RALEIGH. (AP) — North Carolina’s new methods that give property owners the opportunity to block forced annexations by towns and cities has been struck down by a trial court judge.
Lawyers confirmed Tuesday that Judge Shannon Joseph said in Wake Superior Court on Monday she would enter a written order striking down the petition process.
The 2011 laws said proposed involuntary annexations in cities will be terminated if 60 percent of the landowners in the annexed areas sign a petition within a roughly four-month period opposing it. The town or city would be barred from trying again for three years.
Several municipalities with pending annexations sued late last year, arguing the new laws are unenforceable because they only give landowners the right to sign the petitions, not all voters.