Joe Manascalo wants to be de-annexed from Maggie Valley. The move would spare him $2450 a year spent on services he doesn’t use. Manascalo’s request is considered “legitimate” because he lives on a steep-slope road that will never comply with municipal standards. What’s more, service trucks, like trash collectors and snow plows, must back all the way down to the bottom to turn around. Manascalo has the approval of the Maggie Valley aldermen, and next must secure approval from the state legislature.

Whether legislators from the mountains would be willing to expend their political capital to rectify Manascalo’s plight isn’t known.

Since Manascalo’s request was lodged, others have followed suit. Their concerns are considered “illegitimate.” One party only made flippant remarks about forced annexation, and another joined the town long enough to get sewer lines, and then wanted out.