Council, let your lawyer look at annexation lawsCouncil, let your lawyer look at annexation laws
West Virginia law does not allow a town to forcibly annex property owned by a person living in the County. This is so whether the person lives within the County beyond an urban growth boundary around a given town or those County residents living inside the designated urban growth boundary.
The problem with a town annexing property not right next to it – but with intervening property owners, say, along a road – is that there becomes a situation where those owners of intervening property can, under law, be compelled, against their wishes, to tie in to Town sewer lines running by their property.
Again, I urge the Shepherdstown Fathers and Mothers to enlist legal counsel to interpret the portion of the West Virginia code on annexation.
Jim Surkamp
County Commissioner