HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC-11-06-00-02 City Annex PolicySPONSORS: Councilors Snyder and Wilson
RESOLUTION NO. CC-11-06-00-02
A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARMEL,
INDIAN& REGARDING THE CITY'S ANNEXATION POLICY
WHEREAS, the City of Carmel, Indiana, (''City") has long been engaged in
extensive efforts to ensure its orderly, logical and organized growth and development;
and
WHEREAS, the City has, as early as 1959, entered into joinder agreements with
Clay Township ("Township") in order to extend the City's planning, zoning, fire
protection and parks services to residents of that unincorporated area; and
WHEREAS, the City has also had the foresight to invest extensively in its water
and sewage treatment facilities so as to have the necessary capacity to provide these
utility services to the Township; and
WHEREAS, the Annexation and Land Use Committee of the Common Council
has studied and held public meetings concerning the City's annexation policy for several
months; and
WHEREAS, the Common Council desires to propose and support the following
policy towards the annexation of future unincorporated areas of the Township.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of
Carreel, Indiana, as follows:
1. Preamble
The research undertaken in the formal development of annexation policies for the
City of Carmel has clearly demonstrated that the City has engaged in extensive efforts
on multiple fronts to assure the controlled, methodical, organized growth of the City
over the very long term. We are not currently aware of any city in Indiana which has
invested such significant and prolonged effort in support of strong growth and
development.
In an effort to assure that municipal services were extended methodically, as early as
1959, the City began entering into specific joinder agreements with the Township to
provide planning/zoning services, fire protection services and parks services.
Although growth in the unincorporated area has increased in recent years (coupled
with a lack of annexation by the City), the City has contributed generously to the
extension of these services into the unincorporated Township. These joinder efforts
have been so successful in extending municipal services to the unincorporated areas
that the residents may well be unaware of the fact that the City is responsible for
originating most of those services.
The City has invested and re-invested in comprehensive planning, zoning and
development standards which control the development within both the incorporated
and unineorporated areas of Clay Township. These planning efforts control the
development of the unincorporated areas in a manner that would have been
impossible without the direct partnership of the City under the joinder agreement. In
fact, when the planning/zoning joinder was developed, it appears that Hamilton
County had no planning and zoning, at all, and the City of Carmel moved to fill that
void with the full cooperation ofthe Township. As a result ofthis coordinated and
cooperative planning effort, the development which has occurred in the
unincorporated areas is of a quality which is virtually unequaled anywhere else in the
state of Indiana.
The City of Carmel has also invested extensively in utility service capacity, especially
in sewer and water utilities. The Camel sewage treatment facility is currently
designed to handle 12 million gallons per day ofwastewater, even though the citizens
inside the City use only a relatively small portion of that capacity.
The City of Carmel has also required that developers seeking development approvals
provide the City with an agreement that the future property owners within their
developments would support future annexation actions by the City. These
"annexation agreements" are on file with the City, and clearly demonstrate the intent
of both the City and the developer to annex these new developments as the City grew,
and to make them a part of the incorporated City.
In addition to these factors, the City of Carmel, in cooperation with the City of
Noblesville and the Towns of West~eld and Fishers have established boundmy
agreements which define the future corporate limits of each municipality. Under
these agreements, the City of Carmel will extend no farther north than 146tn Street, no
farther east than the White River and no farther west or south than the county line.
The establishment of these boundary limits further demonstrates the extensive effort
invested to promote controlled growth on the part of the City of Carmel.
The combined impact of these actions is indisputable. The City of Carmel began as
early as 1959 to plan for its future growth and to implement those plans with the
intent of providing a high quality environment for its residents. From the beginning,
the area considered for Carmel's growth was essentially Clay Township, Those plans
were initiated under a set of annexation and growth statutes which have since been
changed, however, those statutory changes do not alter the original intent of the City
of Carmel with respect to defining and implementing a bright future for its citizens.
Therefore, this Preamble stands as a means of summarizing the evidentiary nature of
these previous actions.
2. Fiscal Policy of the City
It is appropriate to state categorically that the annexation policies of the City are
expected to correspond with the fiscal policies of the City. In the vernacular, "no free
lunch." Therefore, it is the policy of the City of Carmel that annexation should only
be undertaken under circumstances which are not adverse to the fiscal interests of the
current residents and taxpayers of the City of Carmel.
3, Preference Toward Friendly Annexations
The City of Carmel would prefer to implement annexation action under the most
friendly conditions possible. Therefore, in cases where it is practical/possible to
achieve consensus in favor of annexation, the City would expect to demonstrate a
preference toward such consensus in those cases where an annexation action can be
implemented under the "voluntary" provisions of the statute (IC36-4-3-5).
4. City Services vs. Development Standards
In any annexation action, the City of Carmel will extend all municipal services to the
annexed area, in accordance with the requirements of state law. However, the City
hereby sets forth a clear and specific distinction between "municipal services" and
"development standards." For purposes of annexation "development standards" are
specifically identified as those improvements which are required as a result of the
requirements of the subdivision regulations and/or the zoning ordinance as
administered by the Department of Community Services (funded through the joinder
agreement). As such, the improvements which would be considered to fall under the
"development standards" of the City, and not under the "municipal services" of the
City would include, but not be limited to, such things as sidewalks, curbs/gutters,
development greenspace, surface water management/retention, walking/hiking trails,
street lighting, and other similar improvements which are required as part of the
development. Conversely, "municipal services" shall include the services directly
offered by City departments such as street maintenance/repair, police protection, fire
protection, sewer service, water service, City court, City administration, and street
snow removal.
