Title
Vote to request a Legislative repeal of Session Law 2007-43, Section 2
Abstract
Introduction & Background: In 2007, the NC General Assembly passed SL 2007-43. Section 2 of this Law states "The City of Sanford shall not annex any areas pursuant to Part 4 of Article 4A of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes that are located within Chatham County." Being introduced and passed by the General Assembly in 2007, this Session Law predates statewide annexation reform lead by the General Assembly beginning in 2011. At the time of this Session Law's ratification, municipal jurisdictions in North Carolina possessed the authority to engage in involuntary annexation. Through the NC General Assembly's annexation reform, municipalities are now only able to annex through the voluntary annexation process.
Also, since the enactment of this law, Chatham County has developed and maintained an excellent working relationship with the City of Sanford, culminating in the successful creation of the TIP Megasite in Moncure and the recruitment of VinFast electric vehicle manufacturing. Sanford has also been working cooperatively with the Towns of Pittsboro and Siler City to merge their utility systems and provide much needed opportunities for growth.
Discussion & Analysis: The City of Sanford currently serves the TIP Site and surrounding areas with water and wastewater under an Inter-Local Agreement. In order to achieve the density of development called for in Plan Moncure, as adopted by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, public water and wastewater will need to be provided.
As noted earlier, only voluntary annexations are allowed under NC law. To date, the towns of Cary and Apex have extended into Chatham County through annexations. Given the annexation reform that took place after this Session Law was put into place and given the changing nature of service and infrastructure needs within the Moncure area in Chatham County, the subject Session Law restricting the...
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