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County resolution asks for legislative review of ETJ

By Lisa Majors-Duff
Jackson County commissioners received words of praise from those in attendance at their May 18 meeting, during which they unanimously approved a resolution calling for state legislative review of extra-territorial jurisdiction law.

Following through on her promise to those opposed to the Village of Forest Hills' proposed ETJ, Commissioner Roberta Crawford presented the resolution, which not only asked for an amendment to state ETJ law, but also requested that Jackson County municipalities "voluntarily withhold exercise of the statute until such time as the legislature may address concerns raised by this board and the citizens of Jackson County."

In its request for an amendment to the law, the resolution asks Sen. Dan Robinson of Cullowhee and Reps. Phil Haire of Sylva and Liston Ramsey of Madison County to introduce legislation to amend the law "in such a manner that the inequities resulting from the exercise of this statute by small municipalities that neither offer nor provide services to the extra-territorial jurisdiction are eliminated."

The problem with ETJs, the resolution states, is that they can result in inequities for residents within their boundaries. Such inequities may include "failure to extend the vote to those to be governed and the circumstance wherein a small municipality or incorporated subdivision may take in territory that exceeds its size both in area and population solely for the benefit of the municipality and to the detriment of the residents of the unincorporated area..."

Max Holland, a Sylva attorney, thanked the board on behalf of the citizens of Jackson County for their concern on the issue of ETJ. Holland, who owns property in both Forest Hills and the proposed ETJ, described the move as "strictly a matter of power" on the part of the Village Council. If an ETJ is considered, it should only include what a town needs, he said. "I don't believe the Legislature ever envisioned the tail wagging the dog on this issue," he said. Mark Jamison, chairman of a committee opposed to the Forest Hills ETJ move, also thanked the commissioners "for listening to the people. This isn't going to go away; we know we're in for a long fight."

In response to the county's resolution, Village of Forest Hills Council member Harold Williford said, "It would have been nice if they could have waited. We have just received a report and haven't spent a lot of time as a council discussing this, so no action has been taken. Our overall interest is in land use planning and not in any particular geographic location."

"I disagree with that action, but that's a personal opinion," Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver said. "I'm not speaking for the board."

The town of Sylva hopes to come up with a comprehensive plan before making any ETJ decisions, Oliver said. The board should start working on the plan within the next year, although it could take some time to formulate, she said.

"It's between the commissioners and Forest Hills," Dillsboro Mayor Wade Wilson said. "Forest Hills has passed no resolution of what they are going to do."

Dillsboro's proposal to establish an ETJ last year also met opposition. "There are no plans to bring it back up," Wilson said.

"I personally feel the commissioners should not be involved with this," said Louise Bedford, a member of the Webster board and chairman of a committee that is involved with annexation and ETJ issues. "This is an issue with the towns and the areas around them. We've had ETJ in Webster for years and years, and it's not presented any problems that I'm aware of."

Bedford said ETJ has helped protect property values, while keeping out a hog farm and an apartment building. She added that the town has considered expanding its ETJ and may do so in the future.

Those opposed to the Forest Hills ETJ proposal have planned a meeting for 7 p.m. this Friday, May 26, at Cullowhee Valley School. The meeting will be held for the purpose of deciding what legal action, if any, should be taken and what lobbying efforts might be pursued.

Back to Archive: 05/25/00.