Council to discuss future of annexation
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on October 19, 2008 3:00 AM
The Goldsboro City Council is likely to discuss future plans for annexation at its work session Monday night.
Planning Director Randy Guthrie said he wanted to follow up on the discussions about the topic at the council retreat held at the beginning of the year, when future annexation phases were laid out.
Guthrie will bring the issue up to council members at the session to see if they are interested in pursuing any of those potential annexation areas soon.
The council also will hold four public hearings during the regular session of the meeting Monday night.
The first two are rezoning requests -- to change property on the southeast side of Berkeley Boulevard between Cashwell Drive and Langston Drive from neighborhood business to general business and to change property on the south side of West Grantham Street between the Little River and Nevel Street from residential to general industry.
The third public hearing will be held on a sign ordinance amendment that would allow existing billboards that don't conform to current standards to be replaced with a changeable face LED, light-emitting diode, billboard if certain standards are met.
The final hearing will be held to allow the city to hold property along Buck Swamp and Salem Church roads up to city zoning requirements. The area was part of a four-year annexation legal battle between residents and city officials that ended after the state Supreme Court refused to hear the residents' appeal in August. Currently, all of the property in the soon-to-be annexed area is zoned residential. The Planning Department is proposing to change zonings for the area to include two residential zonings, an office and institutional zoning and a neighborhood business zoning, since there are three current commercial properties -- a day care center, a gas station and convenience store and a small shopping center.
Council members will also discuss an amendment to a city ordinance that would change ownership of the city's water and sanitary sewer service lines from the water and sewer mains to the road right-of-way or property line from the property owner to the city. The property owner would still be responsible for the portion of the service line from the water meter or sanitary sewer cleanout to the point of service on the owner's property. The amendment would also require the owner to pay in advance for the first city installed water or sanitary sewer tap. If the tap becomes dysfunctional, the cost of replacement would be paid by the city.
The council is likely to talk about an agreement between the city and Eastern Wayne Sanitary District where the city would not sell capacity in the water plant to the district or be required to sell water on peak pumping days.
In other business, council members will discuss an identity theft policy policy to protect water, sewer and refuse customers, the replacement of a tax on property tax on heavy equipment by a tax on the rental of that equipment, a proposed donation $5,000 to the Stop the Funeral Initiative's Campaign for Change program, and street closings for North End Fund Day and the "Boo It" Halloween festival.