A decade old law giving cities zoning power on the fringes of their borders has raised the ire of a small group of residents east of Bismarck.

In a Wednesday evening meeting led by local contractor Brian Bitner, about 30 residents vented their frustration with the policy and brainstormed ways to change it.

"Idon't live in the city and yet I am subject to all the regulations of the city," Bitner said, adding that he doesn't get to vote for the officials making those decisions like city residents do.

Apple Creek resident Terry Mauch said it was unfair that cities are regulating areas outside their borders and collecting fees for this regulation.

"We're paying the fees and getting absolutely no service in return for the fees," Mauch said.

The law in question gives cities the right to control zoning in a buffer area around their borders. Passed in the Legislature by wide margins in 1997, the law was conceived as a way for cities to bring areas that they would likely be annexing up to city standards ahead of time.

The original law extended these rights four miles out from the border of a city with at least 25,000 people, two miles out from the border of a city with at least 5,000 residents and one mile out from a city with at least 2,500 residents.

A resident of 80th Street, Bitner said the law came to his attention first when he petitioned to have a dusty gravel road repaired and later when he tried to remodel his house. In the former, Bitner was told by Apple Creek Township officials that they did not have money to fix the road because Bismarck had taken over issuing building permits, thus depriving the township of one of its chief revenue sources. In the latter, he said it was a hassle to have to deal with city zoning regulations.

"When I bought my place out in the country. … I wanted to live in the country," Bitner said. "I could have bought a place in the city, but that's not what I wanted."

Officials at the city of Bismarck could not be reached Wednesday night for comment.

At Wednesday's meeting, residents brainstormed ways to remedy the situation. Suggestions included legal action, lobbying the Legislature to change the law and pushing for representation of "fringe" residents on the city commission.

Attendee Brian Johnston offered a unique solution: That Apple Creek residents come together to form their own city and make their own rules.

"It's out there, and it's radical, but you certainly wouldn't have to deal with the city of Bismarck," he said.

The issue came before the Legislature in 2007 and, with a current interim study on the issue, is likely to be back in 2009.

This past session, Rep. Dwight Wrangham, R-Bismarck, won passage of a measure that reduces cities zone of extraterritorial control from four miles past its borders to two miles past. The areas for smaller cities were also halved.

Wrangham said he hopes the change which lasts for two years will ease the effect on fringe residents as North Dakota's cities continue to grow.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@;bismarcktribune.com.)