Circumstances pushing Linn residents into Marion

About 120 Marion residents are about to lose their island without moving an inch.

Continued residential growth on the city's north side is poised to claim a neighborhood that, while surrounded by the city, has so far remained part of Marion Township, not the city.

Some neighborhood residents aren't pleased with urban growth and its increased property taxes.

“None of us need any of the city services,” said Bob Schlegel. “They're going to pick up property taxes from 120 very expensive acreages.”

But most figure annexation is inevitable in the next five or so years, said Gary Young, de facto spokesman for an informal group of neighbors.

“The city would say ‘We're going to have to do it some time,' there would be a forced annexation and I think both the city and us would rather that not happen,” said Young, who's representing his neighborhood in meetings with city officials.

“There's a lot of things going on around them,” said Tom Treharne, the city's director of planning and development. “This is one of our major commercial growth corridors.”

The area northwest of Excelsior Middle School - Linn Mar Heights or the Shady Oak Subdivision, by the county assessor's legal descriptions - offered wooded lots of about an acre when development began in the early 1970s. The newest homes there are about 15 years old.

Schlegel, 74, has lived at 3600 N. 10th St. since 1987.

“I was the first property on the edge of the city,” he said. “North of me was county.”

There's still open land north of Williams and Rolling Glen drives, but new homes continue to sprout. A developer's petition to annex northeast of the neighborhood and another annexation request on file since 2008 will include the strip of township along North 10th Street, leaving the city no legal option but to annex Schlegel's neighborhood.

“It's forcing the City Council to respond,” said Treharne. “The council is basically put into a position by virtue of that request.”

“The only opening we have to the county is a 30-foot-wide stretch,” said Young, of 4047 Bruce Rd. “We'd be an island.”

State policy

State law prohibits the creation of unincorporated “islands” surrounded by a city - precisely what would happen to the neighborhood if Marion annexes the area to the north.

“The idea is not to create them, but to fix (islands),” said Treharne.

The state's City Development Board, which governs cities' boundary issues, wouldn't approve an annexation creating an island.

“The last time we went to the development board we showed them the property we wanted to annex that created that real skinny piece,” Treharne said. “They said this area really needs to be addressed, so it's not like we didn't know.”

Treharne said the city also has annexation petitions from residents along Brookside Drive, a township “peninsula” that will become an island as the area northeast of it is annexed.

Pockets of unincorporated land within a city complicate planning and zoning policy and the delivery of services.

“It just makes sense from a logical standpoint,” said Jeff Schott, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Iowa College of Law and a former Marion city manager. “You shouldn't have a pocket of non-city go through the city.”

Higher taxes

Annexation would raise property taxes for homes in the island neighborhood. Nearby homes of similar value within the city pay $700 to $800 more a year, according to the county assessor's web site.

Schlegel worries about the cost of connecting homes to city water and sewer services. The neighborhood's homes have their own wells and septic systems.

Treharne said state law allows the city to phase in its taxes over a decade, and a similar deal on connection fees could be negotiated. He said a review of county permits show more than half the septic systems in the neighborhood are more than 40 years old.

A petition to annex hasn't been officially filed, but both Young and Treharne hope the city and neighbors can negotiate an agreement to voluntarily annex the area, heading off a potentially expensive involuntary annexation process.

An annexation is voluntary if 80 percent of property owners in an area agree to it.

“I think everybody would like to avoid that,” said Young. “That's a waste of taxpayer money and a waste of our own funds.”

Young said many neighborhood residents were more worried over a developer's request to extend Shady Oak Drive south to Tower Terrace Road, bringing through traffic. After a meeting with Treharne and Young last week, the developer agreed to withdraw the request.

“We thought this issue quite frankly affects the neighborhood more than the annexation,” said Young.

Treharne said the city has commissioned an engineering study to determine the cost of connecting residents to city sewer and water.

“If we can get the hookup less than what it would cost to replace that well or septic that would save them money,” said Young, who's encouraged by early meetings with city officials and developers with plans for nearby property.

In the meantime, Treharne and Young plan to meet to negotiate the annexation process. Treharne said annexation could occur by early this fall.

“What we're going to do is to try and make it as painless as possible,” said Young.