Senate Bill No. 168
(By Senators Barnes and Yoder)
____________
[Introduced January 10, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-6-4 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the annexation of land by a
municipality without an election.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §8-6-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be
amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. ANNEXATION.
PART III. ANNEXATION WITHOUT ELECTION.
§8-6-4. Annexation without an election.
(a) The governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance,
provide for the annexation of additional territory without ordering
a vote on the question if: (1) A majority of the qualified voters
of the additional territory file with the governing body a petition
to be annexed;
and (2) a majority of all freeholders of the
additional territory, whether they reside or have a place of
business therein or not, file with the governing body a petition to be annexed;
and (3) the additional territory sought to be annexed
is contiguous with the current municipal boundaries.
(b) For purposes of this section, the term "qualified voter of
the additional territory" includes firms and corporations in the
additional territory regardless of whether the firm or corporation
is a freeholder. A firm or corporation may sign a petition by its
manager, president or executive officer duly designated in writing
by the firm or corporation. In any instance where a freeholder
leases or rents real property to a firm or corporation the
freeholder and the firm or corporation shall determine which entity
will be entitled to sign a petition relating to the proposed
annexation.
(c) The determination that the requisite number of petitioners
have filed the required petitions shall be reviewable by the
circuit court of the county in which the municipality or the major
portion of the territory thereof, including the area proposed to be
annexed is located, upon certiorari to the governing body in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
fifty-three of this code.
(d) A qualified voter of the additional territory who is also
a freeholder of the additional territory may join only one petition
of the additional territory.
(e) It shall be the responsibility of the governing body to
enumerate and verify the total number of eligible petitioners, in
each category, from the additional territory. In determining the
total number of eligible petitioners, in each category, a freeholder or any other entity that is a freeholder shall be
limited to one signature on a petition as provided in this section.
There shall be allowed only one signature on a petition per parcel
of property and any freehold interest that is held by more than one
individual or entity shall be allowed to sign a petition only upon
the approval by the majority of the individuals or entities that
have an interest in the parcel of property.
(f) If all of the eligible petitioners are qualified voters,
only a voters' petition is required.
(g) If satisfied that the petition is sufficient in every
respect, the governing body shall enter that fact upon its journal
and forward a certificate to that effect to the county commission
of the county wherein the municipality or the major portion of the
territory thereof, including the additional territory, is located.
The county commission shall thereupon
review the record of the
proceedings to ensure that they were conducted pursuant to law and
that the territory sought to be annexed is contiguous with the
current municipal boundaries. If the county commission finds that
the proceedings were conducted pursuant to law, the county
commission shall then enter an order as described in the
immediately preceding section of this article. After the date of
the order, the corporate limits of the municipality shall be as set
forth therein.
(h) For purposes of this section "contiguous" means lots,
parcels, municipal boundaries or county boundaries that are next
to, abutting and having a boundary, or portion thereof, that is coterminous. Streets, highways, roads or other traffic or utility
easements, streams, rivers and other natural topography are not to
be used to determine lots, parcels, municipal boundaries or county
boundaries as contiguous.
(i) Prior to the approval of any annexation without election
pursuant to this section, the petitioner or municipality seeking
such annexation shall provide to the county commission both a metes
and bounds description of the property proposed to be annexed and
a survey map of the property drawn by a professional licensed to
perform such work.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to insert additional
language to make it harder for there to be an annexation of land
without an election.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
