Boone Act Appeal Advances To State Supreme Court

The state Supreme Court has decided to hear an appeal of the so-called “Boone Act.” The Act stripped the town of its ability to have a say in some planning matters outside the town's limits. Now, Boone is fighting to keep that power.

For more than 50 years, cities and towns across the state have been able to have a say in matters just outside their boundaries. It's a power known as extra-territorial jurisdiction, or ETJ, and it allows town planners to regulate areas that could end up annexed into that town.

The legislature took away Boone's ETJ powers last year, saying Boone officials had abused its powers. The town sued to get it back.

David Owens of the UNC School of Government in Chapel Hill is an expert on local government issues including ETJ. He says the legislature has increasingly kept a closer watch on how local municipalities have governed.

“And if they're exercising in a way the General Assembly does not agree or disapproves of, they've been quite willing to step in and direct particular results.”

In July, a three-judge panel sided with the Town of Boone in the dispute. The state and Watauga County appealed. Earlier this month, the State Supreme Court allowed that appeal to go forward.