1. All of the owners of land in a territory adjoining a city may apply in writing to the council of the adjoining city requesting annexation of the territory. Territory comprising railway right-of-way or territory comprising not more than twenty percent of the land area may be included in the application without the consent of the owner to avoid creating an island or to create more uniform boundaries if a copy of the application is mailed by certified mail to the owner and each affected public utility, at least fourteen business days prior to any action taken by the city council on the application. The application must contain a legal description and a map of the territory showing its location in relationship to the city. An annexation including territory comprising not more than twenty percent of the land area without consent of the property owners is not complete without approval by four-fifths of the members of the board after a hearing for all affected property owners and the county.
The city shall provide for a public hearing on the application before approving or denying it. The city shall provide written notice at least fourteen business days prior to any action by the city council regarding the application, including a public hearing, by regular mail to the chairperson of the board of supervisors of each county which contains a portion of the territory proposed to be annexed, each public utility which serves the territory proposed to be annexed, each owner of property located within the territory to be annexed who is not a party to the application, and each owner of property which adjoins the territory to be annexed. The city shall publish notice of the application and public hearing on the application in an official county newspaper in each county which contains a portion of the territory proposed to be annexed. Both the written and published notice shall include the time and place of the public hearing and a legal description of the territory to be annexed. The city may assess the costs of providing notice as required in this section to the applicants.
2. An application for annexation of territory not within an urbanized area of a city other than the city to which the annexation is directed must be approved by resolution of the council which receives the application. In the discretion of a city council, the resolution may include a provision for a transition for the imposition of taxes as provided in section 368.11, subsection 13. The city council shall mail a copy of the application by certified mail to the board of supervisors of each county which contains a portion of the territory at least fourteen business days prior to any action taken by the city council on the application. The council shall also publish notice of the application in an official county newspaper in each county which contains a portion of the territory at least fourteen days prior to any action taken by the council on the application. Upon receiving approval of the council, the city clerk shall file a copy of the resolution, map, and legal description of the territory involved with the secretary of state, the county board of supervisors of each county which contains a portion of the territory, each affected public utility, and the state department of transportation. The city clerk shall also record a copy of the legal description, map, and resolution with the county recorder of each county which contains a portion of the territory. The secretary of state shall not accept and acknowledge a copy of a legal description, map, and resolution of annexation which would create an island. The annexation is completed upon acknowledgment by the secretary of state that the secretary of state has received the legal description, map, and resolution.
3. An application for annexation of territory within an urbanized area of a city other than the city to which the annexation is directed must be approved both by resolution of the council which receives the application and by the board. The board shall not approve an application which creates an island. Notice of the application shall be mailed by certified mail, by the city to which the annexation is directed, at least fourteen business days prior to any action by the city council on the application to the council of each city whose boundary adjoins the territory or is within two miles of the territory, to the board of supervisors of each county which contains a portion of the territory, each affected public utility, and to the regional planning authority of the territory. Notice of the application shall be published in an official county newspaper in each county which contains a portion of the territory at least ten business days prior to any action by the city council on the application. In the discretion of a city council, the resolution may include a provision for a transition for the imposition of taxes as provided in section 368.11, subsection 13. The annexation is completed when the board has filed and recorded copies of applicable portions of the proceedings as required by section 368.20, subsection 2.
4. If one or more applications for a voluntary annexation and one or more petitions for an involuntary annexation or incorporation for a common territory are submitted to the board within thirty days of the date the first application or petition was submitted to the board, the board shall approve the application for voluntary annexation, if the application meets the applicable requirements of this chapter, unless the board determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the application was filed in bad faith, or that the application as filed is contrary to the best interests of the citizens of the urbanized area, or that the applicant cannot within a reasonable period of time meet its obligation to provide services to the territory to be annexed sufficient to meet the needs of the territory. In consideration of the requests, the board may appoint a committee in the manner provided in section 368.14 to seek additional information from the applicant for voluntary annexation as necessary, including the information required of petitioners pursuant to section 368.11. The board, or the committee, if applicable, shall hold a public hearing on the application for voluntary annexation in the manner provided for involuntary petitions in section 368.15. The decision of the board under this subsection shall be made within ninety days of receipt of the application by the board. The failure of the board to approve an application under this paragraph shall be deemed final agency action subject to judicial review.
If an application for voluntary annexation is not approved pursuant to this section, the board shall cause the conversion of the application to a petition pursuant to section 368.13 and shall proceed under section 368.14A. The conversion of an application to a petition shall not prejudice the status of the applicant. Judicial review of a board decision under this subsection may be requested by an aggrieved party.
[R60, § 1038; C73, § 426; C97, § 617, 621; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 5615, 5616; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, § 362.30, 362.31; C75, 77, 79, 81, § 368.7]
86 Acts, ch 1245, § 845; 89 Acts, ch 299, §2; 91 Acts, ch 187, §2, 3; 91 Acts, ch 250, §3, 4; 92 Acts, ch 1174, § 2; 93 Acts, ch 152, § 4; 2002 Acts, ch 1132, §5--8, 11
Applicability of 2002 amendments; 2002 Acts, ch 1132, § 11
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