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Town wants say on growth
Lewisville seeks special jurisdiction on development
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Published: May 8, 2008
LEWISVILLE
Lewisville's request to seek greater control of development outside its boundaries will have to wait.
In April, the town council voted to seek extraterritorial jurisdiction from the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners. Such jurisdiction, known as ETJ, gives a municipality the right to plan and control development in areas outside its boundaries. Under state law, municipalities between 10,000 and 20,000 residents can seek ETJ as much as 2 miles beyond its border. Lewisville has a population of about 13,000 people.
County commissioners must grant ETJ. Lewisville is pursuing ETJ so it can better manage growth on the fringes of town, said Mike Horn, a council member.
High-density subdivisions are a particular concern, he said.
"If you look at the road networks, everything out there comes back through Lewisville," Horn said. "All that density impacts our watershed and all our efforts to preserve our rural character."
Lewisville's ETJ request is not likely to show up on the commissioners' agenda this month.
However, Mayor Dan Pugh and Tom Waldrep, a member of the Forsyth Citizens for ETJ, a grass-roots group, spoke to commissioners last week during the public-comments portion of the commissioners' meeting April 28.
"I just kind of reminded them that one of the main reasons we had incorporated was to be able to plan growth in such a way that allows us to retain our rural character and atmosphere, and we've been consistent about that," Pugh said.
He also told them that the town council had embraced the Legacy Plan, a comprehensive development guide for Forsyth County that was passed in 2001.
"It is similar to our goals," Pugh said of the plan.
People who live in areas that would be affected by ETJ would not become citizens of Lewisville. Their tax rate would remain the same and they would not receive town services.
They also would not be allowed to vote in town elections, which is a major sticking point for opponents of ETJ. They would receive representation on the planning board.
People who live within two miles of Lewisville may one day be annexed anyway, but Pugh said that people in outlying areas should not worry.
"I can absolutely speak for this council that there is no thought whatsoever of any forced annexation," he said.
■ Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or at lo'donnell@wsjournal.com.
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