NEWS BRIEFS: Lawrenceville proposing addition of 19,000 residents

By Alaina Tullis

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.  |  The Lawrenceville City Council will hold a special called meeting on February 12 at 4:30 p.m.to consider expanding the city’s boundaries. If adopted, the resolution would add more than 5,700 parcels and welcome an estimated 19,000 new residents into the Lawrenceville city limits. That would make Lawrenceville the largest city in Gwinnett, with approximately 50,000 residents.

Essentially, the new map configuration would add properties along the edges of the city, taking in areas to fill in gaps of the current limits. (see map.)

It would then seek approval from the Gwinnett Legislative Delegation to place the annexation question on the ballot for a public vote in May, 2026. 

This initiative aligns with the City of Lawrenceville’s vision of collaboration with county leadership to foster a unified, thriving community. It also reinforces the shared commitment of both the City and Gwinnett County to deliver efficient services, strengthen community identity, and ensure responsible governance.

The proposal brings economic benefits by decreasing the percentage of tax-exempt parcels within the city from 40 to 21 percent, increasing the taxable property base and supporting financial sustainability.

As the City of Lawrenceville moves forward with the annexation proposal, Mayor David Still emphasized the long-term benefits of annexation, reaffirming the City’s partnership with Gwinnett County, improving services, and unifying the city around a shared vision.  

Key highlights of the proposed annexation plan:

1. Population growth: Annexation would increase the City of Lawrenceville’s population by an estimated 19,000, providing access to city services, including enhanced public safety and community programs. Just over 70 percent of the proposed annexed area is residential and already has a Lawrenceville zip code.
2. Clear and logical boundaries: By redefining its boundaries to align with landmarks and major roadways, the city seeks to eliminate confusion for residents and enhance connectivity within the area.   
3. Community and educational inclusion: Annexation incorporates well-known community spaces, including the Lawrenceville Methodist Campground, JM Tull Lawrenceville YMCA, and the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, into the city limits. Annexation also consolidates Central Gwinnett-Lawrenceville and Discovery High School clusters within the city limits, and strengthens ties to premier educational institutions, including the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology—Georgia’s #1 high school. All properties currently carry Lawrenceville addresses and are integral to the City of Lawrenceville’s identity.
4. Empowering residents: The City of Lawrenceville is requesting approval from the Gwinnett Legislative Delegation to give residents in the proposed annexation area the opportunity to vote, ensuring they have a direct voice in their community’s future.

The anticipated annexation timeline:

• Spring 2025: Gwinnett Legislative Delegation Approval and Governor’s Signature;
• Fall/Winter 2025: Public Outreach and Annexation Education;
• Spring 2026: Resident Vote on Annexation; and 
• January 2027: Incorporation of Approved Areas (pending voter approval).

NOTABLE

GGC professor looks at AI development ramifications 

A Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) professor is taking a look at the ramifications of the efficiencies of Chinese development of a better artificial intelligence system (AI) .

Yang

What happens when a company like OpenAI invests over $100 million to develop and launch ChatGPT, only to find out another company has accomplished the same thing at a fraction of the cost? Most people would shrug their shoulders and say that’s competition. 

DeepSeek-R1, an AI model developed by the Chinese company, DeepSeek, is making headlines for performance that is comparable to ChatGPT but developed at a fraction of the investment cost.

Dr. Sean Yang, professor of information technology at GGC, says that ChatGPT was built using high-end Graphics Processing Units (GPU). This hardware allows systems to process large amounts of data at a much higher rate, which is critical for AI.

“This achievement raises concerns within the U.S. industry as most other leading AI models, such as Gemini by Google and Llama by Meta, closely resemble ChatGPT in their development and resource requirements,” said Yang. 

DeepSeek’s success, he added, demonstrates that effective AI development can be achieved even under constraints, highlighting the potential of China’s progress in this field despite international sanctions.

“It also challenges the perception that AI models can only be developed using the high-end GPUs,” says Yang.

DeepSeek’s success has raised privacy concerns.

“There is no concrete evidence that DeepSeek has collected data that could compromise privacy by transmitting sensitive data to foreign entities,” says Yang. “DeepSeek-R1, like ChatGPT, is a large language model capable of reacting to prompts and generating various types of content.”

The race for superiority in AI is similar to the Space Race of the 1960s between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. wanted to be the first country to put a man on the moon, a goal achieved in 1969. 

Yang concludes: “Since AI has become a measurement of national power, people are worried about the progress that China made even under the sanctions.”