For Sylva, the time is now. Wait, and it will be forever too late, a modern-day version of fiddling while Rome burned.

We’re talking, of course, about extending the town’s planning jurisdiction. Either through annexation or, at the least, creation of an extraterritorial jurisdiction, the town needs to move. If nothing is done, more traffic, rapid development and unplanned growth will turn the area just outside of town into a mass of ugly buildings, clogged roads with stalled traffic, and acres of slab-like parking lots empty most of the time. Strip centers and huge big boxes will make the town Anywhere, USA. Newcomers will belch and locals will reminisce about the past.

That may sound overblown, but consider the recent past. At least four times now Sylva’s leaders have considered annexing and then decided to do nothing. And so the town’s borders have remained stagnant, while just outside those limits development has progressed rapidly and with no planning.

Everyone in Jackson County is aware of what’s happening. The area around N.C. 107 and N.C. 116 has government buildings going up, retail giants moving in, and public school and college construction ongoing and a huge traffic problem that is being talked to death. Near the hospital development is imminent. Much of this growth is just outside the borders of the town, developers benefiting from the reputation Sylva has earned as a great place to live, work and visit.

But that reputation can just as easily disappear.

Sylva’s leaders have used several reasons for refusing to annex, the primary excuse being they can’t afford it. To solve this problem, first, they need to get a legal opinion about having to provide water and sewer service. Since the town does not own Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority, it is probably not under the same obligation as towns that do own those services. Regardless of its legal obligation, however, town leaders need to find a way to work with TWSA so that the cost of these services is not such a burden. Subdivisions and commercial development need access to water and sewer.

A new accusation about the board’s refusal to annex came from town public works director Dan Schaffer. He questioned whether some of Sylva’s leaders are more worried about imposing taxes on friends and families than they are about the future of the town. The tax burden is a valid concern for elected officials, but so is the well being of the town they are elected to serve.

Last week town leaders took the timid step of approving an “area of consideration.” In truth, that action means nothing — other than an acknowledgement of their own need to do something. It provides no answers to any of the problems that are on the table.

Sylva is a great little town. Whether we can say that 10 years from now will depend on what happens in the very near future.