The City of Wilmington would like to welcome Monkey Junction residents into the new city limits.
The status of the Monkey Junction annexation may seem confusing as there have been many unknowns following legal challenges and changes to state annexation laws. In March 2012, a North Carolina Superior Court judge ruled that the new annexation statutes approved by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2011 are unconstitutional. This ruling makes the Monkey Junction annexation effective.
Although the ruling could still be appealed or the NC General Assembly could make further changes to the annexation laws, the city - by law - must take immediate steps to provide city services to residents of the Monkey Junction area since the annexation is now in effect.
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Public Hearings
A public hearing will be held by the Wilmington Planning Commission on May 2, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. at the City Council Chambers in City Hall at 102 N. 3rd Street. This public hearing will be for the review of the zoning of the entire Monkey Junction area.
The Wilmington City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning for the Monkey Junction area at their May 15, 2012 meeting at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in City Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 102 N. 3rd Street.
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New Zoning
As part of the annexation process, property in the Monkey Junction area will be converted from county to city zoning classifications. For the most part, residential property will stay zoned residential and commercial uses are proposed for several different city zoning classifications.
What city services will be provided?
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Police
The Wilmington Police Department is made up of 304 personnel, including 267 sworn officers. The SouthEast Command Center, one of WPD’s two locations, is located on South College Road, minutes away from Monkey Junction. WPD’s average response time to an emergency call is 5½ minutes. |
The WPD is now providing law enforcement services in the area and will respond to traffic accidents in Monkey Junction, so residents will no longer have to wait for the NC Highway Patrol to respond.
City Investment: $336,000 annually for five additional officers and equipment for the newly annexed area.
Fire
The city will construct a large water main pipe along Carolina Beach Road from Wal-Mart to the New Hanover County Myrtle Grove Fire Station. More than 60 fire hydrants will be installed on new and existing water mains where there are gaps in service. The city fire stations will continue the mutual aid agreement with the Myrtle Grove Fire Station and may build another station in the area in the future.
The current fire service rating in the Monkey Junction area is Class 5/9s. The city’s rating is a Class 2. These ratings are based on national and state criteria and include a number of factors, including how quickly fire personnel can get to a fire, the quality and number of fire trucks and other equipment a station has to respond to a fire and how many firefighters there are. The other critical factor is the available water supply and water pressure to fight fires and how close properties are to fire hydrants.
The current split rating in the Monkey Junction area means properties in the Class 5 area are generally within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant, but properties in the Class 9 rating are more than 1,000 feet from a fire hydrant.
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Inside the city limits, there are typically fire hydrants every 300 feet for commercial properties and every 500 feet for residential properties.
There are 11 fire stations inside the city limits, meaning most properties are within 1.5 to 2 miles of a fire station.
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City Investment: Between $244,000 and $1 million, depending on whether a new fire station is built.
Traffic and Street Maintenance
The city will begin maintaining five miles of public streets that were maintained by the state Department of Transportation, will add almost 70 streetlights, and assume maintenance of almost 30 existing lights.
City Investment: Approximately $100,000 to install additional streetlights and $16,000 for annual maintenance.
Water and Sewer
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The city will construct new water and sewer mains as necessary to provide public water, sewer and fire protection to the new city residents. This includes Samsara Estates, most of which does not currently have public water, sewer or an adequate water supply for fire protection (fire hydrants).
In addition to installing new water and sewer pipes, upgrades will also be made to the Barnard’s Creek and Mott’s Creek sewer pump stations.
City Investment: Approximately $10 million for these improvements, including $700,000 already spent on design.
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Stormwater services
Two maintenance personnel and necessary equipment will be added in order to extend the maintenance of public stormwater drainage systems to the Monkey Junction area.
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Trash pick up
The city will coordinate with privately owned companies to collect trash in this area. Residents who live on public streets will be able to choose to have the city pick up their trash. The city charges $24.80 per month for a large trash cart and $20.15 for a small cart. Included in the fee are weekly trash pickup, curbside recycling, yard waste and bulky item removal, such as an appliance or piece of furniture. For more information on city trash service or to schedule a bulky item pickup, call 910-341-7875.
City Investment: The city will provide trash carts and recycling bins to all new trash customers and will hire three additional solid waste workers.. |
Financial impact
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Newly annexed citizens and businesses pay city property taxes, but other fees/services could change based on where the property is located and its estimated value. Remember, property tax is also deductible on your federal income taxes.
Following is an example of how annexation would affect a $200,000 single-family, wood-frame home with trash and recycling service from one of the most commonly used privately-owned trash pickup services:
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*Note: Residents who have questions about how annexation could change their costs for homeowners' insurance are encouraged to contact their insurance provider. Based on national ISO rating criteria, residents living in a single family wood frame home in a Class 9 area will likely see significant savings if fire service protection improves to at least a Class 5, but residents living in a single family wood frame home in a Class 5 area would not likely see any significant difference in their insurance premiums by improving to a Class 2. However, commercial properties improving from a Class 5 to the city's Class 2 rating could realize savings on their property insurance. The rates quoted above include wind, storm and hail insurance as well as regular homeowners' insurance.
Monkey Junction residents are in a fire protection class 5/9s. Homes with a class 9 rating are expected to pay significantly less homeowners' insurance after they are annexed. Commercial property insurance is expected to be reduced in many cases because of the city's higher service rating and faster response time to fires.