The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

How residents are fighting S. Fulton annexation.

Some also want 2017 election for city council overturned.

- By Arielle Kass akass@ajc.com

Aggrieved Loch Lomond residents have filed suit against the city of South Fulton, asking that they remain part of unincorpor­ated Fulton County after a state appeals court denied their request to be annexed into Atlanta.

The residents also asked that a 2017 election for city council be overturned because the number of registered voters in Loch Lomond is larger than the margin of victory in that race.

The suit was filed Monday in Fulton County Supe- rior Court. Robbie Ashe, an attorney representi­ng the residents, said the lawsuit was part of a broader fight between Atlanta and the city of South Fulton. The two cities are also arguing about who will control land in the Fulton Industrial District, the last part of Fulton County that isn’t in a city.

“There’s a strong level of we-really-don’t-want-tobe-in-the-city-of-South-Fulton, and this is responsive to that,” Ashe said of the suit. “These folks want the opportunit­y to choose for themselves.”

Several Loch Lomond residents sued to overturn the Atlanta annexation and were successful. As of Dec. 10, the area became part of South Fulton.

But Ashe said the courts didn’t consider questions about whether voters were disenfranc­hised by that decision, and that is the basis of the new lawsuit.

A spokespers­on for the city of South Fulton did not immediatel­y respond to a request for comment.

Loch Lomond is a once close-knit neighborho­od of about 200 homes that was built in the mid-1960s on the edge of Atlanta’s expansion.

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