Sandy Springs

In 1851, Wilson Spruill donated five acres (two hectares) of land for the founding of the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church near the sandy spring for which the city is named. Later, in 1905 the Hammond School was built at Johnson Ferry Road and Mt. Vernon Highway, across the street from the church.

After World War II, Sandy Springs experienced a housing boom, bringing new residents and major land development. In the 1960s and 1970s Georgia 400 and Interstate 285 connected Sandy Springs to metro Atlanta, and urban-density development continues to increase in Sandy Springs.

Incorporation

Debate over incorporation began in the 1970s when the city of Atlanta attempted to use a state law to force annexation of Sandy Springs. (Buckhead had joined in 1952.) The attempt failed when the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional. In response, the Committee for Sandy Springs was formed in 1975. Since 1989 the Committee for Sandy Springs has introduced a bill into the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) to authorize a referendum on incorporation. Legislators representing the city of Atlanta and southwestern Fulton County, which feared for the tax revenue that would be lost, used the legislative requirement that all local legislation be approved first by a delegation of representatives from the affected area to block the bills.

When the Republican Party took control of both houses of the general assembly in early 2005, the Democratic Party rules were thrown out. The referendum initiative was approved by the Georgia General Assembly and signed by the governor. The assembly also temporarily repealed the 1995 law that all Georgia cities must provide at least three municipal services on their own or have their cityhood revoked, because the new city will need time to start up and will be contracting most of its services from the county through the end of 2006. The assembly also repealed the requirement that new cities must be at least three miles (4.8km) from existing cities, because the new city limit borders both Roswell and Atlanta.

The referendum was held in June 2005, and residents voted overwhelmingly (94%) for incorporation on June 21St. Locals expressed displeasure with county services, claiming that the county was distributing services to poorer areas, ignoring local opposition to rezoning, and allowing excessive development. Many residents of unincorporated and less-developed south Fulton County strongly opposed incorporation, fearing the loss of tax revenues which run county services. County residents outside Sandy Springs were not allowed to vote on the matter. Efforts such as requesting the U.S. Justice Department to reject the plan were unsuccessful,

As provided for by law, governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue named five citizens to an interim government committee for the city, called the Governor's Commission On Sandy Springs. In five years (2010), the charter drawn up by the legislature will have to be reviewed for any proposed or necessary changes.

A mayor and six city council members were elected in early November 2005, and formal incorporation occured on December 1, making it the third-largest city ever to incorporate in the U.S. (Centennial, Colorado, Miami Gardens, Florida, and Spokane Valley, Washington did the same in 2001, February 2003, and March 2003 respectively, making them first, second, and fourth). The six districts will be roughly northwest (along the river), northeast (north of Dunwoody), southwest, southeast, east (along Georgia 400), and central.

The legislation and which allowed the referendum on incorporation also created three separate tax districts in unincorporated Fulton County. This will block any tax money from one district from being spent in the other, effectivly cutting off lower-income south Fulton County from its upper-income north. This is threatening to severely limit emergency services and other critical needs in southwest Fulton.