NASHVILLE — An N.C. Superior Court Judge dismissed the Oak Level annexation challenge Tuesday, affirming Rocky Mount’s plan to expand its boarders to include the eastern Nash County community.

The ruling, however, likely does not bring the legal fight to an end. Dozens of forced annexation opponents met immediately following the court hearing and mapped plans to appeal the ruling.

“I’m a little disappointed with the ruling,” said Bob Hornick, the Chapel Hill attorney representing the Oak Level Community Against Forced Annexation. “The battle isn’t over yet, though. That’s why they have the Court of Appeals.”

Rocky Mount officials said they hoped the ruling by N.C. Superior Court Judge Richard L. Doughton would end the legal wrangling over the annexation, originally scheduled to go into effect at the start of 2010.

The remanded annexation ordinance passed in December by Rocky Mount City Council is slated to take effect July 1, but a protracted appeal process, even if the courts rule in the city’s favor, would further delay the annexation.

“We’re obviously at a point where we would like to move ahead with things,” Mayor David Combs said of the annexation. “But they have made a commitment to fighting this, and that certainly is their right.”

At the core of the Oak Level community’s legal challenge is a question of whether or not the character of the 1,800 acres to be annexed is urban enough to meet state mandates for involuntary annexation.

Essentially, state law dictates that 60 percent of all noncommercial land to be annexed must be subdivided into lots of three acres or less.

Through their interpretation of several technical clauses in the state annexation laws, challenges to how the city classified huge swaths of land to be annexed and questions over how Rocky Mount officials implemented a so-called “necessary land bridge” in the remanded ordinance, the Oak Level group has argued that their community is more rural than it is urban, and therefore ineligible for annexation.

Hornick said he would raise the same basic arguments during an appeal.

Charlene Moore, a leader among the Oak Level protest group, said she and her neighbors were not deterred by the court ruling.

“We’re going to take this case as far as we can,” Moore said after the hearing. “In fact, we are excited the judge ruled the way he did. This by no means brings this fight to an end; It just keeps it going.”

Moore said city officials will be wasting local tax dollars if they continue with the annexation plans.

The city so far has spent about $1 million to extend a sewer outfall line for the Oak Level annexation and another $30,000 as of December in legal fees fighting the residents in court, Assistant City Manager Peter Varney said.

“Other than that, the impact on the budget at this stage has been, well, that there hasn’t been any impact,” Varney said.

The $1 million sewer extension came from the city’s sewer fund, Varney said, and was not tied to anticipated revenue from the annexation. The city put all other planned spending associated with the annexation on hold, he said.

The Oak Level group has 30 days to file an appeal. After that, Varney said, “We plan to arrange for the provision of municipal services to the Oak Level community” in anticipation of the July 1 annexation date.

The residents who make up the Oak Level Community Against Forced Annexation have been fighting Rocky Mount’s planned annexation for more than a year, first at City Hall and more recently in the courts and in the N.C. General Assembly.

Moore said Tuesday the group would continue funding its legal battle against Rocky Mount while, at the same time, keeping one eye on Raleigh. Forced annexation opponents hope lawmakers will overhaul state annexation laws during the short session.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Moore said.

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