NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1959 SESSION

CHAPTER 1204

HOUSE BILL 373

AN ACT AUTHORIZING MUNICIPALITIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 2,500 OR MORE TO ZONE FOR A DISTANCE OF ONE MILE BEYOND THEIR CORPORATE LIMITS.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. That Article 14 of Chapter 160 of the General Statutes of North Carolina is hereby amended by adding the following new Section at the end thereof:

"G. S. 160-181.2. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. The legislative body of any municipality whose population at the time of the latest decennial census of the United States was 2,500 or more may exercise the powers granted in this Article not only within its corporate limits but also within the territory extending for a distance of one mile beyond such limits in all directions; provided, that any ordinance intended to have application beyond the corporate limits of the municipality shall expressly so provide, and provided further that such ordinance be adopted in accordance with the provisions set forth herein. In the event of land lying outside a municipality and lying within a distance of one mile of more than one municipality, the jurisdiction of each such municipality shall terminate at a boundary line equidistant from the respective corporate limits of such municipalities. No extraterritorial regulations shall affect bona fide farms, but any use of such property for non-farm purposes shall be subject to such regulations.

"As a prerequisite to the exercise of such powers, the membership of the zoning commission or planning board charged with the preparation of proposed regulations for the one-mile area outside the corporate limits shall be increased to include additional members who shall represent such outside area. The number of additional members representing such outside area shall be equal in number to the members of the planning board or zoning commission appointed by the governing body of the municipality. Such additional members shall be residents of the one-mile area outside the corporate limits and shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners of the county wherein the municipality is situated. Such members shall have equal rights, privileges, and duties with the other members of the zoning commission or planning board in all matters pertaining to the regulation of such area, both in preparation of the original regulations and in consideration of any proposed amendments to such regulations.

"In the event that a municipal legislative body adopts zoning regulations for the area outside its corporate limits, it shall increase the membership of the board of adjustment by adding five additional members. Such members shall be residents of the one-mile area outside the corporate limits and shall be appointed by the board of county commissioners of the county wherein the municipality is situated. Such members shall have equal rights, privileges, and duties with the other members of the board of adjustment in all matters pertaining to the regulation of such area. The concurring vote of eight members of such enlarged board shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, decision, or determination of any administrative official charged with the enforcement of an ordinance.

"Where the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality extends into more than one county, the board of county commissioners of each county affected shall appoint the outside members of the zoning commission or planning board and of the board of adjustment, from among the residents of the area included in its county; such outside members shall function only with respect to the area included in the county in which they reside.

"Any municipal legislative body exercising the powers granted by this Section may provide for the enforcement of its regulations for the outside area in the same manner as the regulations for the area inside the city are enforced; provided this Section shall not apply to Cumberland, Davie, Franklin, Gaston, Harnett, Iredell, Macon, Mitchell, Moore, Onslow, Orange, Pender, Person, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, Watauga and Wayne Counties."

Sec. 1.1. The requirement that a municipality shall have a population of 2,500 or more shall not apply to Montgomery County.

Sec. 2. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 19th day of June, 1959.