Legislature Filings To Amend Annexation, Urban Growth Rules Sparks Backlash

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Submitted By Chris Matthews [Friends of Hamilton] –

Suburban property owners outside of incorporated cities in Tennessee may want to keep an eye on this session of the Tennessee State Legislature, according to the nonprofit citizen’s group Friends of Hamilton (FOH) in Hamilton County.

Two bills (HB-28 and SB-75) have been introduced that will amend sections of the Tennessee Code pertaining to annexation and requirements for urban growth boundaries from municipalities.

A summary description on the legislature’s website says the companion bills “deletes (the) requirement that municipalities adopt a comprehensive urban growth boundary prior to annexing unincorporated territory.”

That’s what worries FOH spokesman Chris Matthews. 

“The requirement for urban growth boundaries limited municipalities to annexing only those boundary areas contiguous to already incorporated territory,” he said. “Without that requirement, what is to keep cities from hopscotching around to gobble up more desirable commercial and high-value residential areas for revenue?”

A FOH Facebook post helped light the fuse of an online back-and-forth between the group and State Senator Bo Watson (R-Chattanooga), asking “(W)hy are you trying to backdoor (forced) annexation back onto Tennesseeans again without notice, planning, etc.”

Within hours of the post, Sen. Watson responded, writing “Absolutely not! We are considering whether the growth boundary statutes are necessary now that forced annexation has been eliminated by myself and Rep Carter. Rep Carter and I frequently discussed repealing Chapter 1101 or modifying it. I’m continuing that work. Next step is deannexation which Rep Carter and I also worked on together. Let me be clear- there is absolutely no intent to repeal the work Rep Carter and I did on annexation. -Bo.”

FOH thanked Sen. Watson for his response, saying in part, “We still know there are cities/legislative officials that want to set aside the protection of citizens’ private property rights,” and return to forced annexation. 

“The big question in my mind is, who benefits from these proposed changes?,” Matthews said. However, he’s more supportive of Sen. Watson’s stated intent to move forward on deannexation legislation.

“There should be a vehicle for deannexation,” Matthews agreed. “Cordova successfully deannexed from Memphis. Bills were introduced in the past, but never made it into law.”

Nevertheless, Matthews said FOH intends to keep a sharp eye on each step of the legislative process for these and similar bills during this session, and will make sure his network of like-minded leaders and organizations across the state remain informed. 

“The Tennessee Municipal League is perhaps the most powerful lobbying group in the statehouse, and it fought strongly against our efforts to end forced annexation in Tennessee, which was why we organized Friends of Hamilton back in 2011,” he said. “We worked with legislators and a number of citizens’ groups across the state to change that.

“Right now, we’re also concerned about the growing power of municipalities in Tennessee to dominate areas outside their boundaries, through such initiatives as so-called Smart Cities and the Thrive 2055 regional planning efforts in Chattanooga. It’s essential that citizens retain local control and can effectively have their views represented in their counties and in the legislature. 

“If I’ve learned anything in my lifetime it’s that bigger isn’t necessarily better.”