We're getting annexed :(

HTG_zoo · #1 04/19/14, 01:26 AM

I'm just devastated, we're loosing everything that is good about this place we live in.

We're getting annexed by the tiny town nearby. They're annexing us so the larger town further away can't.

Our taxes are going to to up to the state capped limit.
We're going to loose the ability to have livestock, discharge a firearm, store various things outdoors, allow vegetation to grow more then 1 foot in height, burn things, make noise, and mow the lawn after 8 pm (that is a problem for me!).

We're going to have to hook up to city utilities, back fill our septic tank, get building permits, register our cats and dogs in the city and spend more then I make a year doing all this.

In return, we get city maintenance of our road which is not really a benefit as the nearest road that they already maintain is the worst road I drive on most days. We'll also get their fire department, but we already have that due to contracts with the county. We'll also get their police protection which is no real benefit to me.

I have no idea how to finance this change over. We may have some time, as they have to run the utilities out to us, and then we get 60 days to get ready ourselves. Can one get loans for this kind of thing?

I can't really pack up and move right now, the house is a modular and the odds of selling it and breaking even are very slim at this point. If I could, I would though.

Sawmill Jim · #2 04/19/14, 01:35 AM

To me it appears you are going to lose anyway you go . Me I would figure which way I would lose the least .Sell at a loss or comply

HTG_zoo · #3 04/19/14, 01:41 AM

Well if we had money, selling at a loss may be possible, as it is, we can't because then we'd be homeless with a debt. So it seems that choice is already made.

elkhound · #4 04/19/14, 01:44 AM

good luck...wish you the best.

idigbeets · #5 04/19/14, 05:38 AM

Welcome to progress.... =/

I don't know where you live in IN, but I googled "sewer connection assistance program" and came up with a bunch of information. Looks like you need to do that, and try talking to Dept of Public works, Health/Code offices.

jingle5616 · #6 04/19/14, 05:39 AM

Fight it. I have a four properties that have come under the threat of annexation that I was successful at keeping out of the encroaching city. Two are now surrounded on all sides by the city, islands of freedom, if you will. Of course I'm not in Indiana, so maybe it isn't possible there. But I'd look into what my legal rights are before I'd let them roll over me. Good luck.

farmrbrown · #7 04/19/14, 05:46 AM

I haven't heard any option that includes fighting, other than the previous post about looking at your legal rights.
I usually start with a letter or preferably a face to face meeting in which I say, "Thanks, but no thanks."
They are then informed of the consequences of infringing my rights. When you get to the part about it possibly resulting in death to one or all parties, that's when you get 100% of their attention.
........Or you could proceed with your other options, which are pretty much guaranteed to fail.
Not good choices, but there they are.

karenp · #8 04/19/14, 05:55 AM

Check to see if you can be grandfathered in for your current operation. Check on right to farm laws ( which probably only apply if you have some kind of business)

Darren · #9 04/19/14, 06:48 AM

I'm familiar with an attempted annexation. The first time it was submitted bt the city the metes and bounds of the survey included a part of another state. Sometimes an annexation can be defeated on technicalities. That stalled it long enough for other actions.

Part of the area was served by a water district. The city would have had to buy it out. Since the customers had the right to elect the officers, all of the officers were replaced by the group that fought the annexation. Definitely look at grandfathering.

The state code lists the requirements for annexation. It's time to get familiar with it.

Are there any other like minded individuals that will join with you?

JoePa · #10 04/19/14, 08:32 AM

Fight it - do what Bundy did - how about the other people being affected - get together and fight it - who is pushing for it -

Kasota · #11 04/19/14, 09:06 AM

My brother and the people in his township just fought an annexation and they won! The nearby town wanted to annex them so they could have land in that township for development and taxation. It has been a long and difficult battle but they were successful. They started their fight when they first heard of the plans to annex, because they have to notify people, but it had not legally been put through because of the hoops the nearby town had to jump through. Is that the sort of letter you got? An intent to annex? Or did it already go through?

I am so, so sorry you are going through all of this. What a horrid thing...

farmerted · #12 04/19/14, 09:16 AM

This is in Indiana? I live in St Louis county in Missouri on 3 acres. Population 1 million people, and I can still do all those things. I thought Indiana was just as conservative as Missouri, what town is it and why are they so overzealous with their rules? Change happens at the city council.

Ozarks Tom · #13 04/19/14, 11:29 AM

For some reason I thought the people affected by the annexation had to vote for it, not just some arbitrary decision by a city council. What's transpired prior to this?

HTG_zoo · #14 04/19/14, 12:04 PM

They've been trying for awhile and now have 51% of the house hold in the area agree to voluntary annexation. People agreed brace the next larger town has ben trying for years and that would be worse to get annexed by.

Brighton · #15 04/19/14, 12:12 PM

I don't understand this at all, do you live in the country, like outside the village/town limits??

halfpint · #16 04/19/14, 12:16 PM

I'm not sure what your state code, but when our city was formed, they had to have at least 4 residents per quarter-quarter that they annexed sign. In our case it took only 2 families to do that. However, we are grandfathered in (although we are still zoned as agricultural in our town). Fortunately our city does not have sewer or property taxes (we do have state and county taxes though), the city taxes come from the sales taxes from the stores and gas stations on the main highway a few miles away.

Once the city was formed, the only way to annex in is for the resident to be contiguous with a property in the city and request to be annexed in, or for a large section to be allowed in by vote of the state legislature.

So check your laws carefully, you might want to contact a real estate lawyer to see if you can fight it.

Dawn

LisaInN.Idaho · #17 04/19/14, 12:26 PM

You should do some research and find out how you can ask to be grandfathered in, at least concerning your farming rights, etc.

wr · #18 04/19/14, 01:01 PM

Definitely check into ensuring your agricultural rights are grandfathered in before you do anything too rash and now would be a good time to talk to a lawyer.

HTG_zoo · #19 04/19/14, 01:58 PM

They are allowed to annex an area that shares 1/8 of it's border withe the city border. We are in the county, in the country on 3 acres, surrounded by fields. The area includes about 300 households & 53% of them volunteered to be annexed.

Some of then say that town council members told them we won't lose our zoning or property rights. City ordinances read to the contrary. The city has not done the details yet, so there is hope of grandfathering. That would be the best of the worst. Right now I have no livestock. The lady block of property they annexed is still agricultural, but I don't see any livestock there. They don't have city sewer / water yet.

There is very little hope of not getting annexed. They've won over too many of the neighbors.

Horseyrider · #20 04/19/14, 02:14 PM

When we moved here, there was no zoning on any level. Then zoning was shoved through. There was talk about being grandfathered in, and then they decided on a maximum number of head of stock a person could have per acre. They also decided that anything under five acres wasn't eligible. (We have 5.17 acres, part of which, ironically, is under a state highway; a whoops that occurred many years before our tenure here.) Lots of folks were upset, but then a funny thing happened.

Everyone ignores the zoning. Everyone goes on as before.

The only time anybody says anything to anyone about it is when somebody is overcrowding their place, or requires Animal Control to step in. Then folks point to the law and use it as a tool to require good stewardship with their animals, and to make people be decent, considerate neighbors.

Since everyone in our township is responsible and considerate, it's quickly become a non-issue.

I know this isn't the same as annexation, but it's nevertheless the threat of a lifestyle change. I wish the same results for you.