Smyrna’s
Will 2020 see creation
of two new Cobb cities?
Event
Facilities Staff reports
When Cobb lawmakers return to the Gold Dome in
January 2020, they will have to soon decide whether to give
thousands of residents of unincorporated Cobb the chance
to form a new city.
Cobb today has six cities – Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw,
Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna. But it remains to be seen
if the cities of Mableton and East Cobb will join them.
Right now, Mableton is the name of an unincorporated community
Community Center & Park Pavilions
Conveniently located in downtown Smyrna, the Community Center has a
variety of contemporary spaces available for meetings, parties, weddings
and athletics. Smyrna also has 27 unique parks with pavilions seating
from 10 to 100 guests for your special events.
200 Village Green Circle, Smyrna GA 30080
For more information, please call 770-431-2842
Historic Buildings
Brawner Hall (circa 1910) and the Taylor-Brawner House (circa 1890)
located in the beautiful 10-acre Taylor-Brawner Park at
3180 Atlanta Road and the Reed House (circa 1910)
located on 3.5 private acres at 3080 Atlanta Road
offer unique destinations for memorable meetings and events.
All venues are approximately 2 miles from
I-285/Paces Ferry Road exit
For more information: BrawnerHall@smyrnaga.gov or 678-631-5545
in south Cobb, but the South Cobb Alliance wants to
roll it in with the unincorporated part of Austell to create Cobb’s
newest city, which would also be called Mableton.
Its proposed boundaries would border Austell to the west and
Smyrna to the east, while its southern boundary is the Cobb
County line. The proposed city would include Pebblebrook and
South Cobb high schools as well as Six Flags Over Georgia and
have a population by one estimate of about 80,000.
South Cobb Alliance Board member Tre Hutchins wants to
make Mableton “the next best city in Cobb County.”
State Rep. Erica Thomas, D-Austell, filed House Bill 587 that
would move the process of forming the city in south Cobb
forward. The cityhood process takes two years in the Georgia
Legislature, and for a cityhood bill to pass, it has to have been
filed the year before.
If legislators favor the idea and approve the bill in 2020,
cityhood could be on ballots of those who would live within the
new city’s boundaries in time for the November 2020 election.
Also potentially seeing a vote for cityhood in 2020 are those
residing within the proposed boundaries of East Cobb.
The proposed city’s boundaries would consist primarily of
Commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2 north of the Cumberland
Community Improvement District and not contained within
the city of Marietta. It would be Cobb’s seventh and largest
city, totaling about 97,000 residents, making it the eighth
largest city in Georgia.
Sponsored by state Rep. Matt Dollar, R-east Cobb, House Bill
718 would likely put the cityhood question before residents in
2020 if signed into law.
David Birdwell is one member of the Committee for Cityhood
in East Cobb, which has presented arguments in favor of establishing
the city. An east Cobb resident and entrepreneur with
executive experience in the commercial real estate industry and
prior experience as a CPA, Birdwell has contended that forming
East Cobb “would provide more and better services at a lower
cost to taxpayers,” citing a previously released feasibility study.
“We’re not sailing into uncharted territory. There are new
cities all over the metro region, and what you hear from those
residents is overwhelming satisfaction with the decision to form
a city,” Birdwell said.
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