Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/07/1995

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annexations, allowing judicial review upon challenge. In Virginia, the test before the court can be as broad as "the best interests of the people" (Va. Code Ann. 15. I-1041(b)). Consent must be achieved through a series of public hearings, notifications, and referenda. The specific procedures vary by state, and planners should consult their own state statutes for exact requirements. In most states, annexation also cannot occur without some evidence that a contiguous boundary exists between the municipality and the territory. This is intended to prevent patchwork jurisdictional development and to keep municipal expansion orderly and efficient. In Virginia, noncontiguous land may be annexed provlded it is not more than three miles from the municipality's border. But most states define contiguity as a percentage of the territory's border. Because the fundamental notions of self-determination and orderIy development are statutorily protected, scheming municipalities have gone to great lengths to manufacture consent and contiguity when they are particularly desirous of a property. Because consent is usually defined as a majority of landowners and/or a majority of the residents in the area, it is possible for a municipality to draw its proposed annexation boundaries to ensure majority approval. In these cases, consent is manufactured through the annexation ora total area greater than that really desired because the owners or residents of the added property tip the vote in favor of annexation. This issue was hotly disputed in the case of Village ofiSouth Barrington, 289 N.E.2d (II1. App. Ct. 19729, although the court held the practice was valid. Municipal abuse of annexation powers has also manifested itself in "strip annexation." This occurs when a jurisdiction annexes a corridor of land that juts out from its borders, usually a road or highway, so that it may subsequently annex the desired parcel at the other end. The courts have much more frequently invalidated this blatant misuse of the contiguity requirement. For details, see Cherry Valley Fire Protection Dist. v. Cily of Rockfora~ 256 N.E.2d 653, 658 (Ill. App. Ct. 19709. In Colorado, strip annexation is expressly permitted as long as the strip's length does not exceed three miles. The assumption is that the requirement of voluntary consent will ensure that only willing owners are annexed regardless of contiguity. This appears to place little significance on the need for orderly expansion. What is the Motivation? The most important issue to clarify up front is the motivation of the party desiring the annexation. An annexation may be proposed The intricacies of annexation law vary tremendously, and annexations continue to be challenged and amended. All parties should confirm with their attorneys that they are proceeding in accordance with state statutes, This can save a good deal of time, bad pubtid~y, and money. The list below contains a few noteworthy Inadequate Notification of Intent to Annex A city's effort to annex land is null and void where the annexation pedtlons failed to describe the land to be annexed and failed to include it on the shaded area of the annexation plat. South Carolina, 1992. 44ZD 303. Self-Incorporation A school district's petition to become a borough by incorporating is properly denied when based on the nonstatutoty factor that granting the petition would isolate portions of the school distrlct's present township. Pennsylvania Court of Appeals, 1990. 42 ZD 35. A statute exempting charter townships from annexation to any ' contiguous city or village does not prohibit a village within the charter township from incorporating to become a home rule city. Mi&igan Court of Appeah, 1993. 45 ZD 46. ' challenges to annexation law that have been reported in APA's Land Use Law &Zoning Digest since 1.9.90 and may provide an added sense of the direction the courts are taking and situations where caution ts required. Case numbers are the Zoning Digest citations, which provide a more detailed synopsis of each case. zoning regulations of' the township. Pennsylvania Court afAppeah, 1990. 42 ZD 245. When landowners submit a voluntary annexation request to one village, it takes precedence over another village's prior but unadopted involuntary proceeding. ]tlinols Court of Appeah, 1991. 43 ZD 44. Or&dy Growth Annexation of a property lying in the path of growth is reasonable where the town can provide services to the property and the owners of the property currently benefit from their proximity to the town. Mississippi, 1990. 42 ZD 67. State Annexation Procedures The inldative of an ordinance that removed a "greenbelt" area around Contiguity An attempt to reach outlying subdivisions by annexing a 7,411-foot strip of land parallel and connguous to a municipal boundary, plus an additional 1,500-foot strip that did not touch the existing boundary, does not meet the contiguity requirement, although it satisfied the state statute's literal requirement. North Carolina, Court of Appeats, 1990. 42 ZD 209. When annexation is void because of lack of contiguity with the city boundaries, related rezoning ordinances are also void. Colorado Court of Appeals, 1992. 44 ZD 247. Involuntary Annexation A statute permitting a municipality to annex territory through a legislatively approved decision, without permitting the affected owners to vote on the issue, is constitutional. Oregon, 1991. 43 ZD 89. Petitioner's Interest A petition for incorporation may be granted although the petitioner, the sole landowner) is motivated in part by a desire to avoid the a city from the land-USe element, and requited voter approval of an amendment to the land-use element before the city could annex the land in the area, is invalid because it conflicts with state annexation procedurea. California Court of Appeals, 1990. 42 ZD 119. Service Provision A town's failure to connect annexed land to the town sewer lines constitutes an unconstitutional taking and deprives the owners of equal protection. Officials do not have immunity where the annexation order required connection within five years. U.S. trial, Virginia, 1990. 42 ZD 40. A city may condition the provision of sewer services beyond its borders on the landowners' agreement to consent to future annexation efforts. Washington, 1994. 46 ZD 98. Dueling Municipalities A municipality can have its airport disconnected from an adjacent municipality ~.vhen doing so'would not unreasonably disrupt the adjacent municipality's growth prospects or unduly harm its future tax revenue. Illinois Court of Appeals, 1993. 45 ZD 111.