To the dismay of many Summerfield residents, it’s now official: farmer and developer David Couch has won his battle to cede nearly 1,000 acres of land from the city to build a large residential and multi-use development, a battle he had fought over for years with city leaders.
On Thursday, June 27, the final vote on separating the land from the city took place in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Summerfield covers about 27 square miles and has about 11,000 residents.
Some Summerfield residents have fought very hard over the years to keep the town relatively free of development. The inability of Couch and city leaders to agree on the type and density of development proposed led Couch to ask the state legislature for help.
On July 1, the land will become part of unincorporated Guilford County, where the project faces far fewer restrictions than the city does on Couch.
So those who opposed this plan could end up with something they like even less than if the city had been able to reach a compromise with Couch.
The North Carolina House’s two debates on the bill this week showed that many lawmakers were very unhappy with the way the process went, even though the measure passed by a large majority. The North Carolina Senate had appended an unrelated bill previously passed by the House and added the de-annexation bill, causing consternation among many lawmakers – even some who ended up voting for the bill.
Some lawmakers complained that such a controversial issue should have been addressed in a standalone bill, while others felt it was very unfair of the Senate to attach the issue to a bill that had already passed – meaning the Summerfield issue never went through the committee process in the House.
Some who voted for the bill said they did so because it contained some very good legislation, but regretted the fact that in order to pass that legislation they also had to vote on the issue of de-annexing Summerfield.
Lawmakers received hundreds of calls and emails in advance of the vote—almost all opposing annexation—and some Summerfield residents and others held a public protest rally in Raleigh on Wednesday, June 26.
The push for secession was led by North Carolina Senator Phil Berger, a friend of Couch’s. Many critics of the move say Berger was doing Couch a favor because Couch gave him significant campaign contributions. But a source close to the negotiations, who asked not to be identified, said he believes Berger’s real motive is what Berger has repeatedly stated publicly.
“I have spoken to him personally about this and I believe he is genuinely concerned about the lack of housing in the area,” the source said.
Greensboro, Guilford County and the surrounding areas are seeing a rapid increase in mid- and large-scale commercial projects, which will likely mean an influx of people in the future—and real estate prices have increased, as has the overall cost of buying a home, as interest rates have also skyrocketed.
Berger has repeatedly said that Summerfield is so restrictive in its zoning regulations that the city severely limits a person’s right to make the best use of their property. He has also said that the area is in dire need of more and more diverse housing.
The source said the votes in the House – there were two votes this week to complete the process – would have been much closer if the city didn’t currently appear so dysfunctional. Recently, the entire city staff resigned in protest of the way longtime city manager Scott Whitaker was fired by a majority of the City Council.
“I think when they saw that, it helped some of them make their decision,” the source said of the city staff’s resignations.
In the weeks before North Carolina lawmakers finally approved the move, Summerfield city councilors picked up trash in the city’s parks and volunteers cleaned public restrooms.
During debates in the House of Representatives, some supporters of secession questioned why Summerfield was even a city, since they believed the city offered so few services to its citizens.
Some argue that Summerfield was incorporated as a city for one reason only – to prevent the area from becoming part of Greensboro.
