Georgia News(Week 10) - New City Cracks Down

Members of the city council of newly formed Sandy Springs "wasted no time" making changes, immediately approving an ordinance "transferring most Fulton laws to the new city," as well as imposing a 30-day moratorium before "adult-orientated" businesses could be opened. This same moratorium was also applied to "building permits, zoning decisions and other construction-related permits." The council hopes that the moratoriums will give [them] time to consider changes." These changes came out of an "emergency meeting" held immediately after Sandy Springs' charter officially took effect, at 12:01 thursday morning. This is just one of many milestones for the new city, according to the article, as the charter's finalization "culminated a year of...milestones: state legislative approval last winter, a cityhood referendum in the summer and city elections this fall." Eva Galambos, the city's first mayor, stated that "[Sandy Springs] is an opportunity to do it right, to avoid mistakes made by other governments in the past." The final two members of the young city's council will be determined in a runoff election on December 6. Sandy Springs' officials hope to correct the errors of the previous Fulton county government. "Sandy Springs police and fire departments are expected to be formed gradually over the next six months as Fulton police and fire protection continue," according to the article. This is interesting to me, as I have never read about the process that new cities go through. Although there will no doubt be some bumps in the road, given the measures that they have already taken, I think this new city should so fine.

Link: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/sandysprings/1105/01metsandyopens.html