FLOWERY BRANCH — The Flowery Branch City Council voted unanimously Tuesday morning to annex two parcels of land into the city limits, temporarily creating an illegal island.

Both parcels — the 77-acre Honeycutt tract and the nearly 27-acre Knutson tract — are located on Capitola Farm Road and will be incorporated into the Sterling on the Lake community.

But six acres in the middle known as the Braggs property, a trust owned by Alfred Todd Adams, was not annexed. Annexing the Honeycutt and Knutson tracts made the Braggs property a county island, which is illegal under state law.

But the owner and his attorney will work out an agreement with the developer, Newland Communities, and decide whether or not to become part of the city, said Councilman Craig Lutz.

Mayor Diane Hirling said the council needed to move fast in order to secure the builder, Sterling on the Lake.

"For the sake of our time frame we had to do it today," Hirling said. "We believe we can put Mr. Braggs’ property in the city if he wants to come in; we can also work around it if he doesn’t."

Hirling said annexing Braggs’ property would be ideal for the city because it would help eliminate confusion and standardize services such as waste removal and law enforcement.

Hirling said if Braggs chooses not to let the city annex his property, the city can rectify the situation to make it legal.

"We won’t make it an island; we’ll make it a peninsula," Lutz said.