A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require that all property owners must be notified of proposed involuntary annexations by certified mail, that municipalities that operate a cable public access channel must air a notice of proposed involuntary annexations, and to require that proposed involuntary annexations meet both the density and development standards.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 160A‑37(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Notice of Public Hearing. – The notice of public hearing shall:
(1)	Fix the date, hour and place of the public informational meeting and the date, hour, and place of the public hearing.
(2)	Describe clearly the boundaries of the area under consideration, and include a legible map of the area.
(3)	State that the report required in G.S. 160A‑35 will be available at the office of the municipal clerk at least 30 days prior to the date of the public informational meeting.
(4)	Include an explanation of an owner's rights pursuant to subsection (f1) and (f2) of this section.
Such notice shall be given by publication once a week for at least two successive weeks prior to the date of the informational meeting in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality and, in addition thereto, if the area to be annexed lies in a county containing less than fifty percent (50%) of the land area of the municipality, in a newspaper having general circulation in the area of proposed annexation. The period from the date of the first publication to the date of the last publication, both dates inclusive, shall be not less than eight days including Sundays, and the date of the last publication shall be not more than seven days preceding the date of public informational meeting. If there be no such newspaper, the municipality shall post the notice in at least five public places within the municipality and at least five public places in the area to be annexed for 30 days prior to the date of public informational meeting. In addition, if the municipality programs a governmental access cable television channel, it shall air a notice daily for each of the 30 days prior to the public informational meeting. In addition, notice shall be mailed at least four weeks prior to date of the informational meeting, by certified mail, postage prepaid to the owners as shown by the tax records of the county of all freehold interests in real property located within the area to be annexed. The person or persons mailing such notices shall certify to the governing board that fact, and such certificate shall become a part of the record of the annexation proceeding and shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud. If the notice is returned to the city by the postal service by the tenth day before the informational meeting, a copy of the notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least seven days before the informational meeting. Failure to comply with the mailing requirement of this subsection shall not invalidate the annexation unless it is shown that the requirements were not substantially complied with.
If the governing board by resolution finds that the tax records are not adequate to identify the owners of some or all of the parcels of real property within the area it may in lieu of the mail procedure as to those parcels where the owners could not be so identified, post the notice at least 30 days prior to the date of public informational meeting on all buildings on such parcels, and in at least five other places within the area to be annexed. In any case where notices are placed on property, the person placing the notice shall certify that fact to the governing board."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 160A‑49(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Notice of Public Hearing. – The notice of public hearing shall:
(1)	Fix the date, hour and place of the public informational meeting and the date, hour, and place of the public hearing.
(2)	Describe clearly the boundaries of the area under consideration, and include a legible map of the area.
(3)	State that the report required in G.S. 160A‑47 will be available at the office of the municipal clerk at least 30 days prior to the date of the public informational meeting.
(4)	Include a notice of a property owner's rights to request water and sewer service in accordance with G.S. 160A‑47.
(5)	Include an explanation of a property owner's rights pursuant to subsections (f1) and (f2) of this section.
Such notice shall be given by publication once a week for at least two successive weeks prior to the date of the informational meeting in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality and, in addition thereto, if the area to be annexed lies in a county containing less than fifty percent (50%) of the land area of the municipality, in a newspaper having general circulation in the area of proposed annexation. The period from the date of the first publication to the date of the last publication, both dates inclusive, shall be not less than eight days including Sundays, and the date of the last publication shall be not more than seven days preceding the date of public informational meeting. If there be no such newspaper, the municipality shall post the notice in at least five public places within the municipality and at least five public places in the area to be annexed for 30 days prior to the date of public informational meeting. In addition, if the municipality programs a governmental access cable television channel, it shall air a notice daily for each of the 30 days prior to the public informational meeting. In addition, notice shall be mailed at least four weeks prior to date of the informational meeting by certified mail, postage prepaid to the owners as shown by the tax records of the county of all freehold interests in real property located within the area to be annexed. The person or persons mailing such notices shall certify to the governing board that fact, and such certificate shall become a part of the record of the annexation proceeding and shall be deemed conclusive in the absence of fraud. If the notice is returned to the city by the postal service by the tenth day before the informational meeting, a copy of the notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least seven days before the informational meeting. Failure to comply with the mailing requirements of this subsection shall not invalidate the annexation unless it is shown that the requirements were not substantially complied with. If the governing board by resolution finds that the tax records are not adequate to identify the owners of some or all of the parcels of real property within the area it may in lieu of the mail procedure as to those parcels where the owners could not be so identified, post the notice at least 30 days prior to the date of public informational meeting on all buildings on such parcels, and in at least five other places within the area to be annexed. In any case where notices are placed on property, the person placing the notices shall certify that fact to the governing board."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 160A‑48(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Part or all of the area to be annexed must be developed for urban purposes at the time of approval of the report provided for in G.S. 160A‑47. Area of streets and street rights‑of‑way shall not be used to determine total acreage under this section. An area developed for urban purposes is defined as any area which meets any one of the following standards:
(1)	Has a total resident population equal to at least two and three‑tenths persons for each acre of land included within its  boundaries, and:
 a.	Has a total resident population equal to at least one person for each acre of land included within its boundaries, and is subdivided into lots and tracts such that at least sixty percent (60%) of the total acreage consists of lots and tracts three acres or less in size and such that at least sixty‑five percent (65%) of the total number of lots and tracts are one acre or less in size;  and
 b.	Is so developed that at least sixty percent (60%) of the total number of lots and tracts in the area at the time of annexation are used for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional or governmental purposes, and is subdivided into lots and tracts such that at least sixty percent (60%) of the total acreage, not counting the acreage used at the time of annexation for commercial, industrial, governmental or institutional purposes, consists of lots and tracts three acres or less in size. For purposes of this section, a lot or tract shall not be considered in use for a commercial, industrial, institutional, or governmental purpose if the lot or tract is used only temporarily, occasionally, or on an incidental or insubstantial basis in relation to the size and character of the lot or tract. For purposes of this section, acreage in use for commercial, industrial, institutional, or governmental purposes shall include acreage actually occupied by buildings or other man‑made structures together with all areas that are reasonably necessary and appurtenant to such facilities for purposes of parking, storage, ingress and egress, utilities, buffering, and other ancillary services and facilities; or
(4)	Is the entire area of any county water and sewer district created under G.S. 162A‑86(b1), but this subdivision only applies to annexation by a municipality if that:
a.	Municipality has provided in a contract with that district that the area is developed for urban purposes; and
b.	Contract provides for the municipality to operate the sewer system of that county water and sewer district;
provided that the special categorization provided by this subdivision only applies if the municipality is annexing in one proceeding the entire territory of the district not already within the corporate limits of a municipality; or
(5)	Is so developed that, at the time of the approval of the annexation report, all tracts in the area to be annexed are used for commercial, industrial, governmental, or institutional purposes."
SECTION 4.  This act applies with respect to all annexation ordinances adopted on or after July 1, 2007.