FLOWERY BRANCH — Sterling on the Lake in South Hall may look like a city, with its hundreds of homes, quaint gazebo in the center of its grassy commons area and architecturally conforming library at the main entrance.

But while it has no municipal charter, the sprawling subdivision off Spout Springs Road exerts political influence.

Starting Jan. 1, four of the five council members for the city in which it sits, Flowery Branch, hail from the neighborhood, which has plans to build out to as many as 1,000 homes.

For the first time, the city’s politics will be dominated by relative newcomers, people who arrived alongside the burst of growth that hit this city of 4,000 in the past decade or so.

"Sterling’s a new neighborhood and that’s reflected in the growth of the city," Mike Miller, one of the four Sterling residents, said during an interview last week at city offices off Main Street

"When I was campaigning, most of the people (said they) want to see ... smart growth, and I think that’s what you have here. You have people who are pro-growth as long as it’s done fiscally sound and without raising property taxes."

Tara Richards, also of Sterling, said, "Even looking at some of the townhome communities, I think the council represents the majority of the city.

"The people who have been in the city a long time tend to be in the old-town district, or more in this (downtown) area," she said.

"Some of the outgrowth in the new subdivisions tend to be (made up of) younger, professional folks, so I think it’s more of a representation of where Flowery Branch is going."

Richards and Miller will be sworn in at the City Council’s Jan. 6 meeting, the group’s first meeting of the year.

The other Sterling residents on the council are Craig Lutz and Chris Fetterman, who have been in office two years.

Kris Yardley, who lives in Tide Water Cove and has been a city resident since 2005, is the other new council member.

The city’s other elected official, Mayor Diane Hirling, has lived in the city for 16 years and was re-elected in November to a second four-year term.

Miller, Richards and Yardley replace longtime residents Allen Bryans Sr., Pat Zalewski and Mary Jones, who didn’t seek re-election.

At Wednesday’s council meeting, the last one of the year, Lutz, Fetterman, city officials and others showered Bryans, Zalewski and Jones with appreciation for their combined 30 years or so of service to Flowery Branch.

The praises flowed even though the old and new residents on the council had formed into factions over the past couple of years, resulting in many 3-2 votes.

"I know we’ve had a lot of confrontations and disagreements, but that’s what we do," Fetterman said.

"We have five different visions and it takes the majority to put the vision in motion. ... No one understands (council work) until you do it. I promise to do my best to continue to put the city in the direction you guys have started."

Expect some change, though.

Right off the bat, the council is likely to change meeting times to include evening sessions so that more of the public can attend. Now, all regularly scheduled council meetings take place in the morning.

"We have to address water and sewer rates," Lutz said. "We have a special class of rate users that I think is inherently unfair."

However, he added, "I don’t necessarily believe in reversing everything; I think we have to look at everything on a case-by-case (basis)."

As far as 3-2 votes go, Lutz said he doesn’t expect — or want — them to end. In fact, he would like to see more of them.

"The political process works best when you have different ideas, and it’s not healthy for a community to always agree on everything."

Richards expect the same occasional division.

"We don’t agree on everything by a long shot," she said. "There are a lot of things we already don’t agree on. I think there might be a little bit more ability to reason and discuss things and to reach a conclusion — even if that conclusion is to disagree."

Hirling said the new council members have solid ideas, but "there’s going to be a learning curve."

"I think they probably didn’t realize how much is really involved with the city and they were a little overwhelmed at the last (transitional) meeting," she said. "But they’re very professional and I think they’re going to catch on real fast."

Yardley said he believes the new council members "will bring a certain set of new ideas to the city."

"We’re going to be actively looking to grow the city, bringing it up as a major economic resource for Hall County and state of Georgia," he said.