Granville County commissioners on Friday adopted a resolution that opposes a portion of a proposed Senate bill that seeks to allow Franklin County the authority to condemn land in neighboring counties without their consent.

Those counties include Halifax, Vance, and Warren counties under Part V, Section 5 of Senate Bill 214.

In a flurry of resolutions adopted last week in opposition to the bill — which the state House will address Tuesday — Granville County specifically addresses the issue of water, which Franklin County said in a statement last week was at the heart of the issue.

The Granville County resolution argues that allowing one county to condemn land in another without local approval undermines self-governance and land-use authority.

The document asserts that Kerr Lake is a shared regional asset. It contends that water supply needs should be met through cooperative planning rather than "adversarial" or "unilateral" legislative mechanisms. Senate Bill 214 would specifically allow Franklin County to acquire property in Vance, Warren, and Halifax counties for water infrastructure like raw water intakes and pipelines. The Granville County Board fears this legislation sets a dangerous precedent that could lead to intergovernmental conflict and the erosion of trust among neighboring local governments.

While opposing the bill, the board acknowledged Franklin County's legitimate long-term need for a reliable water supply and its existing ties to Kerr Lake. 

However, the resolution outlines the following directives:

Formal opposition: The board officially opposes any provision allowing extraterritorial condemnation without the affected county's consent.

Collaborative strategy: The county manager and attorney are directed to work with regional partners to oppose Section 5 of the bill and Franklin County's attempt to secure a water allocation without regional collaboration.

Communication: Copies of the resolution are to be sent to the North Carolina General Assembly and the governing boards of Franklin, Halifax, Vance, and Warren counties with a request to withdraw or reject the provision.

House District 27 Representative Rodney Pierce will hold a press conference on the matter Tuesday, which will be livestreamed at this link

A state House conference committee is expected to address the matter at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

In other developments, Franklin County Commissioner Mark Speed released a statement opposing Section 5.

“Section 5 would allow Franklin County to acquire property, including through condemnation, in Halifax County, Vance County, and Warren County without the consent or approval of the boards of commissioners in those counties. I cannot support that, even when the authority is being handed to the county I was elected to serve,” he said in the statement. “Every county in North Carolina is sovereign over the land within its borders. It is the foundation of local government in this state. When the people of Vance County go to the polls and elect a board of commissioners, they are choosing the officials who answer to them for what happens on their land."

Section 5, Speed said, cuts that accountability out. “It could allow officials elected by the people of Franklin County to reach across a county line and take property from a family in Vance County, or Halifax County, or Warren County, and the elected officials of those counties have no seat at the table. The people losing their property would have no one on the condemning board to hold accountable."

Speed said he is calling on the conference committee to strike Section 5. “I am calling on my fellow commissioners in Franklin County to join me in rejecting a grant of power that should never have been offered. And I am standing with the elected leaders and the citizens of Halifax, Vance, and Warren counties, because the principle at stake here is bigger than any one project, any one parcel, or any one county."