For the first

time in the history of Union City annexations, Fulton County has objected

to a request.

Multi Spec,

Inc., developing for the first time in the Union City area, asked to have

73.8 acres annexed into Union City in December. The property is located

between Dodson and Koweta Roads near Ga. Highway 92. Multi Spec hopes

to annex and have the land, currently zoned AG1 by Fulton County, rezoned

to RMD1, which would allow the builder to put four homes per acre, if

ultimately approved by the Union City Council.

Fulton County

objected based on density and stated they would withdraw their objections

to the annexation if the lots touching the county were one house per acre.

Bussey says this has him a little confused: "There are a number of

communities in the area that have density higher than one acre per lot."

The acreage

will abut Union City property which is currently zoned RMD1 with four

homes per acre. It also touches Fairburn on one side. Fairburn did not

submit an objection to the annexation.

The City Council

considered their options during the March council meeting. Mayor Moore

voiced his surprise at the first-ever annexation objection, saying, "I

have a suspicion they [Fulton County] have gotten us confused with north

Fulton."

Assistant City

Attorney Dennis Davenport was called upon a number of times to explain

possible responses and legal ramifications. He explained that the city

could listen to the county and work with the property owner to reach an

agreement that satisfied all parties, agree entirely with the county and

not let land be annexed, recognize it could be a land use issue and disagree

with the solution by county necessitating formal mediation or take the

position that county does not have bone fide land use objection and continue

as if the county has not objected.

Developer Charles

Bussey and his attorney Russell Ross offered to work with the County and

the City under the first alternative.

Citing that

he did not want Bussey wasting his time with negotiations if the council

was not willing to entertain consideration of he rezoning, Mayor Moore

polled the council to see if they were open to "embracing the concept

without committing to agree to the annexation and rezoning." All

agreed they were open-minded regarding the issue and agreed to allow Bussey

time to work with Fulton County.

Bussey says

he is in the midst of negotiations with Fulton County and "I am hopeful

that we will work out an agreement." Bussey noted that his original

concept called for a minimum of 20-foot buffers on the property. He has

approached Fulton County with a plan to extend the buffers to 50-70 feet.

Multi Spec

has been developing property in the south metro area since 1979, primarily

in Clayton, Henry, South Fulton and Coweta counties.

If Bussey and

Multi Spec are able to reach an agreement with the planning department

of Fulton County, the issue will need to receive approval by the Fulton

County Board of Commissioners. The request will then be brought to the

Union City Council for approval.