Georgia Code|§ 36-36-36. Requirement of Public Hearing; Notice of Time and Place; Persons Entitled to Be Heard; Right of Property Owner to Withdraw Consent

                                                
 
 The municipal governing body shall hold a public hearing on any application which has been determined to meet the requirements of this article. The hearing shall be held not less than 15 nor more than 45 days from the time the governing body makes a determination that the petition is valid. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given in writing to the persons presenting the application and shall be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks immediately preceding the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation and in the area proposed for annexation. 
 
 At the public hearing all persons resident or owning property in the municipal corporation or in the area proposed for annexation may be heard on the question of the annexation of the area by the municipal corporation. 
 
 Any property owner or elector may withdraw his consent in writing postmarked or received within three business days after the public hearing required by this Code section. 
 
 
 (Ga. L. 1966, p. 409, § 3; Code 1981, §36-36-26; Code 1981, §36-36-36, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2592, § 3.) 
  OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL  
  Landowners may withdraw their consent to any annexation  petition at any time through the date of public hearing on such petition. If these withdrawals result in a reduction of the percentage of the land represented below 60 percent of the total area of land to be annexed, the petition is thereby invalidated and the municipality into which the land was to be annexed has no authority to continue with the annexation. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U75-62. 
  Method of withdrawing signatures from petition.  
 - Landowners wishing to withdraw their signatures from petitions requesting that a municipality annex a certain area may do so by timely notifying the governing authorities of the municipality in any manner reasonably calculated to inform those authorities of their decision to do so. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U75-66. 
 
 RESEARCH REFERENCES 
 
 ALR. 
 
 - Estoppel to question validity of proceedings extending boundaries of municipality, 101 A.L.R. 581. 
 
 What constitutes newspaper of "general circulation" within meaning of state statutes requiring publication of official notices and the like in such newspaper, 24 A.L.R.4th 822.