Cabarrus Cheap Seats

Ever in search of a thickening plot, Harold Smith is now bringing into question the approval of voluntary annexations approved by the Kannapolis City Council earlier this month. Here’s the text of his post:

The Kannapolis City Scheme 

Kannapolis City Approves Annexation into the Odell Community

What is wrong with Kannapolis City annexing into the Odell community?

Odell is seeking to incorporate as a town. But Kannapolis will do anything to stop Odell. Why? Kannapolis made a deal with Concord last year to divide up western Cabarrus County. Concord would annex south of Hwy 73 and Kannapolis would annex North of Hwy 73 to the Mecklenburg County line.

The problem for Kannapolis occurred when the N. C. General Assembly refused to grant Kannapolis authority to annex at will beyond Lake Howell because of a 3 mile limitation in the annexation law.

Steve Myers purchased 4 acres of land at the end of Bradford Road which is a dirt road on the western side of Lake Howell, the opposite side of the lake from Kannapolis. This 4 acres is remote and is 1 ½ miles from Hwy 73. Mike Legg reported in Monday’s meeting that there would be no water and sewer to the 4 acres. What was the rush to annex this property?

Steve Myers contributed $4,000 to the campaigns of Paul Bessent and $1,000 each to Randy Cauthen and Darrell Hinnant. Was this annexation of the 4 acres three weeks after the election a “Payback?”

Now for the rest of the story .

Now Kannapolis City can redraw the City limits to show that the new city limits are on the west side of Lake Howell. Now Kannapolis City can annex at will all of the Odell community because it lies within 3 miles of Kannapolis new city limits. The race is on. Can Kannapolis annex Odell before Odell can become a town?

Guess who will pay for the initial infrastructure cost in developing western Cabarrus County - improved roads, water and sewer lines, police and fire protection? Kannapolis citizens. It will cost Kannapolis citizens $millions and $millions while ignoring the needs of Kannapolis citizens in the current city limits.

What about citizens of Odell? They will receive Kannapolis higher taxes and higher water and sewer bills. These are taxes and services they don’t want. Will their wells be condemned ? What will this cost the citizens of Odell?

Who will benefit? Steve Myers and other developers will make $millions and $millions.
Citizens!! If you want to do stop the “Kannapolis City Scheme”, please contact me by responding to this email or calling me at 704-932-0551..
Harold Smith 704-932-0551

Q&A

The funny thing about this post is, unlike many Harold Smith rants, this one is overwhelmingly factual; but it ignores a few fundamental facts. Let’s handle what is true.

Does Concord and Kannapolis have an agreement to annex Western Cabarrus County using NC73 (Davidson Hwy.) as a bisecting line? Yes.

Did Kannapolis fail to get approval from the General Assembly earlier this year to do that? Yes.

Was Steve Myers signature on the Shiloh Farms request to the City of Kannapolis to annex the 4.07 acres off of Bradford Road? Yes.

Could the City of Kannapolis incur a cost to extending infrastructure to area? Probably.

Could Shiloh Farms (referred to as “Steve Myers”) make “millions and millions” off of the development of the land they own in the area (which is between 100 and 200 acres)? Maybe.

Did Steve Myers make all of those political contributions? It isn’t posted on the web, but nobody is denying it. So, let’s just say it’s likely; because I haven’t had time to motor down to the Board of Elections this week.

Really, what is wrong with Kannapolis Annexing

All that being said, none of this is really a big deal. Here’s why. People who own property have a right to increase the value of that property, enjoy it, and trade it. Don’t just take my word for it - look it up in The US Constitution, The NC Constitution, and The Declaration of Independence.

Personally, I find it amazing how someone who fashions himself as the “straight talker” of the “Conservative” wing of the Cabarrus Republicans has such a problem with capitalism and property rights; and would rather have a government dictate how Shiloh Farms, Steve Myers, You, or I can deal with our property rather than leaving it to the individual property owner. We’ve read where Harold railed against Kannapolis “encroaching” on the rights of property owners in Western Cabarrus County - is it right for an another city named “Odell” to do the same? Those who refer to themselves as the “Odell Community” have been fighting involuntary annexation by Kannapolis largely because they want to remain “rural”…keeping lot sizes at 1 acre or greater.

Like I had said in a recent article, Food Lion and Shiloh Farms voted with their feet and decided that they would rather be in Kannapolis, NC than the yet-to-be-incorporated Odell, NC. They did this by going through a lengthy process to be voluntarily annexed in Kannapolis.

Paybacks are a…

I always love it when Harold Smith tries to make some decision all about the evil desires of local bureaucrats and elected officials with whom he disagrees to subjugate the citizenry. However, sometimes the logic of a decision escapes him when he lays out the facts.

Note fact #1 in his latest article: “Kannapolis made a deal with Concord last year to divide up western Cabarrus County. Concord would annex south of Hwy 73 and Kannapolis would annex North of Hwy 73 to the Mecklenburg County line.” OK, so since last year both Kannapolis AND Concord had publicly announced their plans to annex Western Cabarrus County using NC73 as a boundary.

He then insinuates that political contributions during the 2005 election from landowner Steve Myers caused the Kannapolis City Council to grant the annexation requests from Shiloh Farms (Steve Myers) and Food Lion.

So, the Kannapolis City Council entered into an agreement to annex the fast-growing Western portion of Cabarrus County with Concord in 2004. However, political contributions in 2005 convinced the Kannapolis City Council to continue down this route.

Huh?

The last paragraph makes no sense when you think about it. Harold is committing a classic logical fallacy known as Coincidental Correlation or Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (Latin: “after this therefore because of this”). Harold had already established the Kannapolis would annex the Odell area from the 2004 agreement…before Steve Myers contributions to City Council members. So, without those contributions, Kannapolis intended to annex the area. Therefore, since Kannapolis already had plans they were executing before the political contributions Harold failed to prove political payback. If Kannapolis had changed its policy in favor of Steve Myers, then any reasonable person would smell a rat. However, Kannapolis was moving along a previously established course. Therefore, Harold presents insufficient evidence of a payback.

Why Annex?

This might be a good time to explain why a city might want to annex. Cities offer services like police and paid fire protection that the County doesn’t. However, these services cost too much to be provided to remote andagricultural areas. People in annexed areas pay nearly twice the tax per dollar valuation as those who live in the unincorporated (i.e. unannexed) areas of a County. So, if you’re a farmer in the far reaches of the county with 500 acres of land, the response time of a Sheriff and volunteer fire department would probably be just fine. However, if you’re in a neighborhood with 10 families to an acre - you’re going to need City services.

The growth in Cabarrus County led to some inefficient annexation practices in the 90s. That’s why Concord and Kannapolis entered into the annexation agreement. As that area of the county grows, they will annex per the agreement to provide services.

It’s not about power or subverting the will of the people. It’s about growing this county in a way that will provide the services most efficiently.