NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 203

HOUSE BILL 482

 

 

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF SOUTHERN SHORES IN DARE COUNTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  The Town of Southern Shores, as described in Section 2 of this act, is incorporated.

Sec. 2. The Charter of the Town of Southern Shores is as follows:

"CHAPTER I.

"Incorporation and Corporate Powers.

"Section 1-1. Incorporation and Corporate Powers. The inhabitants of the Town of Southern Shores are a body corporate and politic under the name of the 'Town of Southern Shores'. Under that name they have all the powers, duties, rights, privileges, and immunities conferred and imposed on cities by the general laws of North Carolina.

"CHAPTER II.

"Corporate Boundaries.

"Article 1. Town Boundaries.

"Sec. 2-1. Town Boundaries. Until modified in accordance with law, the boundaries of the Town of Southern Shores are as follows:

Beginning at a point on the North line of U. S. Highway No. 158 in the community of Kitty Hawk, at its intersection with the east shoreline of Ginguite Bay or Creek, and running eastwardly along the North line of said highway and extension of said line eastwardly to the Atlantic Ocean; thence northwardly along the Atlantic Ocean approximately 3-3/4 miles to the South line of property formerly owned by H. C. Hargrave, said line being the North line of that certain subdivision known as Sea Crest Village; thence westwardly along the South line of said Hargrave property to Currituck Sound; thence southwardly along Currituck Sound to the mouth of Ginguite Bay; thence continuing southwardly along Ginguite Bay and Creek to U. S. Highway No. 158, to the point of beginning, EXCEPTING all that certain tract or parcel of land described in that certain deed of trust dated the 5th day of July, 1972 from Outer Banks Recreation Association, Inc., to James O. Buchanan, as Trustee, and the United States of America, as beneficiary, recorded in Book 186, page 714, Dare County Registry, said tract or parcel of land being the same as conveyed to Outer Banks Recreation Association, Inc., by Kitty Hawk Land Company, Inc.

"CHAPTER III.

"Governing Body.

"Sec. 3-1. Structure of Governing Body; Number of Members. The governing body of the Town of Southern Shores is the Town Council, which has five members.

"Sec. 3-2. Manner of Election of Town Council. The qualified voters of the entire Town of Southern Shores shall elect the members of the Town Council.

"Sec. 3-3. Term of Office of the Members of Town Council. Members of the Town Council are elected to four year terms. In 1979 all five members of the Town Council shall be elected, three for four years and two for two years, the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes to serve for four years and the two candidates who receive the next largest number of votes to serve for two years. In 1981 and quadrennially thereafter, two members shall be elected. In 1983 and quadrennially thereafter, three members shall be elected.

"Sec. 3-4. Election of Mayor; Term of Office. At the organizational meeting of the Town Council following each election, the Town Council shall elect one of its members to serve as Mayor. The Mayor shall serve as such for a term of two years.

"Sec. 3-5. Appointment of Initial Town Council and Mayor. David Stick, A. V. Peterson, Nelson M. Bortz, Helen H. Miller, and Harold F. Via are hereby appointed members of the Town Council to serve until their successors are elected in the 1979 election. David Stick is appointed Mayor of the Town of Southern Shores to serve until his successor is elected at the organizational meeting of the Town Council following the 1979 election of Town Council members.

"CHAPTER IV.

"Elections.

"Sec. 4-1. Conduct of Town Elections. Town officers shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis and the results determined by plurality, as provided by G.S. 163-292.

"CHAPTER V.

"Administration.

"Sec. 5-1. Town to Operate under Mayor-Council Plan. The Town of Southern Shores operates under the mayor-council plan as provided in G.S. Chapter 160A, Article 7, Part 3.

"CHAPTER VI.

"Planning and Regulatory Powers.

"Sec. 6-1. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. The Town of Southern Shores shall exercise those powers granted by G.S. Chapter 160A, Article 19 within a defined area extending not more than one mile beyond its limits, the provisions of G.S. 160A-360(e) notwithstanding.

"CHAPTER VII.

"Modification of the Special Assessments Laws.

"Sec. 7-1. Petition Unnecessary. In addition to the authority as is now or may hereafter be granted to the Town for making street or sidewalk improvements, the Town Council is hereby authorized to order such improvements and to assess the total cost thereof against abutting properties without the necessity of a petition of property owners.

"Sec. 7-2. Sidewalk Repairs. The Town Council is further authorized to order or to make sidewalk repairs and driveway repairs across sidewalks according to standards and specifications of the Town, and to assess the total cost thereof against abutting properties without the necessity of a petition of property owners.

"Sec. 7-3. Sidewalk on One Side of Street. If a sidewalk is constructed on only one side of the street in a residential zone, the cost thereof may be assessed against the property abutting on both sides of the street, unless there already exists a sidewalk on the other side of the street, the total cost of which was assessed against the abutting property.

"Sec. 7-4. Notice to Property Owners. Before the Town Council shall order improvements to be made pursuant to Sections 7-1 or 7-2 of this Chapter it shall hold a public hearing thereon, and shall give the owners of the property to be assessed written notice of such public hearing and the proposed action.

"Sec. 7-5. Assessment Procedure and Effect. In ordering street or sidewalk improvements or sidewalk repairs and assessing the cost thereof, the Town Council shall follow the procedures provided by the General Statutes for street and sidewalk improvements, except those provisions relating to the petition of property owners and the sufficiency thereof. The effect of levying assessments pursuant to this act shall for all purposes be the same as if they were levied under authority of the General Statutes.

"Sec. 7-6. Duty of Maintenance for Driveways and Sidewalks. It is the duty of every property owner to maintain the sidewalks and driveways abutting his property in good repair and safe condition.

"Sec. 7-7. Payment of Assessments. Any special assessment of the Town for any purpose amounting to less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be paid in cash within 90 days of confirmation rather than in annual installments, and shall bear interest as taxes.

"Sec. 7-8. Assessment where Street is Town Limit Line. In those instances where the Town limit line runs along a street or road the Town Council may order the improvements and assess the cost thereof against property abutting on both sides of the street as if all the abutting property were within the corporate limits, regardless of whether the improvement is ordered pursuant to this section or other general laws.

"Sec. 7-9. Supplementary Authorization. The procedure herein outlined shall be supplementary to all other procedure authorized by law relating to improvements or special assessments.

"CHAPTER VIII.

"Taxation for Fiscal Year 1978-79.

"Sec. 8-1. Budget for Fiscal Year 1978-79. The newly incorporated Town of Southern Shores in Dare County is authorized to adopt a budget and levy property taxes for the portion of the 1978-79 fiscal year during which it is incorporated. In adopting the budget and levying taxes late in the fiscal year 1978-79, the Town's governing body need not follow the schedule of action set forth in The Local Government Budget Fiscal and Control Act, but shall observe the sequence of actions in the spirit of the act insofar as is practical.

"Sec. 8-2. Property Taxes for Fiscal Year 1978-79. Property taxes as levied by the Town of Southern Shores as authorized in Section 8-1 of this Charter shall be due and collected as provided in G.S. 160A-58.10 in the case of taxes levied for part of the year following annexation."

Sec. 3. Severability clause. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this act is for any reason held to be invalid such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.

Sec. 4. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Sec. 5.  Chapter 935, Session Laws of 1963, is repealed.

Sec. 6. This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 26th day of March, 1979.