Planning & Development - Annexation
The City of Duluth offers a terrific place to live and work. The City
government is extremely responsive to the needs of its residents and businesses.
A staff member or City Official is only a phone call away at any time. The City
of Duluth offers numerous services to both residents and businesses. Residents
are offered an innovative "pay as you throw" garbage program that saves citizens
money over Gwinnett County's rates. Additionally, the City offers free rip-rap
rock erosion programs; Spring/Fall storm cleanups; street maintenance,
resurfacing programs, and sidewalk programs; right-of-way maintenance program;
and free street lighting program. Additionally, businesses benefit from being in
the City by paying the City's low occupational taxes and regulatory fees. The
maximum business license in the City is $1,264, while the maximum in the County
is $15,000.
Finally, all sectors of the City of Duluth benefit from its outstanding police
protection. Duluth's Police Department has a normal response time of less than
five minutes. Gwinnett County police officers average around 45 minutes in
response time. The Duluth Police Department also offers a door check program
where an officer will check the doors of a home while the owner is away and
other services to businesses including free background checks on potential
employees.
If you would like more information about annexing into the City of Duluth,
please e-mail Rich Atkinson with your
name, address,
telephone number, tax
parcel number (if you know it) or location of the property, and any other
pertinent information about the property. If you do not have email, you can
reach the planning office by phoning 770-476-1790.
Process for Annexation into the City of Duluth:
1) Pre-application conference with Planning Staff.
2) Official submittal of a completed “Application for Zoning & Annexation” (and
all associated
documents/certifications).
3) Planning Staff review of annexation request and notification to Gwinnett
County of the request.
4) Planning Staff review of Gwinnett County’s comments regarding the annexation
request. If County has no objections to annexation, process continues. If County
objects to the annexation, process is put on hold until objections can be
discussed and resolved.
5) A public meeting of the Planning Commission to review only the re-zoning
aspects of the request is held and recommendation made to the Duluth Mayor &
Council (Planning Commission does not make recommendations on annexations only
rezoning requests)
6) City Council reviews both the annexation and corresponding re-zoning requests
at a public hearing.
7) City Council will then either Approve, Approve with Conditions, Deny, or
Table (defer) the annexation and rezoning request.
*Typical annexation timeframe is approximately 75 days provided there are no
delays in the steps mentioned above.
| Duluth Service Advantages | |
| POLICE PROTECTION |
|
| LOWEST OCCUPATIONAL TAXES | City of Duluth computes occupational taxes by a method (Business) which amounts to thousands of dollars in savings over methods used by the County or other municipalities. |
| STREET LIGHTS | Street lighting is provided free on all public streets in the (Business and Residential) City. (This is an additional charge on your County tax bill.) |
| EASILY ACCESSIBLE CITY STAFF | Rapid response to problems due to customer service by ELECTED OFFICIALS City staff and accessible elected officials. (Business and Residential) |
| REFUSE COLLECTION |
|
| SPECIAL CITY SERVICES | Rip-rap rock/erosion control program |
| PROGRAMS |
|
| STREETS & TRAFFIC |
|
| PARK SERVICES |
|
| BEAUTIFICATION & IMPROVEMENTS |
|
| FRANCHISE MANAGEMENT | (Ga. Power, Cable TV, etc.) |
| COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING | Clear direction for meeting the City's needs into the (Business and Residential) future. |
| DEVELOPMENT |
|