The City of Ankeny has received a request for annexation of certain territory adjacent to the City's southeastern boundary, generally located east of Interstate 35, east of SE Four Mile Drive, and North of NE 54th Avenue. The annexation area is located within two miles of the City of Des Moines and the City of Altoona, which per Iowa Code, classifies the request as an urbanized annexation. The annexation territory encompasses approximately 35.521 acres (+/-), 33.941 acres (+/-), of which are owned by property owners who have signed a petition consenting to the annexation, while 1.58 acres (+/-) are owned by property owners who have not signed a petition consenting to the annexation. The non-consenting property is included in the annexation request to avoid the creation of islands and to provide for uniform boundaries, which is required by Iowa Code. Approximately 4.157 acres (+/-) of public road right-of-way are included in the annexation as well, as the City is required to incorporate any and all county road right-of-way to the centerline of the adjacent road.
At this time, 1 of the 2 properties included in the proposed annexation has provided petitions consenting to the request. If petitions are not received for both properties, the Code of Iowa allows cities to annex up to 20% of the total land area to be annexed from non-consenting owners to avoid the creation of islands and to relate uniform boundaries. The current petitioned land area is approximately 33.941 acres (+/-), which equals 95.55% of the 35.521 (+/-) total calculated acres, excluding Polk County road right-of-way. The land area of the non-petitioned property totals 1.58 acres (+/-), equaling 4.45% of the calculated land area, excluding Polk County road right-of-way.
The annexation area is identified in the Ankeny Plan 2040 Comprehensive Plan as being suitable for Light Industrial (LI), and Open Space (OS). if the annexation request is approved by the City Development Board, it will initially be zoned R-1, One-Family Residence District, consistent with all newly incorporated properties into the City of Ankeny. A map has been included to show the annexation area in relation to Ankeny Corporate Limits. |