East Ellijay will remain under a moratorium for deannexation and rezoning applications that was supposed to end next month. City council members voted to extend it at a meeting Wednesday, May 21.
The resolution extends and enacts the moratorium on the acceptance of any applications for distribution permits, platts or other documents seeking rezoning or approval for residential developments, single or multi-family, containing lots of less than 32,670 square feet per lot and are a density greater than one dwelling per lot, Mayor Don Callihan said.
“It’s just to give us a little more time to work it out, what we’re going to do,” he added. “It also has a moratorium of 12 months on accepting any applications for deannexations.”
This revision coincides with county commissioners’ 12-month moratorium on rezoning requests for any properties until they have been annexed into the county for at least a year.
“James [Waters] felt like with that 12-month moratorium, there could be some legal issues if we accepted any deannexation applications,” Callihan explained.
A similar moratorium has been in place since December. It’s been extended for 180 days with some changes, but Callihan clarified that council can decide to lift it at any point.
Other business
Council members are working to approve the city budget for 2025-2026. A public hearing will be held for anyone to voice their concerns at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 11, a week before they vote to adopt the budget.
The budget proposal is available at City Hall for residents to review ahead of the hearing. It’s located at 107 Oak St. in East Ellijay.
An intergovernmental agreement between the county and city of East Ellijay, for two payments to Gilmer County Fire and Rescue of $100,000 each, was approved by council members.
Commissioners will vote on the agreement before the end of the month, according to Callihan. The first payment for fire services needs to be completed before the end of June.