 Two years later in 2008, City staff came forward with a proposal to extend our ETJ an additional 6 thousand acres – a move which, by policy agreement with Wake County, would require us to provide water and sewer to these areas within 5-7 years. This was at a time when Raleigh was one of only two municipalities in the county that required ratepayers to pay 100% of the cost of new water and sewer plant expansions serving new growth.
It was bad enough that the 2006 council laid the foundation for the ‘sprawling’ of Eastern Wake County, but then our own city staff proposed to all but mandate ratepayer-subsidized sprawl in thousands of acres of Eastern Wake that would have resulted from the ETJ extension, even though no planning had been performed (much less planned). The result would have been 6 thousand more acres of suburban sprawl, with ratepayers funding most the required new water and sewer plants, roads, parks and other growth-related infrastructure. I mounted a campaign against our staff’s proposal and defeated it unanimously. Below is the statement I read into the minutes of the Feb 19, 2008 Council meeting, including excerpts from staff’s own report opposing the 2006 satellite annexation.
2008 City of Raleigh ETJ Extension Request Comments
2-19-08
The ETJ expansion request before us is the direct result of the 2006 River Towne satellite annexation, approved by the last council even though it was inconsistent with most Raleigh and Wake County goals for cost-effective and well-planned growth.
Councilors who voted to annex River Towne focused on mitigating the development shortcomings of a single county subdivision, but the staff’s 6000 acre expansion proposal before us today makes it clear that they did not see River Towne as an isolated case. Instead it was a clear message that the city council was willing to continue voting against its own adopted growth plans, and in doing so, continue a long-standing pattern of promoting ad-hoc, unplanned sprawl.
Staff's response is equally clear: Since the council has been unable to resist the many adverse impacts of ad-hoc annexations, we should at least mitigate those actions by committing to annex 6000 new acres into the city within the next 5-7 years, notwithstanding the immense cost and pressure which growth of that magnitude will bring.
While I commend the staff for their attempt to respond to the last council’s message that sprawl will continue, this new council has an opportunity send a much different message: That we have reached a tipping point, and rather than loosening our belts by 6000 acres to mitigate more sprawl, we are instead going to take a deep breath and spend the next year planning Raleigh’s future. With our Comprehensive Plan update and regional transportation planning underway, and with questions looming large about our our ability to pay for growth, and provide water for growth, this is the time to turn the page on the past and look to Raleigh's future.
Russ Stephenson, AIA
Raleigh City Council At-Large
Excerpts from July 5, 2006 staff report on River Towne Annexation:
Item 3. “Raleigh’s most recent ETJ extension in 2001 [3,432 acres east of the Neuse River] has not had any annexation areas submitted or approved at this time.”
Item 6. “Precedent will be set for other vacant farm lands in long range urban service area to request annexation in short term.”
Excerpt from December 20, 2007 staff report on 2008 ETJ Extension Request: “The City continues to receive inquiries for new development projects served by Raleigh utilities in its northeast and southeast urban service areas.”
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    2009 Endorsements
2011 Endorsements TBA |
Saving Taxpayers Millions While Slowing Sprawl |