Buckhead Districts Unaffected By New City Council Map

Pine Hills will remain in Atlanta City Councilman Howard Shook’s 7th district, under a new map redrawing the city council boundaries that was proposed Monday by the council.

And said her 8th district boundaries will remain the same under the new proposal, keeping Loring Heights in the district.

After holding and several committee meetings on new district boundaries, the Atlanta City Council voted Monday to consider a new map, thus starting the process all over again.

“Several council members were concerned about the demographic makeup of their redrawn districts,” Adrean said. “This new map makes some great progress in terms of complying with the Voting Rights Act.”

Cities, counties and states are required by law to redraw and adjust their electoral boundaries when a new Census is completed, to reflect new population numbers and demographics.

In order to account for 2010 census data, each of the city’s 12 districts must have a population of 35,000.

City planners developed a total of three maps for consideration. However, on Monday, the council decided to consider its own, council-drawn map.

Another public hearing will be held on Monday, Dec. 12, at 6 pm, in Atlanta City Council chambers.

“Several council members were concerned that the number of African-American voters in their districts had been reduced,” Adrean said. “There were also some last-minute compromises among other council members in terms of boundary lines.”

During , Pine Hills and Loring Heights residents expressed concern the city was splitting their communities into different districts. But Adrean said those neighborhoods are unaffected under the new proposal.

“This new map goes a long way toward addressing the council’s issues,” Adrean said. “Redistricting is always a long, lengthy process, and we made a lot of progress on Monday.”