RALEIGH
State legislators amended a bill on annexation this morning to allow a vote of the people before a city can annex new territory.
The amendment is a major development in a contentious process in the General Assembly aimed at improving the state's annexation law.
The amendment would allow residents of an area proposed for annexation to petition for a referendum before the city could go through with the annexation. The residents would have to get signatures from 15 percent of the registered voters in the municipality and the area slated for annexation.
If they collected the necessary signatures, the city would have to hold a referendum which would be open to all voters in the city and all voters in the annexation area. A majority would have to vote in favor of the annexation for the city to go ahead with it.
The amendment was offered by state Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson and the majority leader in the N.C. House. It's the first time that the House Democratic leadership has thrown its support behind the idea of a referendum prior to annexation.
"This provides a bigger voice in the process," Holliman said.
Holliman's amendment was added to the bill in the House finance committee, which approved the amendment by a vote of 16-to-12.
The amendment is a victory for opponents of annexation, but it does not go as far as they had hoped. Opponents believe that the vote should be held only in the area slated for annexation and not in the city at large.
Overall, the bill would make many other smaller changes that legislators say would make annexations more fair and provide more protections to residents. The bill is expected to be approved later today by the House finance committee. It would then be sent to the House floor.
If the bill were to pass, it would take effect on Oct. 1 and would apply only to annexations that begin on or after that date.
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