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RALEIGH — Oak Ridge would have a say about what kind of housing developments and businesses are built between its town limits and the Forsyth County line under a bill approved Wednesday by a state House committee.

The measure has the unanimous backing of the Guilford County commissioners and the 10 legislators who represent the county at the General Assembly. But the town of Kernersville opposes the bill.

“We see this area to the north of Kernersville as a potential growth area,” Town Manager Curtis Swisher told the House Local Government I committee. He said with Kernersville and Oak Ridge claiming the area, two conflicting plans of development could be approved in the same area.

“It just makes for bad development, bad growth and bad planning,” he said.

The area in question follows the boundaries of the Oak Ridge fire district and comes in two main parts.

One, north of the city, is a wedge between Stokesdale, Oak Ridge and the county line. The other is between the county line and the southern section of Oak Ridge, stopping at County Line Road.

Under the bill, the town would have extraterritorial jurisdiction in the area. That would give the town the authority to approve or reject what kind of housing developments and businesses are built in the area.

The bill also would allow property owners in the area to ask Oak Ridge to bring them into the town limits under voluntary annexation agreements.

Rep. Larry Brown, a Kernersville Republican, is the most vocal critic of the measure, saying that when Oak Ridge was originally incorporated, it had pledged not to seek annexation powers

“To come back and want to change the rules is not proper,” Brown said.

But local officials who made the trip to Raleigh said that original deal was not a fair bargain and was forced upon the town’s founders.

“Times have changed,” said Guilford Commissioner Linda Shaw, who represents the northwestern Guilford.

The bill passed the local government committee by a 10-2 vote.

It must be approved by the House Finance Committee before going to the House floor. It already has passed the Senate.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker @news-record.com