2008 Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) Extension Request

Status:
At its February 5, 2008 meeting, Council approved adoption of a policy not to accept annexation petition requests outside of Raleigh's ETJ with certain limited exceptions that Council would consider on a case by case basis. (See Resolution 2008-460.)

At its February 19, 2008 meeting, City Council agreed not to proceed with the proposed ETJ extension request. Council did agree to develop joint policies on growth management including ETJ expansions in coordination with the governments of adjacent municipalities and the City's updated Comprehensive Plan to provide more specific guidance on relationships between the City and County regarding land use goals.

Background and History:
As part of a January 8, 2008 meeting agenda item, City Council was asked to consider making a request to Wake County to extend Raleigh's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) into six areas covering a total of approximately 6000 acres adjacent to Raleigh's current northeast and southeast jurisdictional boundaries. An ETJ extension report has been prepared which further describes the six areas.

State law authorizes municipalities to have ETJ so they can manage development in areas that are expected to urbanize in the future. This enables municipalities to guide development patterns in expected growth areas and to ensure that future development is built with infrastructure that will allow efficient delivery of urban services as the City grows into the area.

Upon formal submittal to Wake County, review and action on an ETJ extension request is estimated to take over 12 months. Approval of an ETJ extension request by Wake County would ultimately transfer planning, zoning, and land development oversight in these fringe areas to the City of Raleigh upon application of Raleigh zoning to the areas.

City Council was also asked to consider adopting a policy not to accept annexation petition requests outside of Raleigh's current ETJ with certain exceptions that would be considered on a case by case basis. A general ETJ extension into an area would allow for a more orderly transition from county to city regulations and services than would be the case with a series of individual annexations.