§ 160A-31. Annexation by petition.
§ 160A‑31. Annexation by petition.
(a) The governing board of any municipality may annex byordinance any area contiguous to its boundaries upon presentation to thegoverning board of a petition signed by the owners of all the real propertylocated within such area. The petition shall be signed by each owner of realproperty in the area and shall contain the address of each such owner.
(b) The petition shall be prepared in substantially thefollowing form:
DATE:
To the ______________ (name of governing board) of the (City or Town)of ______________
1. We the undersigned owners of real property respectfully request thatthe area described in paragraph 2 below be annexed to the (City or Town)of______________
2. The area to be annexed is contiguous to the (City or Town) of________ and the boundaries of such territory are as follows:
(c) Upon receipt of the petition, the municipal governing boardshall cause the clerk of the municipality to investigate the sufficiencythereof and to certify the result of his investigation. Upon receipt of thecertification, the municipal governing board shall fix a date for a publichearing on the question of annexation, and shall cause notice of the publichearing to be published once in a newspaper having general circulation in themunicipality at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing;provided, if there be no such paper, the governing board shall have noticesposted in three or more public places within the area to be annexed and threeor more public places within the municipality.
(d) At the public hearing all persons owning property in thearea to be annexed who allege an error in the petition shall be given anopportunity to be heard, as well as residents of the municipality who questionthe necessity for annexation. The governing board shall then determine whetherthe petition meets the requirements of this section. Upon a finding that thepetition meets the requirements of this section, the governing board shall haveauthority to pass an ordinance annexing the territory described in thepetition. The governing board shall have authority to make the annexingordinance effective immediately or on any specified date within six months fromthe date of passage of the ordinance.
(e) From and after the effective date of the annexationordinance, the territory and its citizens and property shall be subject to alldebts, laws, ordinances and regulations in force in such municipality and shallbe entitled to the same privileges and benefits as other parts of suchmunicipality. Real and personal property in the newly annexed territory on theJanuary 1 immediately preceding the beginning of the fiscal year in which theannexation becomes effective is subject to municipal taxes as provided in G.S.160A‑58.10. If the effective date of annexation falls between June 1 andJune 30, and the effective date of the privilege license tax ordinance of theannexing municipality is June 1, then businesses in the area to be annexedshall be liable for taxes imposed in such ordinance from and after theeffective date of annexation.
(f) For purposes of this section, an area shall be deemed"contiguous" if, at the time the petition is submitted, such areaeither abuts directly on the municipal boundary or is separated from themunicipal boundary by a street or street right‑of‑way, a creek orriver, or the right‑of‑way of a railroad or other public servicecorporation, lands owned by the municipality or some other politicalsubdivision, or lands owned by the State of North Carolina. In describing thearea to be annexed in the annexation ordinance, the municipal governing boardmay include within the description any territory described in this subsectionwhich separates the municipal boundary from the area petitioning for annexation.
(g) The governing board may initiate annexation of contiguousproperty owned by the municipality by adopting a resolution stating its intentto annex the property, in lieu of filing a petition. The resolution shallcontain an adequate description of the property, state that the property iscontiguous to the municipal boundaries and fix a date for a public hearing onthe question of annexation. Notice of the public hearing shall be published asprovided in subsection (c) of this section. The governing board may hold thepublic hearing and adopt the annexation ordinance as provided in subsection (d)of this section.
(h) A city council which receives a petition for annexationunder this section may by ordinance require that the petitioners file a signedstatement declaring whether or not vested rights with respect to the propertiessubject to the petition have been established under G.S. 160A‑385.1 orG.S. 153A‑344.1. If the statement declares that such rights have beenestablished, the city may require petitioners to provide proof of such rights. A statement which declares that no vested rights have been established underG.S. 160A‑385.1 or G.S. 153A‑344.1 shall be binding on thelandowner and any such vested right shall be terminated. (1947, c. 725, s. 8; 1959, c. 713; 1973, c. 426, s.74; 1975, c. 576, s. 2; 1977, c. 517, s. 4; 1987, c. 562, s. 1; 1989 (Reg.Sess., 1990), c. 996, s. 3.)