news-record.com

RALEIGH — State Sen. Phil Berger has filed a bill that would give the town of Oak Ridge authority to manage territory outside its corporate limits.

The authority, called extraterritorial jurisdiction, would allow the town to impose its zoning and land development rules in unincorporated territory adjacent to the town.

"The area to the west of Oak Ridge has always culturally and educationally been a part of Oak Ridge," Mayor Ray Combs said.

The lines that would be drawn by the new authority would roughly mirror the Oak Ridge fire district.

Oak Ridge incorporated in 1998, and Combs said town leaders had hoped the town's boundaries would follow the fire district lines. However, the town's lines were smaller because there was resistance from nearby municipalities.

"We would like to eventually, far out in the future, be in control of our fire district," Combs said.

Berger is a Republican state Senator who represents all of Rockingham County as well as parts of Guilford County, including Oak Ridge.