Will they or won't they? Pine Level voters decide on incorporation

PINE LEVEL − About 300 voters in the Autauga County community of Pine Level will decide Tuesday if this booming rural area will become a town.

There have been at least three efforts since the early 1990s to incorporate. There was also a move through the Legislature to annex a large portion of the area into Prattville, but the effort failed. The vote of residents is the farthest any incorporation effort had progressed

This community about 15 miles north of Prattville has seen tremendous residential growth and, as the adage goes, retail follows rooftops. Near the U.S. 31 and Autauga County 40 intersection several businesses, including Piggly Wiggly, Dollar General, Ace Hardware and other businesses have sprung up.

Supporters of incorporation say the move would better allow residents to control growth in the area and preserve the community’s identity. The move to incorporate has taken more than a year to get to this point.

“It’s a way for residents to control the future of the community,” said Ken Hollon, who supports the incorporation, in an earlier interview. He doesn’t live in the area proposed to become a town, but his family has roots here going back generations.

The concern is that “other municipalities," like Prattville or Millbrook, will someday annex the area into their own cities. The prize is the U.S. 31 and Interstate 65 interchange, the only interstate exit in Autauga County.

Developers have long coveted the area for its potential business growth. But infrastructure is needed; sewer service is the big one. And the best way to fund those services is municipal budgets.

Opponents of incorporation cite their desire for independent country living and keeping tax increases and regulations at bay.

“I moved to the country so I could do pretty much what I wanted on my place,” said Dan Hillman, who has about 20 acres near the U.S. 31 and Autauga County 40 intersection. “I don’t want to have to ask anybody if I want to keep horses or put up a fence.”

There are no zoning regulations in the rural parts of Autauga County. Someone can build a $300,000 house and then have a pig farm or junk yard set up shop next door.

State law requires a minimum population of 300 before a community can seek incorporation. The current area of Pine Level that is seeking the move has a population of about 400 There are 314 registered voters in the area proposed for incorporation said Probate Judge Kim Kervin.

The proposed boundaries can be reviewed on the website www.pinelevelalincorporation.com. In a nutshell the area centers on the U.S. 31 and Autauga County roads 40 and 107 area. It is north of the Central Alabama Electric Cooperative property, which is not in the proposed boundaries, and south of Pine Level Elementary School, which is also not in the proposed boundaries.

The proposed boundaries cross south of Interstate 65, just north of the I-65 and U.S. 31 exit. The proposed boundaries include all of Graham Ridge subdivision but exclude the two mobile home communities in the area.

And while the issue of incorporation is complicated, the decision process is simple. Voters will mark paper ballots to show whether or not they support incorporation. The ballots will be hand counted at the probate office after the polls close.

The cost of the election, expected to be between $2,000 and $3,000, will be reimbursed to the county by the group which sought incorporation, Kervin said.

Incorporation election

When: Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Where: Pine Level Volunteer Fire Department, near the intersection of U.S. 31 and Autauga County 40.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Will they or won't they? Pine Level voters decide on incorporation