Communities React Differently To Pinehurst Annexation Plans

Pinehurst is eyeing Jackson Hamlet and Pinewild, and the exclusive golf village is getting a mixed response.

Jackson Hamlet is more than 100 years old, small, poor, and mostly African-American. Many in the community want Pinehurst's help.

"We need everything we can get," Jackson Hamlet resident Alvin McGregor said.

Jackson Hamlet residents would like to see more parks, sewer lines, street maintenance and police protection. But all of that comes with a price, through higher property taxes.

McGregor said many of the residents are on fixed incomes, and they "just can't afford it."

Then there's Pinewild, a gated golf course community built in the 1980s that has three times the population of Jackson Hamlet. About 80 percent of the residents in Pinewild surveyed by the community association don't want to be annexed.

Many of the residents believe Pinehurst just wants their money, which would add up to about $6 million over five years, residents said.

"The bottom line, as far as I see it, is just dollars and cents for Pinehurst and no real improvement in the quality of life at Pinewild," Pinewild resident John Boesch said.

Pinehurst leaders said the annexation is good for both communities.

"Jackson Hamlet and Pinewild are developing to the point where they are recognized by the State of North Carolina as being an urban area, and the state's policy is that what is urban should be municipal," Andy Wilkison, Pinehurst Village manager, said.

So village leaders are moving forward. Pinehurst leaders plan to discuss the cases further in October and November, and they expect to annex Pinewild first, as early as next June.