ELIZABETHTOWN — The age-old question of the pre-eminence of the chicken or the egg can be applied to municipal development — which comes first, the residents or the businesses?

At a recent Lumber River Council of Governments meeting, attendees were told that of Bladen, Robeson, Hoke, Scotland, and Richmond counties in North Carolina, the only one projected to see an increase in the next 20 years is Hoke County. Bladen County is expected to neither grow nor decline, and the other three will see declining population, according to the organization’s projection.

The statistics may be based in part on a recent North Carolina statute. In 2011, the General Assembly passed an annexation reform law honing in on the three types of annexation previously allowed under law — voluntary, involuntary, and legislative. The 2011 law effectively eliminated involuntary annexation, and property owners now have to unanimously agree to be incorporated into town limits.

“No developer is going to want to annex, and no property owners are going to agree to it either, because they don’t want the regulations and taxes,” explained Elizabethtown Councilman Dicky Glenn. “It’s going to be extremely hard — maybe even impossible — for the town to expand.”

The town’s ETJ, like all municipalities’, extends for a 1-mile radius outside the town limits and includes the N.C. 87 Bypass. Rumors that have come and gone over the years about the possibility of development in the area were recently reignited when DOT began work many thought prompted by Walmart.

“I get more people talking to me about that than just about anything else,” said Councilman Ricky Leinwand. “They think we’re stopping Walmart from coming or something. Look, I have two hats — that of a merchant and that of a councilman. As an Elizabethtown merchant, I want competition.

“When Walmart first came here, it made me a better merchant. I didn’t need to be selling $5 T-shirts, and their coming showed me that,” he added. “It’s made me up my game. Competition is good, and I’m not opposed to other stores coming. I just want them as close as possible to me.”

The issue facing those who want to see growth, according to Leinwand, is making sure it occurs in town limits, which would require annexation.

“If a big store built on the bypass, and it’s not annexed, I’m completely opposed to it,” Leinwand said. “Not only would we not get their taxes, but some of our stores in town now would move out there, and we’d lose that tax base as well. Then we’d have to increase taxes to make up the difference. That’s something we haven’t done in 10 years and don’t want to do.”

Though taxes haven’t been raised in 10 years, it’s been even longer since Elizabethtown has seen physical growth. One would have to go back to the 1970s to find a time the town enlarged its borders. At that time, it more than doubled in size, going from roughly 1400 square feet to the 3700 square feet that comprise the town today.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and money making Elizabethtown a place people want to come to,” said Leinwand. “I’m all for growth, but at the same time, I don’t want us to lose what we have.”

Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.

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Elizabethtown leaders don’t see room to grow

By Chrysta Carroll

ccarroll@civitasmedia.com