To the dismay of residents of Beat 11, the city of Chelsea has annexed two new subdivisions, Little Creek and Chelsea Park, which could add some 4,000 residents and 2,000 homes to the area along Highway 280.

With schools across Shelby County bursting at the seams already and none more so than Chelsea, this action is questionable.

Upon a refusal by the Shelby County Planning Commission, it seems the developers chose to go another route to approve their development despite the concerns of their neighbors.

Chelsea annexed the properties in phases during the last few weeks.

City officials claim the developments will add much-needed sales tax to their city’s coffers.

While this is a valid need, we fear the city of Chelsea may be traveling down a dangerous path.

With the influx of more students to the Chelsea schools, which are already at over-capacity, the situation could turn into a dire one long before the school board has the chance to build adequate facilities.

City officials have said they will keep in contact with school officials.

However, the fact remains that the building of new schools is a long process which requires funding before any ground is broken.

And the fact is &045; those funds are not available.

We urge Chelsea city officials to aid the school system in its efforts to meet the needs of a growing population.

In addition, we urge Chelsea and the rest of Shelby County’s municipalities to think twice before taking actions that simply create more problems