O.C.G.A. § 36-36-36 (2019)
Requirement of public hearing; notice of time and place; persons entitled to be heard; right of property owner to withdraw consent
(a) The municipal governing body shall hold a public hearing on any application which has been determined to meet the requirements of this article. The hearing shall be held not less than 15 nor more than 45 days from the time the governing body makes a determination that the petition is valid. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given in writing to the persons presenting the application and shall be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks immediately preceding the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation and in the area proposed for annexation. (b) At the public hearing all persons resident or owning property in the municipal corporation or in the area proposed for annexation may be heard on the question of the annexation of the area by the municipal corporation. (c) Any property owner or elector may withdraw his consent in writing postmarked or received within three business days after the public hearing required by this Code section.
History
Ga. L. 1966, p. 409, § 3; Code 1981, § 36-36-26; Code 1981,
§ 36-36-36, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2592, § 3.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 36-36-26 (see now O.C.G.A. § 36-36-36) does not prohibit electors from changing their minds. City Council v. Richmond County, 259 Ga. 161, 377 S.E.2d 851 (1989). City failed to comply with publishing requirements. - Trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of a county because the city failed to publish a notice as required by O.C.G.A. § 36-36-36(a) that accurately described the property to be annexed; thus, the city failed to comply, or to substantially comply, with the requirements of that statute.
City of Lovejoy v. Clayton County, 335 Ga. App. 881, 783 S.E.2d 395 (2016). Annexations properly invalidated. - Judgment invalidating the City of Atlanta’s attempted annexation of five areas was affirmed because the trial court correctly held that the annexations were invalid since at the time the annexations would have become effective, the areas in question were already part of the newly incorporated City of South Fulton and, thus, ineligible for annexation by Atlanta. City of Atlanta v. Mays, 301 Ga. 367, 801 S.E.2d 1 (2017).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Landowners may withdraw their consent to any annexation petition at any time through the date of public hearing on such petition. If these withdrawals result in a reduction of the percentage of
the land represented below 60 percent of the total area of land to be annexed, the petition is thereby invalidated and the municipality into which the land was to be annexed has no authority to continue with
the annexation. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U75-62. Method of withdrawing signatures from petition. - Landowners wishing to withdraw their signatures from petitions requesting that a municipality annex a
certain area may do so by timely notifying the governing authorities of the municipality in any manner reasonably calculated to inform those authorities of their decision to do so. 1975 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U75-66.
RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Estoppel to question validity of proceedings extending boundaries of municipality, 101 A.L.R. 581. What constitutes newspaper of ‘‘general
circulation’’ within meaning of state statutes requiring publication of official notices and the like in such newspaper, 24 A.L.R.4th 822.