Garden City ‘backing off’ plans for annexation

Garden City is dropping plans to annex in unincorporated Chatham County, according to Mayor Bruce Campbell.

Last year, the city attempted to annex in unincorporated lands that would push its boundaries south to the Abercorn Extension, through bill HB4EX. At the request of city officials, Gov. Brian Kemp did not sign it due to “faulty” language.

According to former City Manager Scott Robider, areas that were previously annexed in or exempt from annexation were mistakenly in the bill, and some areas conflicted with locations in Savannah.

“The timing is just bad, and we’re backing off of it for now,” Campbell said. “We’ve decided to go in another direction.”

Garden City was looking to grow due to the encroachment of industry into many parts of the city, Robider said in a previous interview. The city primarily consists of commercial and industrial properties due to proximity to one of the busiest ports in the nation, the Georgia Ports Authority Garden City Terminal.

A resolution to withdraw their request for annexation local legislation is on the agenda for tonight’s city council meeting. This resolution comes less than a month after Robider resigned from his position as city manager, making Garden City the third Chatham County municipality without a permanent city manager.