Opinion ID: 1930678
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background on Voluntary Annexations

Text: It may be helpful if we first discuss voluntary annexation in general before addressing the district court's ruling. Section 368.7 of the Iowa Code governs voluntary annexations of territory. There are two types of voluntary annexations  100% annexations and 80/20 annexations. In a 100% voluntary annexation, all of the property owners in the territory request the adjoining city to annex their land. Iowa Code § 368.7(1)( a ). In contrast, an 80/20 annexation includes some land whose owner did not request or consent to annexation. The annexation is still voluntary if the owners of at least 80% of the property in the proposed territory consent to annexation and the inclusion of the non-consenting property is necessary to avoid creating an island or to create more uniform boundaries. Id. All voluntary annexations require approval by the annexing city via a resolution by the city council. See id. § 368.7(1)( d ), (2), (3). Approval by the City Development Board (CDB) may also be required depending on the type of voluntary annexation. The CDB must approve a city's annexation if the proposed territory is within the urbanized area of another city. Id. § 368.7(3); see id. § 368.1(16) (defining urbanized area as any area of land within two miles of the boundaries of a city). Additionally, any 80/20 annexation, irrespective of whether it is within the urbanized area of another city, requires approval by four-fifths of the members of the CDB after a public hearing. Id. § 368.7(1)( f ). The CDB may only approve an application that substantially complies with the statutory requirements for annexations. City of Waukee v. City Dev. Bd., 590 N.W.2d 712, 716-17 (Iowa 1999) (quoting Gorman v. City Dev. Bd., 565 N.W.2d 607, 609 (Iowa 1997)). From a city's perspective, a voluntary annexation is preferable to an involuntary annexation for at least two reasons. First, only involuntary annexations require an election. See Iowa Code §§ 368.11-.20 (2003). [6] Second, applications for voluntary annexation are expressly afforded a presumption of validity. Id. § 368.6. Thus, it is not surprising Dubuque made every effort to get the owners of at least 80% of the land in the proposed territory to consent to annexation. We now consider whether Dubuque's efforts were proper.