WILMINGTON, NC– A Wake County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the petition process that terminated the Monkey Junction annexation is unconstitutional. Monday, Judge Shannon Joseph ruled on the side of five cities fighting to declare the petition process unconstitutional.
Property owners used that process last year to defeat the City of Wilmington's plans to annex part of New Hanover County.
Wilmington and four other cities filed suit , claiming the state's new annexation laws were unconstitutional. In December, another Wake County judge denied an injunction that would have put a hold on certifying the petitions.
Attorney James Eldridge, who intervened and represented property owners in Monday's hearing, disagrees with the ruling, based on the arguments he presented.
I&apo;m disappointed that the judge agreed with the city's contentions because I believed in our arguments and I had cases that were directly on point and that directly countered what the city was arguing,” Eldridge says.
The Wilmington attorney anticipates an appeal but says he will have to wait and hear what the acting city attorney has to say about what this means for residents who live in Monkey Junction.
“I don't really know what that means with respect to the Monkey Junction Annexation. Although I would venture a guess that the city would take the position that the annexation is effective.”
Since the petition process is also part of the state's new annexation law, the potential impact of the ruling is far reaching.
Judge Joseph, who declared the petitions unconstitutional, was appointed to the Superior Court bench in Wake County by former Governor Mike Easley.
By Nikki Bussey
3/27/12
(WECT)
