Annexation in
Bolton needs
second look

Legislators and the town of Bolton have a chance to make right the annexation of an area near Spearman and Blacksmith roads. An opened-ended bill introduced for the short session of the General Assembly makes this possible.

The town annexed the area through legislative decree, but residents say they weren’t given the opportunity to organize opposition.

Ideally, annexation should occur when an area is growing and when it makes sense for municipalities to annex to provide for orderly and contiguous growth. Growing areas typically need the higher level of services that municipalities can provide, such as police protection, zoning and code enforcement and sewer services.

Bolton lies at the intersection of two major highways and will get sewer in the future, so it is has potential to grow, but who can blame disgruntled annexed residents for being surprised one day when they had to pay extra taxes for little benefit?

There is an effort underway by some legislators to declare a moratorium on new annexations, but that would be folly. North Carolina annexation laws have provided for more orderly growth than in states where annexation is more difficult. A moratorium is not needed.

Still, cases such as the one in Bolton where an annexation is quietly pushed through gives one pause to consider that annexation by legislative decree needs a closer look.