337 replies to this topic

[CorgiMatt]

We discussed this a while back.  It remains to be seen whether the city is going to stick with what it said or wuss out.

[Spartan]

This is a good attempt. I hope they are successful, though I wonder if anyone would hold out and the city actually go through with cutting water service. It helps that "in February, the state Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city of Greenville when the city denied water service to a shopping mall because the owner did not want to petition the city for annexation."

Its ironic how South Carolina's politicians bitch and moan about governmental inefficiencies to the point that they decide how much budget increases a local government can have, but refuse to do anything about one of the most glaring inefficiencies at the local level.

[Spartan]

Along those lines, Spartanburg is trying to "force" annexation in two parts of town, both of which are being challenged. Spartanburg retains some sewer service rights, though the city doesn't directly control it any more (its really complicated), but it comes down to the city playing that card and seeing what happens. Basically, instead of annexing in the past, the residents signed a form stating that they would agree to be annexed at some point in the future, and the City is treating that as the 75% voluntary annexation and then annexing the other 25% forcefully.

One goal is to have the boundaries expanded by January 1st so that when the Census forms are sent out, the population count will be higher, thus preventing any significant decreases in state funding allocations, which are based on percentage of the total population.

[krazeeboi]

Spartan, on 11 December 2009 - 11:51 AM, said:

One goal is to have the boundaries expanded by January 1st so that when the Census forms are sent out, the population count will be higher, thus preventing any significant decreases in state funding allocations, which are based on percentage of the total population.

I suspect that's what's behind Columbia's push to get those "donut hole" residents into the city as well.

[krazeeboi]

So far, it looks like Columbia's push to get these donut holes annexed is working to a certain extent. The latest city council agenda has 17 requests for annexation from such residents. That's definitely a higher-than-normal number.

[Spartan]

Wow, good job Columbia. Now if only Spartanburg could have a similar success story...

[sonofaque86]

krazeeboi, on 22 January 2010 - 09:41 PM, said:

So far, it looks like Columbia's push to get these donut holes annexed is working to a certain extent. The latest city council agenda has 17 requests for annexation from such residents. That's definitely a higher-than-normal number.

That's supposed to be out of 89 letters the city sent out. Here's the article.

http://www.thestate....ry/1120080.html

[sonofaque86]

Columbia is eying 23 properties to annex. They are all for tax reasons. It would bring in an extra $265,000 a year. 12 of them have a covenant with the city. The other 11 don't but the city still may threaten them with their water service. here's the article

http://www.thestate....ry/1167364.html

[krazeeboi]

And here's the latest news relating to the state's archaic annexation laws:

Quote

The city of Rock Hill is countersuing more than 100 York County residents who have refused to agree to annexation and asked the 16th Circuit Court last month to decide whether they must.

The legal battle is the result of the city's plan to annex residential and commercial properties along S.C. 161 on Rock Hill northwest side. Annexation is part of the city's plan to guide development along the S.C. 161 corridor.

A group of county neighbors, led by Miller Pond residents, refused to sign annexation petitions, saying they don't want to be part of the city.
The city responded by threatening to cut off their water, an approach that county leaders and residents criticized for being "heavy-handed."

City officials say residents are legally obligated to annex based on an agreement signed by the neighborhood's developer over a decade ago. According to the agreement, the city offered to provide Miller Pond with water in exchange for annexation at a later date.

The agreement also allows the city to turn off the taps to those who refuse annexation, city officials maintain.

[Spartan]

I would normally say that the residents have no argument, but in Spartanburg similar agreements had been signed and the residents to be annexed more or less got out of it (for the time being) because it had been so long.

[erm1981]

Well here is some failed annexation news from my neck of the woods in Goose Creek: Looks like Goose Creek was trying to annex 600 homes (A sizable chunk).  

http://www.postandco...ers-fall-short/

[Spartan]

Here is a more extensive article in The State about the Rock HIll annexation, and how it could impact Columbia. Rest assured, cities across South Carolina are watching this case.

[teshadoh]

Very interesting - besides the fact that I grew up a half mile south of the Miller Pond neighborhood & used to play there back when it was a cow pasture.  I had no idea Old York Rd. was being developed, I'm honestly shocked that it is as developed as the article states it is.  Regarding the article, I wouldn't be surprised they try to evade city water & use well water, since my neighborhood directly south had its own well.  But it is absurd that anyone would consider it 'blackmail', when the developer signed an agreement that the city has the option to annex the subdivision.  Not to mention most unincorporated RH residents routinely use city services, such as driving to city parks as there are none in the outlying subdivisions.  Perhaps the state should at the very least provide cities with limited control over an extra-territorial jurisdiction which other southern states provide cities limited control.  Then at least it would be fair warning to residents that they may very well be annexed in the future.

[Galley]

If you would like Governor-elect Haley to know your thoughts on this subject, you can send a suggestion here: http://www.haleytran...rg/suggestions/

[Spartan]

Good find!

[krazeeboi]

Greenville is now wanting to try and be more proactive about annexation of residential areas: http://www.greenvill...ough-annexation

(You can copy the article title from greenvilleonline.com, paste into a Google search box, and see the entire article that way.)

[Spartan]

A victory for Rock Hill!

[krazeeboi]

Most of the people posting comments seem to view the decision favorably. I suppose that's because it's an Observer article so it's more in line with how NC does things. I bet it's a total 180 if you were to view the comments on the Herald's website.