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Allens Branch residents speak out on ETJ
By Justin Goble
Allens Branch residents came en masse to the Community Service Center Monday night (Aug. 7) to speak out about proposed extra-territorial jurisdiction for their area.
Around 35 community members joined Sylva town board members and town Manager Jay Denton to hear details on the proposed ETJ from Planning Director Jim Aust. Using a PowerPoint slide-show, Aust laid out what town officials plan to do if the ETJ is passed, and what it would mean for residents in the community.
Allens Branch ETJ discussions began earlier this year when resident Cathy Arrington brought a petition to the town board that requested board members consider creating an ETJ for their neighborhood. An ETJ would allow town zoning rules to be applied in the community, and the petition-signers requested R1 residential zoning for their property. Along with Arrington and her husband, Don, four other Allens Branch couples signed the petition.
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Sylva town Manager Jay Denton, center, speaks with residents from Allens Branch about a proposed extra-territorial jurisdiction before a public meeting Monday (Aug. 7). Around 35 community members gathered at the Community Service Center to hear a presentation from Planning Director Jim Aust about the ETJ and what it would mean for members of the community. After Aust concluded his remarks, the majority of the audience indicated they were against the town’s plan, questioning why officials would enforce zoning regulations without providing services such as police protection. – Herald photo by Justin Goble.
After town leaders unanimously instructed them to do so, planning board members took up the issue during their April 25 session and developed an outline for a proposed ETJ that would extend slightly less than a mile up Allens Branch from the town’s existing border at the U.S. 23/74 overpass. If R1 zoning is implemented, future buildings in the community would have to be low-density, single-family homes with customary out buildings (such as garages and tool sheds). Homes would not be allowed to have more than three stories, excluding basements.
While pre-fabricated homes would be allowed, mobile homes would not, Aust said. Trailers already in the area would be grandfathered in, and Wayside Baptist Church would not be affected by any of the zoning, he said.
When residents asked what services the town would provide along with zoning, Aust said zoning enforcement is the only service that comes with an ETJ but reminded them they would not have to pay town taxes. The community would receive representation on Sylva’s planning board, he said.
One resident, who declined to give his name, said that with an ETJ the town would be imposing its rules upon the community yet wasn’t even offering to help take care of the area’s many dilapidated roads.
“We’re not getting any extra protection,” the man said. “We’re not getting anything. The only way we will get a fire truck to the top of Allens Branch is with a Chinook helicopter. If something happens, the ambulances can’t get there. We have to rely on each other.”
Roads in that area are state owned, Aust said. Town officials could request help from the Department of Transportation so that emergency vehicles could reach everyone in the community, he said.
“The town can help put some pressure on the state to get those roads up to our standards,” Aust said. “We have to get up there with fire trucks and ambulances.”
The man also asked if the ETJ would affect hunting, which current ordinances allow him to do on his property.
“I can go out in my back yard and hunt squirrels, rabbits, whatever,” he said. “Would the ETJ change that?”
An ETJ would have no bearing on hunting ordinances, Aust said. If Allens Branch were to be annexed, hunters would come under a law that prohibits firearms from being discharged within city limits, he said.
Talk of annexation struck a nerve with audience members, who were strongly against becoming part of the town. Despite Mayor Brenda Oliver’s statements that Allens Branch would not be annexed “in (her) lifetime,” many residents, including former Sylva Assistant Police Chief Mary Cook, felt that passage of the ETJ would be the first step towards taking the community in to Sylva’s town limits.
“Zoning is the first step to annexation,” Cook said. “I don’t want my property annexed. I’m not here to make my neighbors mad, and if they want to be in the ETJ or annexed, that’s fine with me. But I don’t want to come down and see Jim if I want to put a building on my property. I don’t think anyone wants that.
“Allens Branch is not a big area, but what is up there is ours,” Cook said. “I have letters and petitions that are against this.”
Town attorney Eric Ridenour tried to allay fears of annexation by telling residents that the process would cost more than the town is willing to spend.
“To annex you, we would have to provide water and sewer,” Ridenour said. “Many of you already have septic tanks and water wells, and I don’t think anyone would want to tap onto the line.”
In addition, Ridenour said that neither the town of Sylva or the Tuckaseige Water and Sewer Authority is financially able to run water and sewer lines up Allens Branch.
Town board members will take up the issue during their next regular meeting, which is planned for Thursday, Aug. 17, at 10 a.m. in town hall.
If they choose to pursue the ETJ, hearings would be held to gather public input, Oliver said.
During that process, ETJ lines could be redrawn to include only those that want the zoning regulations to be enforced, Aust said.
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