Disannexation

A new word! This isn’t one I was familiar with, though the meaning of “disannexation” is pretty self-evident. Here’s an excerpt definition from Justia:

The property in question is part of the 70+ acres owned by Culver Investment Corp which was annexed as part of a mixed use PUD project at the northwest side of Culver. (Outlined in cyan and yellow on the GIS map to the right.) The project proposal included a large residential subdivision for most of the property and a gas station/convenience store on the NE corner of the intersection of SR 10 & SR 17. A preliminary PUD plan was presented and the developer entered into a development agreement with the town, which included the annexation. Since that time, the town has rezoned the property back to S-1, Suburban Residential, The developer has sold the north two parcels which are on the north side of SR 10 to two different purchasers and the remaining property has been on the market for some time.

It will be interesting how the Culver Town Council handles this. Disannexation seem counter to the reasons it was annexed in the first place and counter to the Comprehensive Plan, which includes developed uses for this property as part of Culver and expansion of the extraterritorial boundary based on this annexation.

The suggested disannexation is roughly the middle third of the overall property, parcel 502117203032000022 on the adjacent map, that was in the original annexation. If this goes through, this effectively creates a non-contiguous annexed area north of State Road 10. There are a few exceptions to the contiguous rule during annexation, but the exceptions generally apply to industrial parks and municipal properties. A brief search online didn’t turn up any consideration for creating orphan annexed property no longer contiguous to the town limits.

I wrote about this a while back in a post here: Municipal Services As stated in an update at the bottom of that post, the town believes Culver Investment Corp is still responsible for extending services. I am not an attorney, but I do continue to have questions about that. Allowing this disannexation before having a resolution of the utilities issue would further complicate this in my mind. I would assume the new property owners have an expectation of utilities from the town. The town’s remedy for supplying these utilities would be the Culver Investment Corp Development Agreement. Messy at best…

I know it might be expedient to allow this disannexation and to pursue disannexation of the properties across SR 10, but my opinion is that would be a mistake. Culver should control these areas and particularly the intersection there. Culver is in somewhat of a growth phase, so giving up property control seems counterproductive to that. I hope the Council looks at the Comp Plan and the work that went into it before making a rash decision here. Time will tell…