AN ACT to Revise the requirements for a petition submitted to Cleveland county by property owners seeking county financing of road improvements.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 153A‑205(c) reads as rewritten:
"§ 153A‑205.  Improvements to subdivision and residential streets.
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(c)	Before a county may finance all or a portion of the cost of improvements to a subdivision or residential street, it must receive a petition for the improvements signed by at least seventy‑five percent (75%) of the owners of property to be assessed, who must represent at least seventy percent (70%) of all the lineal feet of frontage of the lands abutting on the street or portion thereof to be improved. The petition shall state that portion of the cost of the improvement to be assessed, which shall be the local share required by policies of the Secondary Roads Council. A county may treat as a unit and consider as one street two or more connecting State‑maintained subdivision or residential streets in a petition filed under this subsection calling for the improvement of subdivision or residential streets subject to property owner sharing in the cost of improvement under policies of the Department of Transportation.
Property owned by the United States shall not be included in determining the lineal feet of frontage on the improvement, nor shall the United States be included in determining the number of owners of property abutting the improvement. Property owned by the State of North Carolina shall be included in determining frontage and the number of owners only if the State has consented to assessment as provided in G.S. 153A‑189. Property owned, leased, or controlled by railroad companies shall be included in determining frontage and the number of owners to the extent the property is subject to assessment under G.S. 160A‑222. Property owned, leased, or controlled by railroad companies that is not subject to assessment shall not be included in determining frontage or the number of owners.
No right of action or defense asserting the invalidity of street assessments on grounds that the county did not comply with this subsection in securing a valid petition may be asserted except in an action or proceeding begun within 90 days after the day of publication of the notice of adoption of the preliminary assessment resolution.
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SECTION 2.  This act applies to Cleveland County only.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 26th day of June, 2014.

	s/	 Philip E. Berger
	 President Pro Tempore of the Senate

	s/	 Thom Tillis
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives