(1)No unincorporated area may be
annexed to a municipality unless one of the conditions set forth in section 30 (1) of
article II of the state constitution first has been met. An area is eligible for
annexation if the provisions of section 30 of article II of the state constitution have
been complied with and the governing body, at a hearing as provided in section 31-12-109, finds and determines:
(a)That not less than one-sixth of the perimeter of the area proposed to be
annexed is contiguous with the annexing municipality. Contiguity shall not be
affected by the existence of a platted street or alley, a public or private right-of-way, a public or private transportation right-of-way or area, public lands, whether
owned by the state, the United States, or an agency thereof, except
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(1) No unincorporated area may be
annexed to a municipality unless one of the conditions set forth in section 30 (1) of
article II of the state constitution first has been met. An area is eligible for
annexation if the provisions of section 30 of article II of the state constitution have
been complied with and the governing body, at a hearing as provided in section 31-12-109, finds and determines:
(a) That not less than one-sixth of the perimeter of the area proposed to be
annexed is contiguous with the annexing municipality. Contiguity shall not be
affected by the existence of a platted street or alley, a public or private right-of-way, a public or private transportation right-of-way or area, public lands, whether
owned by the state, the United States, or an agency thereof, except county-owned
open space, or a lake, reservoir, stream, or other natural or artificial waterway
between the annexing municipality and the land proposed to be annexed. Subject
to the requirements imposed by section 31-12-105 (1)(e), contiguity may be
established by the annexation of one or more parcels in a series, which annexations
may be completed simultaneously and considered together for the purposes of the
public hearing required by sections 31-12-108 and 31-12-109 and the annexation
impact report required by section 31-12-108.5.
(b) That a community of interest exists between the area proposed to be
annexed and the annexing municipality; that said area is urban or will be urbanized
in the near future; and that said area is integrated with or is capable of being
integrated with the annexing municipality. The fact that the area proposed to be
annexed has the contiguity with the annexing municipality required by paragraph
(a) of this subsection (1) shall be a basis for a finding of compliance with these
requirements unless the governing body, upon the basis of competent evidence
presented at the hearing provided for in section 31-12-109, finds that at least two of
the following are shown to exist:
(I) Less than fifty percent of the adult residents of the area proposed to be
annexed make use of part or all of the following types of facilities of the annexing
municipality: Recreational, civic, social, religious, industrial, or commercial; and less
than twenty-five percent of said area's adult residents are employed in the
annexing municipality. If there are no adult residents at the time of the hearing, this
standard shall not apply.
(II) One-half or more of the land in the area proposed to be annexed
(including streets) is agricultural, and the landowners of such agricultural land,
under oath, express an intention to devote the land to such agricultural use for a
period of not less than five years.
(III) It is not physically practicable to extend to the area proposed to be
annexed those urban services which the annexing municipality provides in common
to all of its citizens on the same terms and conditions as such services are made
available to such citizens. This standard shall not apply to the extent that any
portion of an area proposed to be annexed is provided or will within the reasonably
near future be provided with any service by or through a quasi-municipal
corporation.
(2) (a) The contiguity required by paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this
section may not be established by use of any boundary of an area which was
previously annexed to the annexing municipality if the area, at the time of its
annexation, was not contiguous at any point with the boundary of the annexing
municipality, was not otherwise in compliance with paragraph (a) of subsection (1)
of this section, and was located more than three miles from the nearest boundary of
the annexing municipality, nor may such contiguity be established by use of any
boundary of territory which is subsequently annexed directly to, or which is
indirectly connected through subsequent annexations to, such an area.
(b) Because the creation or expansion of disconnected municipal satellites,
which are sought to be prohibited by this subsection (2), violates both the purposes
of this article as expressed in section 31-12-102 and the limitations of this article,
any annexation which uses any boundary in violation of this subsection (2) may be
declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be void ab initio in addition to other
remedies which may be provided. The provisions of section 31-12-116 (2) and (4) and
section 31-12-117 shall not apply to such an annexation. Judicial review of such an
annexation may be sought by any municipality having a plan in place pursuant to
section 31-12-105 (1)(e) directly affected by such annexation, in addition to those
described in section 31-12-116 (1). Such review may be, but need not be, instituted
prior to the effective date of the annexing ordinance and may include injunctive
relief. Such review shall be brought no later than sixty days after the effective date
of the annexing ordinance or shall forever be barred.
(c) Contiguity is hereby declared to be a fundamental element in any
annexation, and this subsection (2) shall not in any way be construed as having the
effect of legitimizing in any way any noncontiguous annexation.