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Webster leaders discuss annexation
By Justin Goble
Webster leaders looked at annexation during their meeting last Thursday (Sept. 7).
The issue, brought up by former town board member Louise Bedford, concerned Bullfrog Cove. Bedford said the area was already in the town’s extra-territorial jurisdiction area, which makes it ripe for annexation. The move would also keep Webster from being surrounded by Sylva should the town decide to annex down N.C. 107, she said.
“I know a lot of people who want to be brought into the town,” Bedford said.
While Vice Mayor Neal Morgan agreed that annexation is needed to protect the town’s borders, he questioned if it would be a good idea to move forward with it at this time.
“The whole point of annexation is to protect Webster from Sylva’s growth,” said Morgan, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Steve Gray. “We don’t need to be talking about it if Sylva isn’t talking about it.”
Sylva’s planning board has discussed annexing tracts behind Wal-Mart towards Webster’s borders during its recent meetings, but the town’s officials have taken no action in that direction.
While he said he opposes being surrounded by Sylva, Zoning Administrator Jim Myers said he was uncomfortable bringing people into the town who may not want to come in.
“If it’s something that needs to be done for the town, I’m for it,” Myers said. “If they want to be in the town, that’s fine. But if they don’t, they shouldn’t be.”
Other board members seemed to be for annexation but wanted to look at other properties. Billie Jo Bryson said there were two pieces of property on Buchanan Loop she thought would be better candidates for annexation.
“I think that would really help us protect our borders,” she said.
Morgan said the planning board would look at the matter and come back to town officials with more information.
In other business Sept. 7:
– Officials discussed the town’s zoning ordinances, which requires residential lots to be one acre or more.
According to Morgan, the planning board is looking into increasing minimum lot sizes to two acres. Though he has researched the issue only to find towns requiring two acre lots are rare in North Carolina, Morgan said there are good reasons to go ahead with it.”
“The purpose of it is to establish a procedure for developments and subdivisions in the town,” Morgan said. “It also protects the greenway and distributes traffic and population in a way that prevents overcrowding.”
The board expressed concern that the move would invite lawsuits from residents and developers.
“We’re looking into what other towns have done,” Morgan said. “We’ll come up with something creative.”
– Myers said he wanted to change the town’s nuisance ordinance to include junk vehicles.
The ordinance prevents anyone from keeping trash or dumpsters in their yards. Old, unused automobiles fit into this category, Myers said, adding that he is unsure if the town can legally force residents to move them.
“We need an effective means to get people to remove what really is their private property,” Myers said.
Board members agreed a change in the ordinance would allow this, but such a change would require a public hearing.
That public hearing is set for Thursday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. in Webster’s town hall.
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