Annexation Task Force meetings set

by

The task force created to establish criteria to use with any future City-initiated annexation in Sioux Falls has set its meeting schedule.

The task force includes three City Council members as well as four members of the community who are potentially impacted by proposed annexations. City employees from Planning, Project Management, Engineering, the City Attorney’s Office, and Finance will provide information and be resources for the task force members. The task force will convene for five sessions with a goal of developing recommendations that will provide a consistent way forward for future annexations. The public is welcome to attend.

The meetings will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B of the Downtown Library, 200 North Dakota Avenue, on the following dates:
• Tuesday, April 11, 2017
• Tuesday, April 25, 2017
• Tuesday, May 9, 2017
• Tuesday, May 23, 2017
• A final meeting date that will be determined by the task force

“Since Sioux Falls was founded more than 130 years ago, all growth has occurred through the process of annexation. It is a rather simple process when a property owner has an interest in being annexed but can quickly turn complex when the city grows into areas where the property owner is not interested in annexation. Additional challenges occur when the city boundary begins to surround a large, rural subdivision. In a growing city like ours, we need a consistent process to move forward with needed annexations,” says Mike Cooper, Director of Planning and Building Services.

The task force will be given information on the many state laws regarding annexations, some historical information to illustrate how annexations have occurred in the past, an update on the current Engineering Design Standards, and discuss the financial impact of an annexation on both the property owner and the City, along with other topics. The group will then make recommendations regarding how to move forward with annexations in the future.

As updates and more information become available, it will be posted at www.siouxfalls.org/annexation.

The City of Sioux Falls Planning Office has formed a Task Force to address various issues surrounding annexation. When the city’s boundaries begin to engulf a property that is not annexed, and does not plan to annex, there are challenges that result from that.

The goal of the Annexation Task Force is to make recommendations regarding the following questions.

  • Under what circumstances should the City move forward with a city-initiated annexation?
  • What criteria will be used to prioritize the annexation of those properties deemed to be annexed under the city-initiated process?
  • Will the City move forward with a petitioned annexation request if the annexation requested creates a pocket of unannexed land within the city limits?
  • What infrastructure design standards will be required as annexation occurs?
  • What financial contribution will the city make towards any required infrastructure improvements due to a city-initiated annexation?

ANNEXATION TASK FORCE MEMBERS

Councilor Rick Kiley
Councilor Marshall Selberg
Councilor Greg Neitzert
Matt Metzger – Citizen of Lincoln County
Tena Haraldson – Citizen of Sioux Falls
Greg Starnes – Citizen of Sioux Falls
Jeff Davis – Citizen of Minnehaha County
Support/Resource members:
Mike Cooper, Director of Planning and Building Services
Albert Schmidt, Urban Planner
Debra Gaikowski, Project Manager
Chad Huwe, City Engineer
Tracy Turbak, Director of Finance
Danny Brown, City Attorney

ANNEXATION TASK FORCE MEETING TOPICS

Topic #1 – Annexation law and the requirements and limitations imposed by those laws.
Topic #2 – The history of city-initiated annexations including the design standards the property owners were held to.
Topic #3 – A review of all unannexed property within the city that is currently completely surround by annexed land and the amount of development that exists on the surrounding land.
Topic #4 – A review of all recently completed CIP projects or CIP projects programmed in the near future that are adjacent to unannexed property or directly impact unannexed property.
Topic #5 – Assessment law, the rights of the city, and the rights of the property owners.
Topic #6 – The financial impact of annexation on a property owner including property tax changes, financial benefits, and the cost of infrastructure improvements.
Topic #7 – The impact on the property owners and the community if Engineering Design Standards are lowered in order in an effort to get unannexed property annexed. Review current ADA requirements.
Topic #8 – The impact on development if limitations are imposed on property owners wanting to annex land but a pocket of unannexed property is created by that annexation. Examples to be provided.
Topic #9 – How often should the established annexation criteria be reevaluated and by whom?
Topic #10 – Notification and Communication Process

Cameraman Bruce’s thoughts on Annexation

by

What a bunch of crap, C-R-A-P. Our esteemed soon to be retired Sioux Falls City Council Chair has said in the Argus Leader article “Do we want a lot of areas that look like Old Orchard?” Oh my gawd, how ignorant can people be?

There are several neighborhoods in Sioux Falls without curb, gutter and sidewalks including my neighborhood. Some specifically move to them because they have NO curb, gutter, storm sewer and sidewalks. There is a function and charm to neighborhoods without out our outdated curb style designed so badly it breaks snowplows if the drivers are not trained properly. To the people who think all houses must be painted brown based colors like our City Council Chair prefers with the greenest golf course grass and big brick mailboxes, too bad, we have freedom of choice.

Not all houses and yards have to look like your golf course duplex maintained by a landscaping company for their efficiency. Old Orchard, Split Rock Heights, Hall’s Addition and more are neighborhoods with a flavor the owner residents want to retain. Hall’s addition and Old Orchard are long established formerly rural neighborhoods with permanent agreements with the city of Sioux Falls to never be forced to have curbs, sidewalks or storm sewers. Those of us who live in the areas know there is never a need and in the late 1980’s attorney A.J. Swanson fought for the right to keep them out forever. An additional negotiated pieces for Hall’s Addition is 20 mph streets and their own water wells – FOREVER. Did you know Old Orchard has the right to keep horses?

There are many things to be negotiated in the annexation fight. The city staff and a few members of the Council are full of themselves in these issues.

Bruce Danielson

The Metzger Annexation will probably be withdrawn

by

Last night during public input (FF: 39:20), Matt Metzger attended the city council meeting and spoke about his disdain over being thrown under the bus to the media by Planning Department employee, Albert Schmidt. He said, it made him look like a freeloader for not paying city property taxes. But he explained that on 3 sides of his property, none of the land has been platted. He also said he pays for city water, and that Lincoln County plows his roads.

His testimony must have struck a nerve with someone because the planning department announced today that they will request a withdrawal of the Metzger annexation during the Jan. 3, 2017 regular meeting.