At the request of the Statesboro City Council, the Georgia Legislature approved the annexation of Monster Storage, located on the Veterans Memorial Bypass, into the city limits, over the objections of the business' owner.
Statesboro City Manager George Wood said the annexation was necessary to enable the city to continue growing as many of the parcels around Monster Storage had either already been incorporated into the city or will be in the foreseeable future.
Under Georgia law, an island of unincorporated property is not allowed inside the city limits, which is what was going to happen to the Monster Storage property if the legislature didn't act.
"We really didn't have a choice," Wood said. "We couldn't let one property owner stagnate growth in that quadrant of the city."
Jay Wallace, owner of Monster Storage, said he didn't want to comment at this time when reached Tuesday afternoon.
The bill still needs to be signed by Governor Sonny Perdue, something Rep. Bob Lane said he expects Perdue to do.
Lane was one of three sponsors of the bill, along with Butch Parrish and Jon Burns. He said the city asked him to introduce the bill to allow the city to continue growing.
"I wouldn't say it's common (for similar bills to be introduced), but I wouldn't say it's uncommon," he said.
Wood said the issue arose because that piece of property was developed before others in the area. In future development, the property owners and developers petitioned to become part of the city because they needed water and sewer service to complete their project. However, in the case of Monster Storage, the business needed only a septic tank and a well to operate and, therefore, didn't need to be incorporated into the city.
"Obviously, we don't do anything like this without a lot of thought," Wood said. In fact, in his nearly seven years as city manager for Statesboro, this is the first time the city has had to get a legislative act to change the city limits.
Wood said he could understand why the property would not want to be annexed into the city, but said the city must balance that request with the rights of others who may want to develop their property and be incorporated into the city.
Statesboro City Manager George Wood said the annexation was necessary to enable the city to continue growing as many of the parcels around Monster Storage had either already been incorporated into the city or will be in the foreseeable future.
Under Georgia law, an island of unincorporated property is not allowed inside the city limits, which is what was going to happen to the Monster Storage property if the legislature didn't act.
"We really didn't have a choice," Wood said. "We couldn't let one property owner stagnate growth in that quadrant of the city."
Jay Wallace, owner of Monster Storage, said he didn't want to comment at this time when reached Tuesday afternoon.
The bill still needs to be signed by Governor Sonny Perdue, something Rep. Bob Lane said he expects Perdue to do.
Lane was one of three sponsors of the bill, along with Butch Parrish and Jon Burns. He said the city asked him to introduce the bill to allow the city to continue growing.
"I wouldn't say it's common (for similar bills to be introduced), but I wouldn't say it's uncommon," he said.
Wood said the issue arose because that piece of property was developed before others in the area. In future development, the property owners and developers petitioned to become part of the city because they needed water and sewer service to complete their project. However, in the case of Monster Storage, the business needed only a septic tank and a well to operate and, therefore, didn't need to be incorporated into the city.
"Obviously, we don't do anything like this without a lot of thought," Wood said. In fact, in his nearly seven years as city manager for Statesboro, this is the first time the city has had to get a legislative act to change the city limits.
Wood said he could understand why the property would not want to be annexed into the city, but said the city must balance that request with the rights of others who may want to develop their property and be incorporated into the city.