Two idyllic communities, situated in the heart of North Carolina, have come to fisticuffs over involuntary annexation in a dispute that might lead to a “Case of First Impression” in the U.S. Supreme Court.
About 80 percent of the residents living in 745 homes on 1,200 acres in the private, gated community of Pinewild want their counterpart, the resort town of Pinehurst, to keep its hands off them and have banded together into the movement to Stop the Taking of Pinewild (StTOP).
Lawyer Gene Boyce recently filed a multimillion-dollar constitutional claim lawsuit in the state court system on behalf of StTOP, seeking $54 million in just compensation to pay for assets acquired in what Pinewild officials term a hostile takeover to put more revenue in the Village of Pinehurst’s coffers.
“The United States Supreme Court has said many times that one’s right of privacy and security is the most important aspect of being an owner of the property,” Boyce said. “They use the metaphor phrase that the right of privacy is ‘the most important of the sticks in the bundle of property rights.’”
The question Boyce is posing to the court is whether Pinewild, a hamlet on the outskirts of the Village of Pinehurst, is considered an “involuntary annexation” or a “taking” by the Village of Pinehurst.
“Pinewild is unique, and there’s no precedence on the part of this case,” Boyce said. “I have completed many hours of research, and I cannot find a case of this kind. A judge needs to declare the answer. The people of Pinewild need to know. It is a federal question that needs to be answered in the United States Supreme Court. I have high hopes that it’s a ‘taking’ and I should win.”
Boyce said the bad blood between the entities began in the early 1980s, when Pinewild’s lawyer requested voluntary annexation by the Village of Pinehurst. Pinewild was turned down after the Pinehurst Town Council decided Pinehurst did not want to bear the expense to bring the infrastructure of water, sewer, and roads to the developing community. Residents moving into the area purchased the services and, when they were finally in place, Boyce said, Pinehurst decided to make the move on a forced annexation.
StTOP first filed a suit in federal court to stop the annexation. However, North Carolina’s annexation law reads in favor of municipalities. The case was dismissed without prejudice, allowing Pinewild to file a constitutional claim in the state court system.
Pinewild is no longer contending the annexation, per se, but is asking the Village of Pinehurst to give Pinewild back the millions of dollars it had invested in water and sewer lines and 21 miles of road built over the past two decades.
Boyce said the “taking” immediately will decrease property values and put the private community into the public domain.
“I look at this as a taking of the property and assets,” Boyce said. “I look at this as taking away the Pinewild resident’s privacy, and that’s the most important and outstanding right of ownership. This move will depreciate the value of the property at least 14 to 17 percent. The people of Pinewild then lose their private status and lose control of the streets that they paid for with their own money.”
Pinewild resident Lydia Boesch has been fighting the forced annexation for more than three years. She said the unfair law is tantamount to “painting a house with a hammer.”
“These statutes aren’t the tools that you use when annexing a town that already has all of their services,” she said. “It’s just not right.”
She said citizens living in Pinewild are most concerned about losing their autonomous voice and privacy. “Under state law, all of Pinehurst’s regulations and ordinances will apply to Pinewild,” Boesch said. “Anything they say will go. Once we’re in, they will have us at their mercy. We lose control. We are no longer a self-determining community. All of our power passes to them. It’s just unreal.”
She said Pinewild’s day in court ultimately is about democracy and fundamental fairness. “They are using annexation as a tax grab,” Boesch said. “That’s primarily what they use it for. It’s a revenue-generating device. It’s repugnant, and we have promised our supporters that we will pursue this as long as it takes to be heard on both the federal and state level,” she said. “We are ready to go all the way to the United States Supreme Court.”
Boesch said it’s the best investment they’ve ever made. “It’s a good cause,” she said. “It’s a great cause, and we have the people in our community with money, time, and brains. They’ve picked on the wrong people. The Village of Pinehurst didn’t know whom they were dealing with when they decided to mess with our community. We’ve got to have a voice. We’re making a huge noise.”
Michael J. Newman, lawyer for the Village of Pinehurst, said he’s tired of all the rumors and scare tactics that have taken on a life of their own during this particular annexation. He said the procedure is in place to promote orderly growth in an area and that StTOP can try as it might, but that it will not prevail because the law is on Pinehurst’s side. He insisted that Pinewild has already lost on the federal court level and will lose again on the state court level.
“The annexation is not a ‘taking,’” Newman said. “The state law is very clear. Pinehurst complied with state annexation laws and was proper in all respects. The lawsuit does not have any bearing on annexation, whatsoever, and will not affect the date of annexation. It will occur sometime in the early summer. We are estimating June 2008, based on the average length of time.”
He said the Village of Pinehurst declined Pinewild’s early request for annexation because a certain threshold of urban population needed to be attained before annexation procedures began. He said a “notice of intent to annex” was sent to all residents of Pinewild after this number was met. “We didn’t wait until they had all their services,” Newman said. “There are strict rules and regulations that have to be followed, and it is a statutory prerequisite that we needed to wait.”
Karen McMahan is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.