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Dillsboro plans its own Yellowbird ETJ
By Emily Elders
Dillsboro officials seem poised to respond to a Sylva ETJ proposal with one of their own.
During Wednesday’s (Sept. 20) joint meeting of the Planning Committee and Town Board, Dillsboro officials agreed to seek zoning control of one large parcel in the Yellowbird branch area through extraterritorial jurisdiction.
An extraterritorial jurisdiction allows a town to extend its zoning ordinances over areas outside the town limits in order to control the type and amount of development near its borders. Affected property owners are subject to the town’s zoning laws, but do not pay town taxes or receive town services.
Dillsboro’s proposed ETJ would allow the town to extend its zoning control over the full 21-acre parcel, part of which is already within Dillsboro town limits. Normally, the town could simply annex parcels partially within its limits; however, state statutes now require that undeveloped areas being considered for annexation be divided so that at least 60 percent of the parcels are no more than three acres.
New state statutes also require that ETJ and annexation proposals follow property lines rather than town-designated boundaries to avoid the risk of confusion regarding taxation and services provided. This new ruling is the reason for a proposed interagency agreement between Dillsboro, Sylva and Jackson County to manage growth and changes to the laws.
The land designated in Sylva’s proposal includes the 21-acre parcel and others in the Yellowbird Branch area off of Savannah Drive. The area lies between both Sylva and Dillsboro town limits; therefore, the need for an interagency agreement is still present.
The parcel Dillsboro wants to focus on is the largest of 19 undeveloped parcels in the 26-parcel proposal, and this is where its value comes in, said Jim Cochran, member of both Dillsboro’s Planning Committee and Town Board.
Planning Committee Chairman Teresa Dowd clarified which parcel was to be included, although the board did not yet have the names of affected property owners.
Information on file at Sylva’s Town Hall lists the owner as Tammy Nell Johnson, in care of Benjamin Johnson of Asheville.
After discussion, Cochran moved that the planning board recommend Dillsboro explore the option of drafting an ETJ for the specified parcel. The motion was unanimously approved.
Board members Mike Fitzgerald and Cochran also discussed the future of the land beyond the ETJ.
“We need to keep our future possibilities open,” said Fitzgerald. “This property has the potential, after development, to become very important to us.”
Cochran supported that idea and also pushed for board members to consider the possibility of future annexation of the area, despite ETJ plans. “Annexing this area in the future could mean a huge increase in Dillsboro’s tax base,” Cochran said. He cited lower property taxes as one reason owners might agree to voluntary annexation by Dillsboro, rather than by Sylva. If a property owner agrees to voluntary annexation, the need to split the parcel into smaller segments is eliminated.
After hearing the planning committee’s recommendation, the Town Board unanimously approved the plan.
The board asked Dowd to draft the ETJ proposal while they composed a letter to the Sylva board, outlining their plans and requesting Sylva’s feedback and ideas, before the two boards’ joint meeting to discuss each town’s role in the interagency agreement.
A new interagency agreemeent will have to be formed if Dillsboro continues with its own ETJ, as their proposal will conversely affect Sylva in a similar manner.
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