5. City Boundaries Approximate Township Boundaries
The original and current intent of the cumulative actions of the City and Township
with regard to growth is that the ultimate boundaries of the City could coincide with
the boundaries ofClay Township. It is possible that certain areas cannot be
effectively served by the City for some specific reason. Therefore, it is the official
policy of the City that the continuous and ongoing effort of the City to plan for its
municipal growth and to implement those plans through the extension of services
through various means - exhibited most distinctly through the joinder agreements and
the cooperative extension of sewer service (including sewage treatment capacity) that
the City' s long term goal is potentially to incorporate any areas within Clay
Township.
6. Annexation Agreements
The City has relied heavily on "annexation agreements" with developers wherein the
City intended to take annexation actions after the development was made contiguous
to the City. The annexation agreements demonstrate the "policy intent" of the City
with regard to annexation, however, the City is cognizant of the importance of
community consensus as a building block of good government. The City will adjust
its policies and practices with regard to annexation agreements to make them more
practical and informative for the residents of these new areas in the future. It is the
City's long term intent, however, to continue to require new development in the
unincorporated areas to waive the right to remonstrate against future annexation
actions, with specific requirements related to connection to utility systems. In support
of this policy, the City will consider the use of agreements developed under IC36-4-3-
8 or IC36-4-3-21, as well as agreements under utility service sections of the statutes
as a means of providing for smooth assimilation of the territory. This portion of the
annexation policies therefore underscores and amplifies the provisions of the
"Voluntary Annexation" portion of the policies.
7. Utility Service (Sewer & Water)
The City of Carmel defines "utility service" and "utility systems" to include both the
distribution/collection system as well as the capacity to treat and operate the utility
systems. Water lines are useless without water supply and storage which generates
water pressure. Sewers are useless without water supply and storage which generates
water pressure. Sewers are useless without the capacity to treat the wastewater and a
permit to discharge treated waste to the surface waters of the sate of Indiana. People
are often confused about "sewer service" because of the entity that owns the
collection/distribution system or the entity which sends them a bill for service. This
policy is therefore based on the holistic issue of utility service.
In cases where a developed property connects to the "utility systems" of the City, as
defined above, that property becomes immediately subject to annexation by the City,
as a condition of receipt of sewer service. If said property cannot be configured in a
manner that meets the annexation parameters of state law, then the City will consider
developing an annexation agreement or a special contract under IC36-4-3-8 or 21 or
such other provisions as might be appropriate to the situation in question.
8. Financial "Incentives" in Support of Annexation
Aside from the issue of municipal services, the City has developed annexation/growth
policies with support for the concept of applying economic incentives to the
annexation policies as a basis for public support and popular consensus. The
financial incentives possibly considered by the City of Carmel include tax abatement
(IC36-4-3-8.5), delay of the effective date of the annexation (IC36-4-3-8), negotiation
of supplemental services (based on surplus tax revenues), elimination of
utility/service surcharges, and other appropriate arrangements as provided by IC36-4-
3-21.
It is the fundamental position of the City, however, that the extension of such
financial incentives shall be made primarily in those cases (involving those
territories) where the extension of such financial incentives is appropriate to the fiscal
and governmental interests of the City of Carmel. This portion of the annexation
policies is intended to underscore the provisions regarding the fiscal interests of the
City, as well as the provisions regarding friendly annexation. In those cases where
financial incentives are requested, it is an expectation of the City that the
residents/owners within the annexation territory would provide an environment for
annexation which would not exert a fiscal burden on the residents/owners within the
current City limits.
9. Annexation of New/proposed Development
The statute dearly anticipates the annexation of new development by a city. Carmel's
previous policies attempted to capitalize on the convenience of that form of
annexation by using annexation (non-remonstrance) agreements. The simple fact is
that it is much simpler to annex an area while it is under the control of the developer,
and before its ownership is scattered to the individual parcels. If an owner buys a
parcel with the full knowledge of it being within the corporate limits, the amount of
confusion regarding municipal services and property tax rates is greatly reduced.
Therefore the annexation policies of the City make the annexation of new
developments the cornerstone of its annexation policies.
10. Annexation of Existing/Occupied Development
Once a residential development (which is the dominant form of development in Clay
Township) is marketed and occupied, the prospect for annexation becomes much less
clear. The annexation of existing development, therefore, deserves separate
consideration, with accommodation of the reality of its occupancy. It is expected that
the annexation of existing residential development will require special provisions
with regard to education/information as a means of developing and maintaining an
appropriate level of public consensus in support of the City.
11. Annexation of Commercial/Industrial Development
The statute makes special accommodation of commercial/industrial development
under IC36-4-3-13. Since commercial/industrial areas are limited due to Carmel's
land use patterns, all industrial and commercial areas are to be considered for
immediate annexation action.
12. Annexing Territory 100% Contiguous with the City
As Carmel has developed, there have been areas lei~ outside of its corporate limits
which are approaching 100% contiguity. A recent map of the incorporated City
shows several such areas east of Spring Mill Road. It is, therefore, the policy of the
City that such areas be considered for annexation at the earliest practical time, with
appropriate consideration of the cost of services to each specific area.
13. Annexation of Indebtedness
In any annexation action, the City of Carmel will comply with all statutory
requirements regarding municipal services to the annexation territory.
14. This Resolution shall take effect upon its passage by the Common Council, signing
by the Mayor and such publication as is required by law.
SO RESOL AND PASSED by the Common Council oft~e City of Carmel,
Indiana th~4(~Z day of 2000, by a vote of '
/7 ayes and ; nays.
iding Officer ~ZZ.~
K irb~
oven
Wayne A. ilson
ATTEST:
Diana L. C?rdray, IAMC, ~ler~reasurer
Presented by me to the Mayor of the City of Carmel, Indiana the
(~Yday of
,2000.
i h
Approved by me, the Mayor of the City of Carmel, ndiana, t is fir_ day of
2000.
me~sBrainard, Mayor