The consent agenda for the Cobb County Board of Commissioners includes three annexations into Cobb’s cities:
Two of the annexations are into steadily-expanding Smyrna, and one into Acworth.
The Acworth annexation is a small 0.7 acre parcel of land at 3520 Hickory Grove Road near the intersection with Baker Grove Road into the City of Acworth.
Cobb County has sent an annexation notice of non-objection to Acworth’s mayor Tommy Allegood. County staff determined that the annexation has no effect on the county’s Future Land Use Plan.
There are two annexations into Smyrna. Notices of non-objection were sent from the county to Mayor Derek Norton for both annexations.
The first one is a 16.04 acre tract of land known as Vinings Brooke Subdivision. The parcel is located off of Pebblebrook Road between Whitefield Academy and Vinings Estates, and currently has a Mableton address. The houses in the subdivision are all on Bluestone Circle.
The second annexation by the City of Smyrna is of a 43.12 acre tract of land known as Heritage Mill Subdivision. The land is off Concord Road, and most of the addresses are on Norton Place. It’s very near the intersection of Concord Road and the East West Connector. The Silver Comet Trail runs along the southwest border of the land to be annexed.
The county’s role in annexations
The annexation process is not primarily within the county’s control. Annexations and incorporation are governed by state law, and the main meaningful interactions in an annexation are between the city, the property owners in the parcel to be annexed, and the state.
Notices of non-objection are formalities defined in the Intergovernmental Agreements between Cobb County and the cities within the county. A county can raise objections if the likely zoning category within the newly annexed area would interfere with the county’s Future Land Use Plan, but in most cases if the city and the property owners within the area in question want the annexation to move forward, the county’s role is a formality.
