Gordonsville’s mayor and town council have opted not to move forward with a proposed annexation of neighboring Orange County land after hundreds of residents, on both sides of the line, spoke out against what they called a “money grab.”
Mayor Ron Brooks III announced in a July 25 Facebook post that plans were moving forward to annex nearly 1,000 acres of county land into the town — a post that Orange County officials called premature at the time.
On Oct. 20, Town Council voted to not move forward with the annexation, instead offering to add the property of any willing and neighboring county resident into the town limits.
“We are not pushing forward a wide-scale document for the boundary adjustment,” Brooks announced at the meeting. “The only thing we will be doing is working with individual residents who want to be brought into the town.”
The annexation, regularly referred to by Brooks as a “boundary adjustment,” has been discussed since at least 2004 and would have affected close to 500 residents and brought almost $200,000 in additional annual tax revenue to Gordonsville, according to an agreement hashed out last year. Not only would the annexation have meant former county residents paying town taxes, but also following town ordinances.
Moving forward, Gordonsville will only adopt the property of those Orange County residents who request to be brought into town limits, a process Brooks said during the Town Council meeting that will allow “people to have their voice heard.”
Annexation opponents are celebrating.
“Roughly 3 months of hard work and dedication along with the outpouring of support for our efforts made this outcome possible. The affected residents overwhelmingly showed up, stood tall and made their voices heard,” town resident Tonya Short told The Daily Progress via text message after the Council vote.
Short, who once lived in Orange County but now resides in Gordonsville, spearheaded a grassroots campaign of residents in both the county and town opposed to annexation. She was able to collect nearly 100 signatures in opposition.
Sharp criticism from Orange County leaders, who officially withdrew support for the expansion of Gordonsville’s town limits after Brooks’ announcement on Facebook, also may have contributed to Council’s vote.
Orange County Supervisor Mark Johnson announced he had withdrawn his support for the annexation days after Brooks posted about the plans on Facebook. Johnson represents District 1 in the county, which would have been significantly affected by Gordonsville’s expansion.
Just days after Johnson withdrew his support, the Orange County Board of Supervisors withdrew any and all support for the development of the plans originally discussed over two decades ago between the town and county to adjust property lines.
“Orange County hereby withdraws its participation in the voluntary settlement process and will not be proceeding with the joint petition to the Orange County Circuit Court for approval of the boundary adjustment agreement,” county attorney Amy Wilson wrote in a letter to Brooks dated Aug. 15.
Johnson chastised Brooks for “putting the cart before the horse” by failing to “recognize the need for public engagement.”
“Today, we all celebrate the win,” Short said. “I will continue to hold my local government accountable and will bring dark to light through oversight and transparency.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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