Potential jobs and revenue have these two Kentucky cities in a fight over territory
If a controversial annexation stands, part of the city of London will be nine miles long and less than 200 feet wide in spots.
The city council recently approved annexing the right of way of Interstate 75 between London and an unincorporated section of Corbin nine miles to the south, creating a narrow bridge to a 91-acre piece of land that could be valuable for development.
The annexation also would take in the right of way on a section of the Cumberland Gap Parkway at Corbin, also known as U.S. 25E, and a small area to the east of the I-75 — parkway interchange.
It would make dozens of businesses along those busy sections of the roads eligible to request annexation by London, even though they are far closer to Corbin.
Corbin opposes the annexation.
The day after the London council approved the final reading of the annexation ordinance on Sept. 10, attorneys for Corbin sued to strike it down.
Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus said the area at issue is part of Corbin except for the technicality of not being in the city limits, with Corbin addresses, phone numbers and water and sewer service.
“This is north Corbin,” Razmus said.
Larry Bryson, city attorney for London, said the city annexed the tracts at Corbin’s front door at the request of G&M Oil Company, the owner of the 91-acre development parcel.
Over the years, G&M and a number of businesses in the area have asked to become part of London, Bryson said.
The ability to sell alcohol at restaurants and stores is a key reason.
London and Corbin allow alcohol sales, but there are no legal sales in the area of Laurel County just outside Corbin at issue in the annexation fight.
That has been a barrier to development.
“Corbin’s not offered them any solution for it,” Bryson said.
Bryson said London would be able to offer police patrols in the area.
Corbin police don’t patrol the area because it’s not inside the city, but the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office covers it.
Laurel County has an occupational tax that London gets a share of, so if the area becomes part of the city it would get revenue from the tax on jobs.
The annexation by London would add 639 acres to the city, almost all of it the state-owned strip beside I-75, which varies in width.
London’s annexation is in a 60-day period that started Sept. 10 to give affected property owners a chance to object.
The only property owners are the state and G&M Oil. The state told London it takes no position on the annexation, Bryson said, and G&M Oil asked to be annexed.
That leaves Corbin’s lawsuit as the only potential block to the move.
Corbin argues that the land along the interstate, called Tract 1, doesn’t meet legal requirements to be annexed by London because it’s not adjacent or contiguous to the city of about 8,100.
Even if it was, the road right of way is not acceptable for annexation because it’s not urban or suitable for development for urban purposes, Corbin argues in its lawsuit.
Annexing the strip beside I-75 is a “ruse designed to artificially extend London’s boundaries” in order to get to Tract 2, the 91-acre site bordered by the interstate and the Cumberland Gap Parkway, the lawsuit says.
There was a truck stop on the site at one time, but it closed more than a decade ago and the land has sat mostly empty since, a missing tooth in Corbin’s mouth at the interstate.
Because Tract 1 isn’t eligible for annexation, London can’t take in the G&M Oil site either, according to Corbin’s lawsuit.
Razmus said Corbin has water and sewer lines in the area, so state law bars London from annexing it without Corbin’s consent.
Corbin supports development in the area, Razmus said. The city spent millions of dollars to provide water and sewer service in the area, and has an interest in protecting that investment and in the development of the interchange, Razmus said.
“We’re not going to give away our interest,” Razmus said.
Corbin would still own the water and sewer lines if London takes in the area.
Having one city controlling development involving another city’s infrastructure could cause complications, said Patrick R. Hughes, an attorney for Corbin in the annexation lawsuit.
The London city council said in its annexation ordinance that the area at issue does in fact meet all the requirements to be legally annexed.
Corbin, with a population of about 7,200, already is incorporated in two counties, Knox and Whitley.
That happened before a 1932 case in which the highest court in Kentucky said there was no authority for a city to annex an area across the line in a neighboring county.
Bryson said that case law means Corbin can’t legally annex into southern Laurel County.
However, Hughes said he believes that because of later changes in annexation statutes, Corbin could legally annex into Laurel County.
That will be one issue for a judge to decide.
London’s effort to annex so close to Corbin is not a land grab, but an effort to help businesses in the area, said Paula Thompson, head of the London-Laurel County Economic Development Authority.
The lack of municipal zoning creates questions for businesses, and being in dry territory has been a deal-breaker on development and jobs, Thompson said.
Keeneland, the Lexington Thoroughbred track, looked at the G&M site several years ago as a potential location for a track, but chose another spot inside the Corbin city limits where the facility would be allowed to sell alcohol.
With a great location at the intersection of busy highways, the area could see significant job growth if businesses could sell alcohol, Thompson said.
“Really, it has all the components to be a major draw,” she said.
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 10:56 AM.
