In County Made Rich by Golf, Some Enclaves Are Left = Behind

PINEHURST, N.C., June 2- Golf has made Moore County rich. There are = spas,=20 country clubs and new $2 million homes. The United States Open, to be = held later=20 this month on the most famous of the county's 43 golf courses, is = expected to=20 bring $124 million to the state.

But as developers rush to provide "resort quality" amenities in the = newest=20 subdivisions, some neighborhoods have been left behind - without sewers, = police=20 service, garbage pickup or even, in some cases, piped water.

These enclaves, Jackson Hamlet, Midway and Waynor Road, are virtually = all=20 black. They butt up against, or are even completely surrounded by, = affluent=20 towns that are mostly white: Pinehurst, Aberdeen and Southern Pines.

The 500 residents of these unincorporated enclaves are close enough = to point=20 out sewer lines that run past their properties en route to new = developments, or=20 to watch garbage trucks trundle past without stopping.

Though the towns have not annexed these hamlets about 60 miles = southwest of=20 Raleigh, and their residents cannot vote in municipal elections, they = are=20 subject to the towns' land use and zoning rules under what is called=20 extraterritorial jurisdiction.

When asked about extending basic services, the towns' officials say = they must=20 take care of those within their existing boundaries before taking on new = neighborhoods. The county, on the other hand, says that many of its = rural=20 constituents do not have the services the enclaves are requesting, and = that the=20 problems of these more densely populated areas can be better addressed = by=20 towns.

Excluding heavily minority areas from town boundaries is a common but = little=20 examined practice, particularly in small towns in the South, civil = rights=20 advocates and geographers say. With the U.S. Open beginning on June 16 = on the=20 Pinehurst No. 2 golf course, residents of the three black neighborhoods = and=20 their advocates are making a concerted effort for the first time to win = more=20 services, holding news conferences and giving tours.

Historically, they are the very people who provided much of the labor = that=20 built the hotels in the Sandhills, as the area is known, tended the = greens at=20 the golf courses or worked on the all-black crew of caddies, long since = replaced=20 by electric carts.

Ida Mae Murchison lives in Jackson Hamlet, a shady neighborhood of = dirt roads=20 hemmed in by Aberdeen and Pinehurst but claimed by neither. On one = corner, a new=20 apartment complex juts in; it was annexed by Pinehurst, which often = expands to=20 include areas where a developer has already paid for the infrastructure. = At the=20 rear, a place once called Buckety Ford, where Jackson Hamlet children = fetched=20 water, has been dammed to create a 200-acre lake surrounded by houses, = also part=20 of Pinehurst.

"I get the feeling that we're just forgotten, put on the shelf or the = back=20 burner or something," Ms. Murchison said. "But like I say, I don't want = to=20 offend anyone. I don't want to cause trouble."

Ms. Murchison was the first black chambermaid at the Carolina Inn, = the=20 gracious centerpiece of the 110-year-old Pinehurst resort, where she = worked for=20 nearly 50 years. Now 84 and retired, she lives alone, worrying because = there are=20 no police officers for her to call in case of trouble. Despite two = nearby=20 municipal police forces, her neighborhood is the responsibility of the = county=20 sheriff - whose deputies, she says, take at least 10 minutes to = appear.

In Midway, a black community almost surrounded by Aberdeen, the yards = are=20 teeming with flowers, grapevines, statues and birdbaths. But the languid = perfume=20 of honeysuckle is punctuated by an equally heavy stench of raw = sewage.

Randy Thomas, a food service manager at the Department of Corrections = who has=20 just adopted four young children, said he had to haul in sand every two = months=20 to cover the septic system leaks that trickle down his driveway.

Mr. Thomas's neighbor James McDougal said his mother had to move out = of her=20 house down the street when she got too old to use the outhouse. The = county will=20 not allow a septic tank because the lot is too small, Mr. McDougal = said.

County Commissioner Michael Holden says the residents' request for = services=20 puts the county in a "delicate situation," in part because of competing = demands=20 for resources.

"I will admit Moore County waited way too long and should have been = doing=20 this stuff 20, 25 years ago," Mr. Holden said, pointing out that in the = past 10=20 years the county has used grant money to extend water or sewer service = to some=20 minority communities. But, he added, "It's a matter of biting it off = little by=20 little, and doing chunks of it and moving forward."

