A plan to annex 891 acres into Polk City has moved one step closer to reality.
The Polk City Planning and Zoning Commission Monday forwarded a recommendation to the City Council approving applications from the owners of 31 parcels seeking their land to be annexed into Polk City.
The annexation plan would significantly increase the size of Polk City, since the city now is roughly 1,725 acres.
The project includes land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers; and also Polk City Cemetery, which is owned by the Madison Township trustees. Of the 891 acres, 436 acres are government-owned and would not be developed.
City Administrator Gary Mahannah told the commission city officials have met with representatives from the Corps of Engineers, Polk County and the township's trustees. Federal government and Polk County leaders are neutral on the annexation, Mahannah said, while the township trustees support the move.
Mahannah has said in the past that leaders are interested in taking voluntary annexations to increase the size of the city.
"We're about done with what we can develop in the city limits," he said in September. "It won't be very long before we are out of land."
In 2007, the city approved a zoning ordinance to allow for agricultural use of land within the city limits.
Mahannah said Monday that some private property owners who would be annexed could see a decrease in their taxes if their land comes into the city zoned as agricultural land instead of residential. The taxable rate on ag land would be 3.0075 cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation, Mahannah said.
If a property owner joining the city sees their taxes increase, the city will offer a five-year rebate on a sliding scale, Mahannah said. The scale is 75 percent of the difference in year one, 60 percent in year two, 45 percent in year three, 30 percent in year four and 15 percent in year five.
City officials have been working on the annexation project for 18 months, Mahannah said. He said land owners will benefit from annexation because a "landowner can control his or her destiny." A property owner can continue to use the land for agricultural purposes, or develop land or sell it to a developer.
During the public hearing Monday on the annexation, no one spoke in opposition to the plan. The only questions posed from the public dealt with connecting to Polk City water and the next steps in the process.
Mahannah has said many of the property owners in annexation area already get their water service from Polk City. Connections to the city's sewer system would be part of the Wastewater Reclamation Authority project and the extension of the Rock Creek sewer, he said.
Mahannah explained Monday those property owners who already connected to city water will get back the $450 surcharge they paid to hook into the city. The current fee to hook in is $900 and for property owners wishing to connect, the $900 fee will be waived, he said.
When the vote came for the recommendation to City Council, commission member Bill Kliegl asked how the proposed new eastern boundary of Polk City would affect Ankeny.
Mahannah said leaders from both cities have met and "Ankeny was supportive."
He said the cities currently have a 10-year boundary agreement that states neither city can develop beyond Northwest 44th Street - a north-south road. The agreement is in its third year.
