NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1971 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 7

HOUSE BILL 70

 

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF WILSON.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 136, Session Laws of 1969, constituting the revised and consolidated Charter of the City of Wilson is hereby amended by adding thereto a new Article XVII as follows:

"Article XVII. Establishment of Proposed Street Lines.

"Sec.17.1. Authority to Establish Proposed Street Lines. Whenever, in the opinion of the City Council, it is in the best interest of the City to do so, the Council may make provisions for the ultimate widening or extension or both of existing streets and for the opening of new streets, and for the gradual or immediate acquisition of the lands necessary for such improvements, in accordance with the procedure established by this Article.

"Sec. 17.2. Platting of Proposed Street Lines. The City Council shall have power to request, make, or cause to be made, from time to time, surveys for the exact locating of the lines of new, extended, widened, or narrowed streets and highways in the whole or any portion of the city and the area within one mile outside of its corporate boundaries. Personnel making such surveys are empowered to enter upon lands, make examinations or surveys, and place and maintain necessary monuments thereon, at reasonable times and with due care for the property. A plat or plats of the area or areas thus surveyed shall be prepared on which are indicated the location of the lines recommended as the planned or mapped lines of future streets, street extensions, street widenings or street narrowings. The preparation of such plat or plats shall not in and of itself constitute or be deemed to constitute the opening or establishment of any street or the taking or acceptance of any land for street purposes.

"Sec. 17.3. Adoption of Official Map; Hearing; Notice. Following the preparation of such plats, the City Council may officially adopt a map or maps of planned new streets and highways, extensions, widening, narrowing, or vacations of streets within the City and the area within one mile outside of its corporate boundaries. Before taking any such action, the Council shall hold a public hearing thereon, notice of the time and place of which shall have been given once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the City. Said notice shall be posted, and published for the first time, not less than fifteen days prior to the date fixed for said hearing. Following adoption of such a map or maps the Council shall certify a copy thereof to the Register of Deeds of Wilson County, which copy shall show the name or names of the owners of property affected, or to be affected thereby as nearly as may be determined, and shall state the purpose of said map and shall refer to this Article of the Charter of the City of Wilson, which copy shall be duly filed by said Register of Deeds and shall be indexed under the name of the City of Wilson and be indexed or cross-indexed under the names of each of said property owners. The placing of any street or street line upon any official map or maps shall not in and of itself constitute or be deemed to constitute the opening or establishment of any street or the taking or acceptance of any land for street purposes.

"Sec. 17.4. Right to Acquire Property before Improvement. From and after the time of adoption and certification to the Register of Deeds of any such map or maps, it shall be unlawful to build upon any land within the lines of proposed streets shown thereon or to repair or otherwise improve any existing buildings within said lines until the City Council shall have been given an opportunity to purchase or otherwise acquire said property for street purposes as provided by this Article. To that end, the owner or any person proposing to build upon such land or to make repairs or improvement to any existing building on such land shall in writing notify the City Council in person or by attorney at a regular meeting, or by registered letter addressed to the City Manager of the nature and estimated cost of such building, repairs, or improvements. The Council shall then determine whether it will take the necessary steps to acquire said land prior to construction of said building or the making of said repairs or improvements. If the Council fails, within sixty days from the receipt of such notice, to acquire, adopt a formal resolution directing an appropriate officer to acquire, or institute condemnation proceedings to acquire said property, then the owner or other person giving notice may proceed to erect the building or to make the repairs or improvements described in said notice freed of the restraint of said map. The Building Inspector is authorized to withhold and refrain from issuing, for a period not exceeding sixty days from receipt by the Council of the notice herein prescribed, any building permit for the erection of any building within the said lines, or for the making of any repairs or improvements to existing buildings within said lines.

"Sec. 17.5. Failure to Give Notice Bars Recovery for Value of Improvements. If any person, firm or corporation builds upon any land included within said proposed street lines, or repairs or otherwise improves that part of any existing building within said lines, without giving the City Council an opportunity to acquire said property free from improvements, as provided in Section 17.4 of this Article, the Council shall not be required to pay for the value of said building, repairs, or improvements in any proceeding subsequently brought to acquire the land for the purpose shown on the officially adopted map or maps.

"Sec. 17.6. Failure to Act No Limit to Subsequent Condemnation. The failure of the City Council to take action under Section 17.4 of this Article within sixty days after notice shall not have the effect of limiting the right of the Council at any subsequent time to condemn the same. In such case, however, the owner shall be entitled to full compensation as now provided by law for the building, repairs, or improvements made after the failure of the Council to take action within the prescribed period."

Sec. 2.  This act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 12th day of February, 1971.