Court Opinion

ID: 9572175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:39:18.971286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:31:46.562257
License: Public Domain

McCULLOUGH, Judge,
dissenting.
The majority opinion invalidates an annexation ordinance adopted 13 June 2000 and affirmed by the superior court. In finding the annexation ordinance null and void, the majority bases its decision on the conclusion that construction activity does not constitute commercial activity. From this conclusion I must respectfully dissent.
Petitioners contend that certain tracts do not meet the “use test” mandated by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-48(c)(3), which provides:
(c) Part or all of the area to be annexed must be developed for urban purposes at the time of approval of the report provided for in G.S. 160A-47 [The Service Plan]. ... An area developed for urban purposes is defined as any area which meets any one of the following standards:
* * * *
(3) Is so developed that at least sixty percent (60%) of the total number of lots and tracts in the area at the time of annexation are used for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional or governmental purposes[.]
It is undisputed that, at the time the ordinance was adopted, significant construction activity was underway and the properties were being developed as a strip mall and offices in accordance with the zoning ordinance and certain restrictive covenants. The majority con-*384eludes that the “use test” cannot be met until construction is over and the tenants are in place. I believe this view is too restrictive.
It is true that vacant land zoned for a future purpose, but with no activity underway cannot be considered for annexation based on the zoning alone. See R. R. v. Hook,, 261 N.C. 517, 520, 135 S.E.2d 562, 565 (1964). I believe construction activity itself is in fact a commercial. use. The common definitions of “commercial” or “commerce” include “[t]he exchange of goods and services,” Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed. 1999) or “[t]he buying and selling of goods[.]” American Heritage Dictionary 280 (3d ed. 1997).
When a developer hires a construction company to erect shopping centers and/or offices, such would certainly seem to qualify as a “commercial” use of the property. The construction company is purchasing building materials and using them to erect the structures by the application of skilled labor in the hopes of making a profit on the transaction. Such activity is “commercial” by its very nature.
I do not believe that the City of Asheville was required to wait until the stores and offices were completed before adopting the annexation ordinance. Accordingly, I would affirm the decision of the superior court upholding the annexation.