GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The proposed residents of Mulberry will get to decide whether they want cityhood on Tuesday, despite a legal challenge and an emergency hearing.
"The court finds that the petitioner seeks relief prematurely and that this matter is not yet ripe for review," Gwinnett County Judge Tadia Whitner said. "The court declines to interfere with the legislative process and remove the referendum from the ballot."
In February, the state legislature passed S.B. 333, which calls for a referendum on whether Mulberry should become a city. The bill states "the city shall not have the power to assess, levy, or collect ad valorem taxes on real or personal property within the corporate limits of the city."
It also says the city "shall exercise the powers granted to it under the present or future Constitution and laws of this state for the purposes of providing planning and zoning, code adoption and enforcement, and storm-water collection and disposal and those items related to the provision of such services."
Steve Hughes, a longtime Gwinnett County resident, feels those parameters are unconstitutional. He filed a lawsuit in hopes of pausing the vote until the charter is rewritten.
"Those very portions of the bill could be excised from the bill," attorney Allen Lightcap warned the judge. "The voters could be left with a city they didn't vote for."
Bryan Tyson, an attorney who represents "Citizens for Mulberry," argued the state legislature had to include certain parameters in order to establish a potential city.
"In doing so, it created elements of the charter related to taxation as part of that process," Tyson explained. "The legislature, in doing so, did not say that the charter is unamendable."
Judge Whitner said the referendum will move forward as planned on Tuesday.
If the potential citizens of Mulberry pass the measure, Hughes can litigate his constitutional questions at that point. If they vote to reject cityhood, the case will be dismissed.
"I understand her decision, but the case still goes on," Hughes told 11Alive after the hearing. "The people will know that the constitutional question is still there and they need to know that."
Proponents of Mulberry, like Lindsay Paul, celebrated the judge's ruling. They hope the referendum will work in their favor on Tuesday.
"[We want to] decide what we want for our area and our municipality and what character should remain in our city," said Paul. "Everyone is in agreement... that the right thing for us to do is to move forward."