Johns Creek's City Council will vote Monday, July 27, on whether to allow electric air taxi landing pads in commercial zones, a zoning category few Georgia cities have addressed.
Ordinance O2026-07-12 would amend the city's zoning code to define Advanced Air Mobility terminology, including electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and vertiports, and would permit vertiports as a special use in specified commercial zoning districts. Residents near proposed sites would still have a say through the special-use permit process before any landing pad could be built.
The vote caps months of deliberation. Council members first discussed vertiports at a work session on November 17, 2025, revisited the topic on March 30, 2026, and sent the proposal to the Planning Commission, which heard the case Tuesday, June 2, 2026. The commission's recommendation has not been made public. A council public hearing followed July 13.
The vertiport vote shares the agenda with three other action items.
Property tax rate adoption
The council will hold its third and final public hearing on the 2026 millage rate, then vote to adopt it. The tentatively adopted rate is 3.492 mills, the same nominal rate the city has held since 2023. But because property values have risen, state law requires the city to advertise it as a 5.91 percent tax increase. The rollback rate that would keep bills flat is 3.297 mills.
For a home valued at $625,000, the difference amounts to roughly $48 more per year on the city portion of the tax bill, according to the city's public notice.
Fulton County interim tax collection petition
Council members will also vote on whether to join Fulton County's court petition for interim tax collection. The county's 2026 tax digest remains unfinished because of a backlog of about 1,000 unprocessed parcels. Fulton County Commissioner Bridget Thorne attributed the delay to only one employee using the county's geographic information system.
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday, July 15, to authorize the petition under state law. Milton has already joined, and Alpharetta is considering it. A Superior Court hearing is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday, August 4.
Assistant City Manager Kay Love confirmed Johns Creek's council will vote on the matter July 27. Without a court order, the county risks being unable to pay employees or maintain its credit rating, and cities that depend on the digest to set their own millage rates have been left in limbo.
"You had one job and it didn't get done. That's a failure that impacts us and all of our jurisdictions," Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis said at the county's July meeting.
Embry Farms development agreement
The agenda also includes a development agreement for Embry Farms, the 189-home luxury subdivision proposed by Toll Brothers in east Johns Creek with homes priced at $1.5 million to $2 million. The council approved the rezoning 4-3 on Monday, August 25, 2025, amid resident opposition. The development agreement would formalize conditions under which construction can proceed.
The July 27 meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Johns Creek City Hall, 11360 Lakefield Drive. A work session starts at 5 p.m. Residents can email comments on the millage rate to [email protected].
