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MOUNT VERNON — Readers routinely ask about annexing Harcourt Road into the city.
The questions come in various forms: Why hasn’t the city annexed Harcourt Road? When will the city annex Harcourt Road? Why won’t the city annex Harcourt Road?
Another reader asked a similar question about Columbus Road.
“I would like to know when the entire Columbus Road community can be annexed into the City of Mount Vernon. I was hoping that when Ariel Park opened, we would be annexed,” she wrote.
There are several types of annexation, but they all have a common denominator.
“The defining feature about all types of annexation is that they are initiated by the property owners,” Mount Vernon Law Director Rob Broeren explained. “The property owners are the ones who have to say ‘I want to join the municipality.'”
Types of annexation
There are three types of annexation:
•Type 1: The property leaves the township.
•Type 2: The property becomes part of the municipality and also remains part of the township.
•Type 3: The municipality annexes the property, but it’s under an economic development agreement.
“Type 1 is an agreement between the municipality and the township where the property leaves the township. It can only leave with the township’s consent,” Broeren said.
“In Type 2 and Type 3 annexation, the property stays in the township for purposes of property taxation.”
Broeren said in regular annexations involving multiple parcels of property, the majority of property owners must agree to join the municipality.
In an expedited annexation, whether Type 1, 2, or 3, all property owners within the area must agree to annexation.
Additionally, in Type 1, whether regular or expedited, the township must agree to let the property leave the township.
“The city cannot start the annexation process for private property. That has to be done by the property owners themselves,” Broeren said.
“The city can start the annexation process on property it already owns that is contiguous to the city or municipality. It can also initiate annexation on county- or state-owned property in the municipality.”
Broeren emphasized that the property to be annexed must be contiguous to a city parcel.
Several parcels on Harcourt Road, Pittsburgh Avenue, and Columbus Road are in the city. Other parcels are in Clinton Township.
And as our reader noted, Ariel-Foundation Park is in the city.
Talk first
Broeren said city officials often find out a property owner wants to annex after the owner files a notice with the county commissioners.
“That starts a clock running,” he said. “There are initial time frames where the city has to respond in 20 days, and that has proved problematic in the past.
“If people are interested in annexing, they should really talk about it with the city engineer or the mayor. It’s in everyone’s interest to do that.”
Broeren compared the recent annexations of historical society property on Harcourt Road and farmland on Route 586 near Twin Oak Elementary School.
“With the historical society, we had talks prior,” he said. “That made a lot of logical sense because the back part of the property was already in the city and has city services. So it wasn’t a big deal.”
In contrast, the city had only a few discussions with the property owners on 586.
“When council said the city would not provide water and sewer services, if the property owners develop the land, they have to run water and sewer themselves,” Broeren said.
“It goes back to if you are considering annexation, you should really reach out and talk with the engineer’s office or mayor’s office to make sure your plans are consistent with ours so that we can collaborate.
“If someone is interested, we are willing to talk.”
Township perspective
Clinton Township Trustee Terry Thompson said that, in general, the trustees do not care for property owners annexing into the city.
He acknowledged that the city could contribute more to larger businesses, but regarding the small businesses on Harcourt Road, “we don’t like annexation.”
“It’s taking away our little businesses that we can handle. But it’s up to the people,” he said.
“There’s going to be a day when they annex all of Clinton Township into the city, and then the township isn’t going to have the right to say anything about anything.”
Clinton Township already has city water and sewer. However, property owners pay a surcharge because they are outside city limits.
They also pay a Clinton Township surcharge to cover past infrastructure costs. Thompson said the township surcharge might decrease after crews finish work on Crystal Avenue and in The Buckeye Addition.
“I think we’re at the place where everything is going to start paying off some,” he said.
