Bill passes in House and Senate that would tighten Leland’s annexation rules

RALEIGH, N.C. (WECT) - The North Carolina House and Senate have passed a bill which would require Leland’s annexations to meet tighter requirements.

On June 29, the bill passed the the third reading from the House with a vote of 103-6 after a unanimous vote from the senate. The bill is headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk for the final signature.

Currently, Leland’s annexation rules allow the town to annex an area that doesn’t border the town’s limits as long as the closest point of the annexation is within three miles of the border. The bill, SB-911, would shrink that requirement to 1.5 miles.

The bill would also includes a specific section for all annexations by petition:

“The petition shall also contain a statement from the owner that the owner’s petition for annexation is not based upon any representation by the municipality that a public enterprise service available outside the corporate limits of that municipality would be withheld from the owner’s property without the petition for annexation.”

In other words, owner would indicate that they aren’t asking for annexation because the town claimed that it would withhold a service from the owner unless they petition for annexation. This only applies to services which would normally be available to people outside of the town limits.

This version of the bill is far less severe than the initial filing which would have barred Leland from annexing via petition for two years. Senator Bill Rabon filed this initial version at the end of May.

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