In North Carolina, a city can choose to annex – or bring into the city limits – a nearby area without a request from the property owners. To do this, the area must be adjacent to the city (at least one-eighth of its border must touch the city), it must already be developed as a town or neighborhood, and the city must create a plan outlining how it will provide services such as water, sewer, and trash pickup.
This process, known as a city-initiated annexation, typically involves larger areas and has been permitted for most North Carolina cities since 1959. However, Fayetteville wasn’t allowed to use this method until 1983, when state law was updated. Fayetteville began using it in 1984 and last utilized it in 2003, when it adopted nine annexation ordinances for what is known as the Phase 5 annexation. These areas officially became part of the city on September 30, 2005. A current schedule is still in place for providing water and sewer services to these areas through the PWC (Public Works Commission).
In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly added new rules that made this type of annexation more difficult. Since then, Fayetteville has not used the city-initiated annexation method.
In most cases, properties within Fayetteville’s Municipal Influence Area (MIA) must be officially annexed by the city before they can connect to or expand sewer service. This rule no longer applies to water connections. So, while sewer service still requires annexation (unless the City Council makes an exception), water service does not.
Also, any property connecting to PWC water or sewer service must follow the City of Fayetteville’s development rules that are in place at the time the service is requested.
There’s an important exception: if you’re a single-family homeowner asking to connect to an existing water or sewer line, and your property does not touch the city limits, you don’t have to be annexed to get service.