It could have a significant impact on the city of Stockbridge in that about 50 percent of our revenue would be taken away," said Randy Knighton, Stockbridge's city manager.
Consiglio counters by saying that cityhood proposals always exclude voters outside the proposed city limits – until now, voters in unincorporated area residing within Georgia counties. Counties frequently oppose cityhood proposals because they drain revenue from county coffers.
Stockbridge is a sprawling city stretching from the Clayton County line southeast along the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. Eagles Landing, shaped a bit like an automobile engine, overlaps much of Stockbridge’s southside.
Racially, Stockbridge is 56 percent African American, with a median income of $58,000. Eagles Landing would be 44 percent African American, with a median income of $128,000
Stockbridge backers view the new city as grab for money and power – that leaves behind the city’s least affluent neighborhoods.
It's a question that may be settled in a November vote, unless a judge takes the case first.
