I surely hate ETJ’s as un-American to the core because they impose rules upon people who cannot vote the rule-makers out of office. Asheville lost its ETJ, as I recall, and I consider that victorious. Boone, however, has been contesting state legislation that would dissolve its ETJ. In the last round in the courts, Boone won.
The town sued the state over the law last year, claiming that the act is unconstitutional because the N.C. Constitution prohibits any local law — one that applies to a specific county or city and not statewide — that relates to health, sanitation and the abatement of nuisances, relating to non-navigable streams, or regulating labor, trade, mining or manufacturing. . . .
[State Senator Dan Soucek, who introduced and continues to champion the bill,] characterized the lawsuit as a waste of money for Boone taxpayers, who “have to pay taxes at three different levels so the state can fight itself.” (Watauga County is also involved in the case as an intervening party on the state’s behalf.)
Even so, Soucek wants the state to appeal, saying he must defend the property rights of those who elected him to office to do so.
