The news that a portion of Isle of Wight County won’t be added to the enterprise zone in neighboring Franklin and Southampton County until at least 2011 is disappointing.

Isle of Wight County Supervisor Phillip Bradshaw said last month that he was hopeful Gov. Bob McDonnell could issue an executive order attaching a 6.37-square mile section of southern Isle of Wight to the zone. But considering that the Republican had been at the helm of state government for little more than a month, his reluctance to wield that kind of power should hardly be surprising.

All is not lost, however. McDonnell is urging Bradshaw and his IOW counterparts to get the annexation put into legislation for the 2011 session of the General Assembly. Since the annexation is tacitly supported by officials in Franklin and Southampton, it should pass the muster of state lawmakers.

The section of IOW in question contains the bulk of the properties of the International Paper Co. mill. Getting that land in an enterprise zone would make it even more attractive to companies that are interested in reusing parts of the mill for other things.