Holly Springs Approves Annexation Agreement

But the agreement will be nullified by Cary's annexation unless Cary agrees to withdraw its impending involuntarily annexation of portions of area 21 of the Holly Springs designation.

The line that Holly Springs commissioners approved was the original line the Cary and Holly Springs town staffs presented in October. The line does not take into consideration the concerns of property owners whose lands eventually could be split between the two towns by the line.

Holly Springs had been trying to negotiate an agreement with Cary that not just the two towns could approve but that would satisfy the affected landowners. Holly Springs' proposals focused on not dividing landowners' properties but keeping each property in one town or the other.

According to Holly Springs officials, Cary officials insisted that if any deal was to be made, those properties would have to be split up.

In addition, Cary officials said they might reconsider the involuntary annexation if Holly Springs officials approved the original line.

Within the last month, a public outcry against Cary's annexation has demonstrated the opposition of many of the thousands of Wake County residents who would be affected by Cary's involuntary annexation. Holly Springs officials said they weighed the concerns of the residents who are to be affected by Cary's involuntary annexation against the concerns of the residents whose lands would be split by the line.

A memorandum issued by Holly Springs Town Manager Carl Dean stated that "if the reason for the involuntary annexation was to truly protect this area from infringement by Holly Springs and to protect their investment, this agreement will put this issue to rest."

As stated throughout the annexation agreement process from the beginning, and as recorded in a resolution passed in December, Holly Springs is not interested in forcefully annexing property in the area discussed. The agreement instead determines which town a property owner would ask to annex his land in the future, should that property owner need to gain municipal utility services or develop his property using those services.

"Unless you have wells that fail, septic systems that fail or want to develop your property, you won' be seeing anything from us as far as involuntary annexation," Dean said Tuesday night.