Section 63-80 - Procedure for creation of districts; concurrent resolutions; notice and public hearing; submission of question to voters; publication of notice; actions to set aside proceedings(a) Any unit of local government in this State and any one or more other units of local government in this State may, by concurrent resolutions adopted by the governing body of each such unit, create special airport districts under the provisions of this Article which shall be public bodies corporate and politic and political subdivisions of the State. The district shall comprise the territory of the participating units. The district shall be designated "Special Airport District of __" and shall be of such duration as the participating units shall determine.(b) Prior to the adoption of any resolutions creating a special airport district, there shall be held a joint public hearing convened by the governing bodies of each of the participating units of government concerning the creation of the proposed special airport district. The presiding officers of the governing body of the units proposing to create such district shall name a time and place within the proposed district at which the public hearing shall be held. The presiding officers shall give prior notice of such hearing at the courthouse of the county or counties within which the district lies and also by publication at least once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the proposed district, the first publication to be at least 30 days prior to such hearing. In the event all matters pertaining to the creation of such special airport district cannot be concluded at such hearing, such hearing may be continued to a time and place within the proposed district determined by the governing body of each of the respective units of local government.(c) Following the joint public hearing but prior to the adoption by a unit of local government of any resolution creating a special airport district, the governing body of such unit may submit the question of the unit's participation in a special airport district to the qualified voters of such unit. The form of the question as stated on the ballot shall be in substantially the following words: "Shall the governing body of ___ approve ___'s participation in the proposed ____ special airport district?
[ ] YES [ ] NO"
If a majority of the qualified voters of the unit who vote thereon approve such participation, the governing body of such unit may adopt a resolution creating the particular special airport district. The election shall be conducted in accordance with G.S. 163-287 and the results thereof certified, declared and published in the same manner as bond elections within the unit.
(d) Following the adoption of the resolutions creating the district by the governing body of each participating unit, the presiding officer of each such governing body shall cause to be published a single time in a newspaper circulating within the unit a notice in substantially the following form: The governing body of _____ and the governing body of ___ passed resolutions on ____, __, and on ____, __, respectively, creating the Special Airport District of ______. Notice of the creation of such special airport district is hereby given on the date hereof. Any action or proceeding questioning the validity of the resolutions or the creation of the special airport district must be commenced within 30 days after the publication of this notice.
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Presiding Officer
(e) Any action or proceeding in any court to set aside the resolutions or the creation of a special airport district, or to obtain any other relief upon the ground that such resolutions or any proceeding or action taken with respect to the creation of such district is invalid, must be commenced within 60 days after the publication of the foregoing notice. After the expiration of such period of limitation, no right of action or defense founded upon the invalidity of the resolutions or the creation of the special airport district shall be asserted nor shall the validity of the resolutions or the creation of such airport district be open to question in any court upon any ground whatever, except in an action or proceeding commenced within such period.Amended by 2013 N.C. Sess. Laws 381,s. 10.4, eff. 1/1/2014.