Council sets aside annexing reserve

Second of 3 votes OK, with final action tabled

The great annexation battle of 2012 likely will end in a stalemate.

The Memphis City Council voted during a special meeting Tuesday to approve an ordinance annexing a large swath of East Shelby County.

It was the second of three required readings. The council then “tabled” the ordinance, putting the brakes on an annexation movement launched in response to bills proposed by suburban state lawmakers.

The council stood down after state Sen. Mark Norris and Rep. Curry Todd, both of Collierville, withdrew a bill that would have blocked Memphis from annexing the area, which is in the city’s reserves.

Because the council tabled the ordinance, it can resurrect the measure at any time for a third and final reading. Council members view it as a buffer against any future move by the state legislators to cancel the city’s claim on the land.

Norris also withdrew a separate bill that would have required annexations by Shelby County towns and cities to be approved in a referendum by a majority of the residents being annexed.

Controversy erupted nearly three weeks ago when the two sponsors filed the bills at the requests of constituents in their districts. State Atty. Gen. Bob Cooper said last week in an advisory opinion that both bills are “constitutionally suspect” because they alter general state law only inside Shelby County.

Fisherville resident Billye Bryan expressed relief when the council tabled the ordinance. “I’m delighted they’re stopping all of this riffraff,” said Bryan, who attended the council vote.

Meanwhile, Councilman Shea Flinn introduced a resolution requesting Memphis Mayor A C Wharton to negotiate with residents in the targeted reserve area, by offering not to annex the area for a long-term period as long as they agree not to seek incorporation. The resolution, which the council will take up next week, is a request, not a formal agreement.

“This is a way to move beyond the firestorm that engulfed us the last two weeks,” said Flinn. “I’m trying to get the two sides talking where both sides can get something out of it.”

The council also approved a six-month moratorium on building permits for installing diesel fuel pumps within 500 feet of a residential neighborhood.

That measure, sponsored by council member Harold Collins, is in response to the request from a gas station at Boeingshire and Shelby Drive to add diesel gas tanks to serve 18-wheeler trucks.

“There was unanimous opposition to this at a Whitehaven town hall meeting,” said Collins. — Amos Maki: (901) 529-2351