[wheelingman]

I just read on Wikipedia that Charlotte recently annexed a large amount of land. The city now has a wopping 280sq. miles of land area. Before long it may eclipse the land area of Dallas,TX.

So is the city going to continue the fast pace of annexation? How much more land can the city possibly annex? Can Charlotte annex land in other counties? Some states, like Ohio allow that.

By the way, my aunt from Columbus, Ohio and her husband are moving to Charlotte. They both just got jobs down there. They are looking at houses now. Plus I am in the mood to ask questions about cities tonight.

 

[sonofaque86]

Charlotte is huge in area...I wonder if we'll see Charlotte start to annex into York and/or Lancastar counties in SC. It'll be a matter of time before they can't annex in Mecklenburg County anymore. I know some cities that are on the borders of other states can be in 2 states and be one city.

 

[PrettyHairShawn]

Charlotte can only annex into its ETJ, or extraterrestrial jurisdiction within Mecklenburg County. All the municipalities in Mecklenburg in the 90's made an agreement with each other not to annex into each other "sphere of influence." ETJ, is bascially what the final size of the municipality will be once annexation runs out. All the municipalites can begin providing water and sewer and infrastructure improvements within its ETJ before the actual annexation. Charlotte's ETJ is bascially an extra mile radiating from its current boundary with the exception of the Lake Wyle and Ballantyne areas. It can consume those whole areas. Also, all the municipalites in Mecklenburg cannot annex into Cabarrus or Union Counties either and vice versa, like within Mecklenburg those towns in those counties made agreements also. In NC it's legal for municipalites to be in more than one county, however that will lead to different property tax rates for different portion of the city and the issue of ABC license and etc. However it's not legal for Charlotte to cross over the state line, that would required the Act of both General Assemblies of both North and South Carolina.

 

[krazeeboi]

Charlotte is huge in area...I wonder if we'll see Charlotte start to annex into York and/or Lancastar counties in SC. It'll be a matter of time before they can't annex in Mecklenburg County anymore. I know some cities that are on the borders of other states can be in 2 states and be one city.

I am not aware of any cities in which this is true, but in Charlotte's case, it will never happen. If it were that easy, I think it would have happened a long time ago.

 

[Justadude]

Also, the demand for annexation will slow eventually. With the massive rush to the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s, the city was left in an awkward position as far as taxes were concerned. The more the 'burbs expanded, the more it was necessary to move the city boundaries to include them in the tax rolls... otherwise we would have been bankrupt long ago with city schools, highways, etc. growing so quickly.

But the suburbs can only expand just so far, especially with development of smarter legislation in the surrounding counties. I'd imagine that once Charlotte annexes the small part of Meck. County that's left, it'll stop.

 

[triadcat]

Charlotte's city limits take up most of Mecklenburg County don't they?
Mecklenburg County is small, so it won't be long until Charlotte takes up the entire county....

 

[Sean in New Orleans]

As stated in another thread, Charlotte will keep on annexing..it's good for the city..they have the metro area in which they can expand. And it is great for population statistics, which is good for the reputation of the City. Charlotte is already one of the biggest cities in the United States, in area, and will continue to expand. If older cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans occupied the same area, New Orleans would be around 950,000 and Atlanta would be close to 1,000,000. Older cities in the South such as New Orleans, Atlanta, and Miami cannot expand their boundaries, but, I have no issues with Charlotte expanding. It is certainly helping it's reputation. Let Charlotte get as big as it wants. It's a new city of the South and it is utilyzing this avenue to gain respect, and that is good for Charlotte.

 

[skysdalimit]

Wow, with all of this land area and the way we are beginning to densify, Charlotte will really be big in ~20 years, like +1,000,000 big. I'm excited!

 

[TheCharlottean]

Shawn is right, Charlotte is very near the maximum amount of land it could lawfully annex, so it won't be too long until like Atlanta and similar larger cities, its borders are landlocked.
I personally don't like the idea of Charlotte annexing more land than it already has... I'd say it's about perfect land-size right now. A city should be large enough to contain several distinct neighborhoods and areas, most of its more important amenities such as a CBD, pro sports venues and luxury retail, and still have room for things that improve quality of life, such as public parks. But If any city in the Charlotte metro should be annexing more land after this point, it's Davidson, and MAYBE Huntersville. Charlotte annexing more land at this point would only be increasing its tax base, and the North Mecklenburg cities like those previously mentioned have much better development regulations in place, so any growth that takes place there is either of higher quality or not as cookie-cutter (or both). Huntersville has several ordinances guarding open space in developments, and Davidson even has a town law that prohibits any retail building from being less than two stories tall. If those towns had a larger influence, I'm sure much of North Meck outside the present limits of those towns would be alot prettier than cookie-cutter subdivisions and big-box centers.

 

[jmancuso]

shoot...they should just annex south carolina.

 

[Xusein]

I envy Charlotte, my city is only 17 sq. mi...

If we had NC's liberal annexation laws...Hartford would be like 700k.

 

[krazeeboi]

shoot...they should just annex south carolina.

Not.

 

[spencer114]

Charlotte and its creepy, fat people are retarded. Annex away losers and cheer about it. Perhaps inflated population numbers will make up for you not being a real city with any real cultural value. You are a shell of Raleigh, Greensboro, Wilmington and Winston Salem. In fact you are merely an office park or planned , gated community on the outskirts of said cities.

 

[bayviews]

None.

Charlotte already has rather expansive city lines.

Good that Charlotte's started to build up.

That better than sprawling out

 

[uptownliving]

Charlotte and its creepy, fat people are retarded. Annex away losers and cheer about it. Perhaps inflated population numbers will make up for you not being a real city with any real cultural value. You are a shell of Raleigh, Greensboro, Wilmington and Winston Salem. In fact you are merely an office park or planned , gated community on the outskirts of said cities.

I guess you weren't given the right code to get into the gates of the Queen City Better luck next time.

 

[TheCharlottean]

Charlotte and its creepy, fat people are retarded. Annex away losers and cheer about it. Perhaps inflated population numbers will make up for you not being a real city with any real cultural value. You are a shell of Raleigh, Greensboro, Wilmington and Winston Salem. In fact you are merely an office park or planned , gated community on the outskirts of said cities.

Funny, but I think you disguised your sarcasm a bit TOO well. I'm sure certain people would take you seriously if they didn't know any better.
Just a heads-up in case you start to get flamed. Alot.

 

[uptownliving]

The fastest rate of growth in Mecklenburg County is the Huntersville/Cornelius area which has seen 1400% growth in the past 10 years. The most growth in raw numbers of people added has occured in the University area of Charlotte.

 

[CLTNC]

In 2017 Charlotte is over 300 square miles.