South Fulton City Council Work Session - February 10, 2026

Mayor Carmalitha Gumbs called the February 10, 2026, work session to order at 4:00 PM. City Clerk Corey Adams conducted roll call, and a quorum was established. The session included City Manager items, a presentation on the Comprehensive Plan 5-Year Update, and an executive session; the meeting adjourned at 5:07 PM.

City Manager Items

• City Manager Sharon D. Subadan introduced new employees: Lisa Baker (Constituent Services Representative, District 2), Brandon Flinks (CDRA Business Tax Inspector), Kimberly Fletcher (Procurement Agent 2), Olivia Gauthier (Public Affairs Communication Specialist), and Chad White (General Services Deputy Director).
• Subadan presented the City Manager Monthly Report, including Finance and Public Works reports. She noted the report now includes a table of contents and is linked on the city website. No council questions were raised.

Comprehensive Plan 5-Year Update Presentation

• Pulkit Jain of Sizemore Group, introduced by Assistant City Manager Carmen Davis, presented the draft 2026 update. He explained the comprehensive plan is a Georgia DCA/ARC requirement updated every five years and serves as a 20-year vision with a five-year action plan, including a Community Work Program, future land use map, and character area map.
• Engagement totals: 15 gatherings (12 community meetings and 3 pop-up events), more than 300 in-person attendees, and over 900 comments or points on the interactive online map. After council requested additional engagement in December, five more community meetings were held in January and February, drawing approximately 150-155 attendees cumulatively; the District 2 meeting had over 40 attendees.
• Community feedback heard during engagement included support for quality mixed-use and commercial development, opposition to additional warehouses and industrial expansion, and strong interest in healthy living environments.
• Key proposed changes: a new vision statement emphasizing health; a Blue Zones concept; addressing the roughly five-year longevity gap between areas north and south of I-20; combining agricultural and rural land-use categories; clustering mixed-use at major nodes; adding conserve/preserve categories; introducing an industrial mixed-use category; and adding character areas for entertainment, agribusiness, film/studio production, and riverfront development.

Council Discussion and Positions

• Councilmembers Williams-Brown and Pritchett expressed concern about the phrase “improved access to health care” in the draft vision statement, stating that direct health care services are not a city function and the wording could mislead residents. They requested rewording.
• Councilmember Willis noted that while the city is not responsible for public health services, she did not want the plan to prevent public-private partnerships that could bring health-related services to the city; she requested language acknowledging the need and openness to such partnerships.
• Councilmember Rowell requested that council receive the most recent future land use maps and definitions before adoption, noting she had not seen updated maps in some time and that density definitions changed significantly.
• Councilmember Sebastian asked about the closed public comment period, family compounds on agricultural land, and housing variety. Staff responded that the comment period had been extended through January, existing zoning rights would not be taken away, and the future land use map applies to future rezoning requests. Sebastian also relayed senior constituents’ interest in age-in-place housing.
• Councilmember Bell asked about the new R6 zoning inclusion; Sizemore staff explained R6 permits single-family or duplex units and was added to meet density targets, while unit counts for suburban one and suburban two were carried forward from the previous plan.

Executive Session

• At 4:36 PM, the council recessed into executive session for Real Estate, Personnel, Litigation, and CyberSecurity. The motion was approved 7-0, with Councilmember Willis moving and Councilmember Pritchett seconding.
• The council reconvened at 5:07 PM; the motion to reconvene was approved 5-0, with Councilmember Williams-Brown moving and Councilmember Rowell seconding. Mayor Gumbs then adjourned the work session.

Key Outcomes

• Council directed staff and Sizemore Group to reword the vision statement’s health care language to avoid implying the city provides medical services, while preserving openness to public-private partnerships.
• Council requested updated land use maps and definitions be shared with all council members before final adoption.
• No vote was taken to submit the comprehensive plan to ARC/DCA during this session; the next steps are to receive ARC/DCA review comments, incorporate them, and return for final adoption.