RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s forced annexation laws — praised by municipal leaders and often maligned by those whose land is being incorporated — could soon undergo a dramatic change that would allow property owners to block a transaction without a costly court battle.
Proposed legislation expected before a House committee Tuesday would prevent a town or city from assuming an unincorporated area if enough landowners file formal protests within four months of the municipality’s governing board approving the annexation ordinance.
The bill stops short of allowing referenda to block such involuntary annexations, as some citizens embroiled in land fights have demanded from the General Assembly but municipal lobbyists have fought for years.
The bill, however, would strengthen the hand of landowners compared to the 1959 statewide law that lays out how towns and cities can adopt unincorporated areas against their wills. Annexation law changes have been delayed as homeowners, cities and local and state elected officials couldn’t agree on an equitable solution.
“We will be providing a voice for the citizens in involuntary annexation,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, a primary sponsor of the bill he expects will get support from members of both parties in the Legislature. “It’s a real voice, it’s a substantial voice.”
The bill, details of which were released late Monday, would block an involuntary annexation if 60 percent of the property owners in the area being swallowed up by the municipality sign a petition opposing the annexation. The town or city would be barred from seeking an annexation again for 24 months.
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The measure also would require a town or city to install water and sewer service free of charge if a majority of property owners in the targeted area request it within a 60-day window. Otherwise, the city may charge property owners. Other landowners in the area could get the services at a reduced rate over a five-year period. Citizens have complained cities forced them to pay thousands of dollars for services.
The North Carolina League of Municipalities, the lobbying group for the state’s towns and cities, has strongly opposed settling involuntary annexations through citizen referenda. It says the current laws have worked well to manage the state’s population growth and keep cities healthy.
The league doesn’t care for the bill being considered Tuesday but it may be a slightly better outcome than allowing other pending legislation to pass that would place a one-year moratorium on involuntary annexations, league lobbyist Kelli Kukura said. The league is worried the pause would be extended for several years, she said.
The petition bill “may be the only alternative to a moratorium. It is like starving for weeks and then being given a piece of cardboard to eat,” Kukura wrote in an email. “One would probably have to choose to eat it.”
Catherine Heath, chairwoman of the group Stop NC Annexation, said some of her anti-annexation allies may want to hold out for a referendum requirement. Most of the states that allow annexations require some kind of election to permit them.
But she said she likes the protest petition, which Dollar said is based in part on similar concepts in local government when dealing with zoning and land-use restrictions.
“It’s (still) the property owners making the decision,” he said. “This brings it all down to a one-step process.”
GARY D. ROBERTSON,
Updated 05:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 19, 2011
