Citizens of Biltmore Lake are suing the City of Asheville for involuntarily annexing them. The case is based on flimsy arguments, technicalities about the annexation process. The real problem is that the residents are being annexed against their will. Only part of the new subdivision is being annexed due to growth since the process started. Some in the neighborhood, therefore, will pay higher taxes and have a harder problem selling their homes should they want to.
This is no surprise, as after the decision was made, a number of the “red shirts,” as they were nicknamed for wearing red to show their solidarity, defied the decorum of the chamber remarking, “See ya in court,” as they filed out of the room.
Asheville practices involuntary annexation because unique legislation (Sullivan acts I, II, and III) aimed only at the City of Asheville prevents it from requiring annexation as a condition for hooking into the water system. Large developers know this, and so they develop cheaply on the outskirts of town and leave it to homebuyers to get stuck with the annexation.
In private conversations, members of the local legislative delegation, past and present, have commented that Asheville must be controlled by the Sullivan acts because either city council or the freaks that pull their strings don’t have any business sense. They say they could yank the city’s charter at any time rather than just imposing onerous legislation. Other people in the know say off the record that large developers with lobbyists (names omitted in the interest of not repeating hearsay) convinced the legislators to advocate for the Sullivan acts.
Representative Susan Fisher said she voted for Sullivan acts II and III because Wilma Sherrill supported them. She promised city council members Brownie Newman and Holly Jones she would not support the acts. Then Fisher spoke on behalf of acts on the floor before her fellow representatives. After that, she wrote an editorial in the local daily slamming the citizens for being partisan about the legislation.
