Residents invited to consider voluntary annexation Seeking annexation is now an option for homeowners living southeast of the town limits by CHRIS BURRITT SUMMERFIELD – For homeowner Linda Hall, seeking voluntary annexation into Summerfield – and paying property taxes in the town – doesn’t make sense because she’s “happy as a lark” living in unincorporated Guilford County.
Richardson, the inventor of cold salve Vicks VapoRub, in opposing Summerfield’s request. The Richardson heirs own 1,124 acres in the area where Summerfield wants to exert zoning control. Greensboro said it has extended water and sewer services to some properties
Potential Voluntary Annexation Area
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A special called meeting of Summerfield Town Council last week opened the door for residents on the town’s southern and eastern boundaries to seek voluntary annexation into Summerfield. The meeting in Center United Methodist Church on Lake Brandt Road drew a mixed reaction among about 50 homeowners in the Ridgewood subdivision and surrounding unincorporated area between Summerfield and Greensboro.
The move would have given Summerfield zoning control over the area, enabling the town to block higher-density residential development from abutting town limits. By unanimous vote, the commissioners sided with the Greensboro City Council and the heirs of Lunsford
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On the other hand, homeowner Andy Ide said he plans to seek voluntary annexation into Summerfield because he prefers to become a taxpayer in a town where he believes leaders are more responsive than leaders in Greensboro to the south.
“It is not a have-to,” said Mayor Tim Sessoms, explaining to property owners they can seek annexation into Summerfield or remain part of the unincorporated county. In early April, Summerfield mailed letters to nearly 700 property owners inviting them to “a community conversation about voluntary annexation” into the town. In the letter, Sessoms pointed out what property owners would get from Summerfield in exchange for paying property taxes. “Voluntary annexation would afford participants a vote in Summerfield elections, an opportunity to impact decisions through service on town committees, and substantially lower property taxes compared to Greensboro,” Sessoms said. “Regarding development practices and regulations, Summerfield allows far lower density per acre compared to Greensboro.” Summerfield’s property tax rate is 2.75 cents per $100,000 of property valuation. In Greensboro, the rate is 66.25 cents. Summerfield leaders are pursuing voluntary annexation after the Guilford County Board of Commissioners last year rejected the town’s request to create an extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) on its southern and eastern borders.
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Summmerfield Fire District Current Summerfield Town Limits Parcels Eligible for Voluntary Annexation
Produced by the Town of Summerfield Planning Department using Guilford County GIS Data Map updated 4/26/2022
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MAY 5 - 18, 2022
The Northwest Observer
This map, presented at a special called meeting of Summerfield Town Council on April 28, shows the area in which property owners in Summerfield’s southern and •eastern Totallyboundaries local since 1996 would be eligible to seek annexation into the town.
