Georgia committee advances SB 138 to force Gwinnett-Mulberry transition talks after permit disputes and lawsuits

Senator Dixon, the bill sponsor, told a legislative committee SB 138 is narrowly tailored to the newly formed City of Mulberry in Gwinnett County and would require the county to engage in the two-year transition process for transferring selected services to the city.

The bill matters because it addresses an ongoing dispute over which government entity will provide code enforcement, permitting, stormwater and other services during a statutorily defined two-year transition period. Committee members heard competing accounts from Gwinnett County officials who urged a negotiated intergovernmental agreement and from Mulberry officials who said the county has refused to cooperate and canceled permits after the city’s creation.

Senator Dixon said the bill applies only to Mulberry and Gwinnett County and argued that Gwinnett had “not even begin to talk” with Mulberry officials, leaving the city unable to operate. He told the committee that, in his view, Gwinnett County “would like to see the city go bankrupt and be starved out,” and that…