In 2000, the state allotted a federal development grant to pay for = water and=20 sewer lines for a black enclave called Monroe Town. Every well there was = substandard; county officials found a dead possum in one. But Monroe = Town, which=20 lies inside the subdivision that surrounds the Pinehurst No. 6 golf = course,=20 remains unincorporated and lacks other services, like garbage = pickup.

Without a grant, the county is disinclined to pay for infrastructure = for the=20 enclaves. Those seeking services are quick to point out that the county = ranks=20 18th out of 100 in the state in median income, even though it has no = major urban=20 center, and that its tax burden is low, with a rate in the bottom 10 = percent. In=20 the past 10 years, the county's property tax revenue has more than = doubled, and=20 it ended the 2004 fiscal year with a $9.3 million surplus.

Asked if the county could just pay outright for the pipes and other=20 necessities (one estimate is that it would cost $1.5 million to $1.75 = million to=20 establish sewer services for Jackson Hamlet), Mr. Holden said, "Then = where do=20 you stop?"

Officials also say that these enclaves have been wary of annexation = in the=20 past, fearful of the higher taxes that come with being part of a = municipality or=20 of the potential destruction of their communities by developers.

"Some of the ones who are really pushing all this don't have = everybody on=20 board like they would like you to think," said Bill Zell, the town = manager of=20 Aberdeen.

Once services are established, the costs seem modest. A family in = Jackson=20 Hamlet that pays $270.96 a year in property taxes now, on a $50,000 = home, would=20 pay $382.56 if annexed by Pinehurst and $452.64 if annexed by Aberdeen.=20 According to figures provided by the University of North Carolina Center = for=20 Civil Rights, which is helping the black communities, the actual cost to = these=20 families could decrease because they would no longer pay for septic tank = maintenance, private garbage pickup and other expenses that their = municipal=20 taxes would cover.

Andy Wilkison, the town manager of Pinehurst, said Jackson Hamlet and = Monroe=20 Town declined to consider being annexed in 1990 and 1991, respectively, = in part=20 to avoid higher taxes. "I know what the maps look like and stuff," Mr. = Wilkison=20 said, "but the annexations have largely been places where people have = come to us=20 wanting to be annexed."

Waynor Road, which has neither sewer nor water service, is seeking = annexation=20 by Southern Pines, and the town is studying the economics of such a = move. To=20 officials, town boundaries are not a matter of race but money. Parcels = are=20 annexed after a developer pays for sewer and water hookups or if the = area's tax=20 base is likely to generate enough revenue to pay for itself.

When Frank Quis, the mayor of Southern Pines, was asked about racial=20 exclusion, he said: "Are you telling me everyone on Waynor Road is of a = certain=20 race? I mean, that's kind of odd."

But Anita S. Earls, a lawyer with the University of North Carolina = Center for=20 Civil Rights, said that even if officials were not motivated by racism, = historic=20 racial inequities were part of the equation. "We have not found a = densely=20 populated, small lot size, poor white community on the edge of a town," = Ms.=20 Earls said.

The exclusion of minority neighborhoods, sometimes called municipal=20 underbounding, occurs across the country. In Modesto, Calif., Hispanics = have=20 exchanged visits with the Moore County residents and are suing for = services. In=20 2003, a black community outside Zanesville, Ohio, got tap water after = filing a=20 civil rights complaint. But civil rights advocates say it is most = prevalent in=20 small towns across the South.

"I don't think it happens even in larger cities in North Carolina = because the=20 political dynamics are so different," said Allan Parnell, the vice = president of=20 the Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities in Mebane, N.C., = which did=20 a study of racial exclusion by North Carolina towns. "In larger towns = there may=20 be a larger black population that has some say in running the = community."

Underbounding denies blacks political power while putting them at the = mercy=20 of politicians who do not represent them, Ms. Earls said. All of the = Moore=20 County Commissioners, elected at large, are white, and black officials, = elected=20 or appointed, are scarce in the three towns.

Several elected officials said the lack of diversity in government = was not an=20 issue because they treated their constituents equally.

"Honey, I work with blacks and I love to work with the blacks," said = Virginia=20 Saunders, in her 10th year as a county commissioner. "I wish you could = talk to=20 some of the black people that I have helped."

But Maurice B. Holland Sr., who lives in Midway and is the only black = member=20 of the Aberdeen planning board, had a different view.

"There's no one in power to address the issues of the black = community," Mr.=20 Holland said. "The attitude seems to be, 'We know what's good for you.'=20 "

In County Made Rich by Golf, Some Enclaves Are Left=20 Behind