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12-22-2004, 09:20 PM
The News & Observer
February 2, 1997
Cary officials say they won't force annexation
Author: ELIZABETH WELLINGTON; STAFF WRITER
Edition: Final
Section: News
Page: B1
Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
SOUTHERN PINES - Wake County residents surrounded by the growing town of Cary should not fear annexation against their will, Cary town council members said during an annual retreat Saturday.
The mayor issued that pledge despite a planning department recommendation favoring forced annexations.
"I will never live long enough to go through another forced annexation," said Cary Mayor Koka Booth during the town's annual staff and council retreat Saturday morning. "If that is the tenor of this council, then I will not be a part of it."
All council members nodded in agreement.
The seven council members and 19 town staff members gathered for the 2 1/2-day retreat at Mid Pines Golf Club. On Saturday, council members munched on popcorn as they discussed how Cary's growth is affecting the Triangle.
Town officials have increased Cary's land mass threefold since the mid-1980s. Town officials have explained that they want enough tax revenue to build and expand water facilities and maintain town services. Scores of acres were annexed at the request of developers and homeowners whose wells and septic tanks were failing.
Through this policy of annexation, the town of Cary grew around homes and neighborhoods. These islands, or doughnut holes, are problematic to town planners because, they say, the town's growth is initiated by developers and landowners instead of the town.
Those with island properties say that though they are surrounded and served by the town, they shouldn't be forced to pay taxes through annexation.
Council members agreed they would prefer a city without holes, but the members decided Saturday that they would wait for homeowners to sell their homes to willing participants in annexations rather than to take the land. In the mid-1980s, Cary officials were heavily criticized when they unsuccessfully tried to annex the Medfield subdivision against homeowners' will.
But council members agreed it was time for planners to develop a schedule to begin calling in outstanding annexation agreements. Annexation agreements are contracts made between developers and local governments that provide utility services as long as the neighborhood agrees to incorporate at the town's request.
Currently, the town has 150 valid agreements that would bring the town $105,000 in annual tax revenue.
One of these neighborhoods is Windsor Oaks, a 103-home southern Cary subdivision that built a gate at one of its entrances to stop motorists from racing through it. If the town annexes the neighborhood, the community would probably lose its gate since Cary does not allow a community to impede traffic with a gate.
According to the town of Cary, the 70-acre Windsor Oaks subdivision would bring the town $80,000 in annual tax revenue.
The Chapel Lake Drive area, if annexed, would bring the town $17,000 in annual revenue.
"It looks like it's time to move on them," council member Bob Godbold said of the annexation agreements.
Copyright 1997 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.
Record Number: 1997032062
February 2, 1997
Cary officials say they won't force annexation
Author: ELIZABETH WELLINGTON; STAFF WRITER
Edition: Final
Section: News
Page: B1
Estimated printed pages: 2
Article Text:
SOUTHERN PINES - Wake County residents surrounded by the growing town of Cary should not fear annexation against their will, Cary town council members said during an annual retreat Saturday.
The mayor issued that pledge despite a planning department recommendation favoring forced annexations.
"I will never live long enough to go through another forced annexation," said Cary Mayor Koka Booth during the town's annual staff and council retreat Saturday morning. "If that is the tenor of this council, then I will not be a part of it."
All council members nodded in agreement.
The seven council members and 19 town staff members gathered for the 2 1/2-day retreat at Mid Pines Golf Club. On Saturday, council members munched on popcorn as they discussed how Cary's growth is affecting the Triangle.
Town officials have increased Cary's land mass threefold since the mid-1980s. Town officials have explained that they want enough tax revenue to build and expand water facilities and maintain town services. Scores of acres were annexed at the request of developers and homeowners whose wells and septic tanks were failing.
Through this policy of annexation, the town of Cary grew around homes and neighborhoods. These islands, or doughnut holes, are problematic to town planners because, they say, the town's growth is initiated by developers and landowners instead of the town.
Those with island properties say that though they are surrounded and served by the town, they shouldn't be forced to pay taxes through annexation.
Council members agreed they would prefer a city without holes, but the members decided Saturday that they would wait for homeowners to sell their homes to willing participants in annexations rather than to take the land. In the mid-1980s, Cary officials were heavily criticized when they unsuccessfully tried to annex the Medfield subdivision against homeowners' will.
But council members agreed it was time for planners to develop a schedule to begin calling in outstanding annexation agreements. Annexation agreements are contracts made between developers and local governments that provide utility services as long as the neighborhood agrees to incorporate at the town's request.
Currently, the town has 150 valid agreements that would bring the town $105,000 in annual tax revenue.
One of these neighborhoods is Windsor Oaks, a 103-home southern Cary subdivision that built a gate at one of its entrances to stop motorists from racing through it. If the town annexes the neighborhood, the community would probably lose its gate since Cary does not allow a community to impede traffic with a gate.
According to the town of Cary, the 70-acre Windsor Oaks subdivision would bring the town $80,000 in annual tax revenue.
The Chapel Lake Drive area, if annexed, would bring the town $17,000 in annual revenue.
"It looks like it's time to move on them," council member Bob Godbold said of the annexation agreements.
Copyright 1997 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.
Record Number: 1997032062