The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners Tuesday morning unanimously voted to begin the process of objecting to the annexation petition it received from Brookhaven in late December. The county has 30 days to file an objection.
"There are valid objections that can be filed," Deputy County Attorney Vivian Ernstes told commissioners during a meeting of the commission's Committee of the Whole.
According to the Neighbor newspapers, Miami-based Related Group seeks to build a 6-story, 382-unit apartment building, a 7-story hotel with 140 rooms, 25,000 square feet of general office space, 10,000 square feet of restaurant space, 10,000 square feet of retail space, a 7-story parking deck with 837 spaces, and a surface parking lot with 40 spaces.
Commissioner Kathie Gannon moved and Commissioner Steve Bradshaw seconded a motion to authorize Ernstes to draft a written objection, which would be sent to the City of Brookhaven and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The Georgia DCA could then convene an arbitration panel of elected officials from other counties. Ernstes said she hoped that the matter could be resolved without going to arbitration.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the matter will be considered by the Brookhaven Planning Commission on February 5. The agenda for that meeting had not been posted on the city's web site when the DeKalb County commissioners took their action.
