1. a. 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. Public land may be included in the territory to
beannexed. However, theareaoftheterritorythatispubliclandincludedwithoutthewritten
consent of the agency with jurisdiction over the public land shall not be used to determine
the percentage of territory that is included with the consent of the owner and without the
consent of the owner.
b.
(1)Prior to notification in paragraph “c”, the annex
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1. a. 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. Public land may be included in the territory to
beannexed. However, theareaoftheterritorythatispubliclandincludedwithoutthewritten
consent of the agency with jurisdiction over the public land shall not be used to determine
the percentage of territory that is included with the consent of the owner and without the
consent of the owner.
b. (1) Prior to notification in paragraph “c”, the annexing city shall provide written notice
to the board of supervisors and township trustees of each county and township that contains
all or a portion of the territory to be annexed. The written notice shall include the same
information required in paragraph “c” and shall set a time for a consultation on the proposed
annexation between the annexing city and each county and township that contains all or a
portionoftheterritorytobeannexed. Theconsultationshallbeheldatleastfourteenbusiness
days before the applications in paragraph “c” are mailed. The governing body of each such
county and township may designate one of its members to attend the consultation. Each such
county and township may make written recommendations for modification to the proposed
annexation no later than seven business days following the date of the consultation.
(2) Not later than thirty days after the consultation, the board of supervisors of each
county that contains all or a portion of the territory to be annexed shall, by resolution, state
whether or not it supports the application or whether it takes no position in support of or
against the application. If there is a comprehensive plan for the county, the board shall take
the plan into account when considering its resolution. A copy of the resolution shall be
immediately filed with the annexing city and shall be considered by the city council when
taking action on the application. The city council shall forward a copy of the resolution to
the city development board as part of the city proceedings on the annexation. Failure of a
board of supervisors to adopt a resolution shall not delay the proceedings on the application
nor shall such failure be considered a deficiency either in the application or in the annexing
city’s proceedings.
c. A copy of the application shall be mailed by certified mail to the nonconsenting 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.
d. 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 that adjoins the territory
to be annexed unless the adjoining property is in a city. 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 shall not assess the costs of providing
notice as required in this section to the applicants. The city council shall approve or deny
the application by resolution of the council.
e. An application for annexation under this subsection may be withdrawn by an applicant
at any time within three business days after the public hearing unless the application was
made pursuant to a written agreement for the extension of city services or unless the right
to withdraw the application was specifically identified and waived by the applicant in the
application. A landowner who has consented to the annexation may, within three business
days after the public hearing, withdraw the landowner’s consent to the annexation unless the
landowner has entered into a written agreement for extension of city services or unless the
right to withdraw consent was specifically identified and waived by the landowner.
f. 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 city development board after a hearing for all affected property owners
and the county. When considering such an annexation application, the board may request
that the annexing city provide information on the amount of land located in the annexing city
that is currently vacant or undeveloped and whether municipal services are being provided
to current residents of the annexing city.
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. 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
thecitytowhichtheannexationisdirectedmustbeapprovedbothbyresolutionofthecouncil
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
countynewspaperineachcountywhichcontainsaportionoftheterritoryatleasttenbusiness
days prior to any action by the city council on the application. 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 1, paragraph “b”.
4. a. 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.
b. If an application for voluntary annexation is not approved pursuant to this section, the
boardshallcausetheconversionoftheapplicationtoapetitionpursuanttosection368.13and
shall proceed under section 368.14A. The conversion of an application to a petition shall not
prejudicethestatusoftheapplicant. Judicialreviewofaboarddecisionunderthissubsection
may be requested by an aggrieved party.
5. Inthediscretionofacitycouncil, theresolutionprovidedforinsubsection1, paragraph
“d”, or subsection 2 or 3, may include a provision for a transition for the imposition of city
taxes against property within the annexation area as provided in section 368.11, subsection
3, paragraph “m”.