Forest Hills reactivates plans to establish ETJ

By Rose Hooper

But Monday night the village board of Forest Hills made its move, reactivating the strategy of extra-territorial jurisdiction.

Last June, the board proposed a "ridgetop to ridgetop" ETJ. That move countered an earlier proposal that included Bo Cove Road, Long Branch, Speedwell and Oak Forest.

However, residents in those communities voiced such strong opposition to ETJ that those communities were quickly excluded from the playing field. More than 250 residents from those communities signed a petition, as well as openly voiced their opposition to the originally-proposed ETJ.

Forest Hills board members conducted telephone surveys of Oak Forest and Lyle Wilson Road residents to determine their positions on ETJ. Following those informal surveys, Oak Forest was eliminated from the proposed ETJ, while property owners on Lyle Wilson Road were included.

Board member Larry Kolenbrander Monday night pulled out the ETJ maps and indicated "ridgetop to ridgetop" would include the Cox Creek Watershed, Lyle Wilson Road, Kappa Alpha fraternity house, Ebb Knob, 78 acres in Little Panther Knob, Valhalla and the Summit Apartments.

"The ridge lines pretty well follow property boundaries," Kolenbrander said.

"The next step is for Geoffrey Willett, community development planner with the N.C. Department of Commerce, to develop a formal description," he said. "From there, we will develop a map and send certified notices to all the property owners."

Board members agreed that Oak Forest subdivision, with its own homeowners association, could join Forest Hills by voluntary annexation if they chose to make that move.

"Those I talked to in Oak Forest thought their current subdivision regulations were sufficient enough, and at this time they did not see any benefit of ETJ for them," said Kolenbrander.

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