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Thursday, March 06, 2008

Ind. Decisions - More on: Court has denied transfer in Home Place annexation case

Updating yesterday's entry, a story by Francesca Jarosz of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Lawyers for Home Place residents say the Indiana Supreme Court's denying to review their fight against annexation by Carmel mean the city has won half the battle.

The residents hope to win the war by returning the case to Hamilton Superior Court 3 to seek a ruling by Judge William Hughes on whether the community is self-sufficient. * * *

The Supreme Court notified Carmel and Home Place representatives this week that it would not review the case.

But Stephen Buschmann, Home Place's lawyer, said his side has another shot.

While Carmel's ability to afford to annex Home Place has been upheld, he said the city cannot annex Home Place if the area can prove several criteria, including its ability to get services such as fire and police without the city, and that the annexation would have a negative financial impact.

In 1999, the state legislature changed the law, allowing remonstrators to stop annexation by proving their ability to survive without city services. Even if a city's fiscal plan is upheld, it cannot annex an area involuntarily for four years if remonstrators successfully make that case.

Judge Hughes will make those determinations in Home Place using facts presented at the original trial in 2005.

Buschmann said he's optimistic about the outcome based on Hughes' evaluation of those criteria in Carmel's efforts to annex 8.3 square miles in southwest Clay Township.

See also this story today by John Tuohy and Francesca Jarosz, headed "Fishers, Home Place likely heading to court: Failure of anti-annexation legislation could lead to drawn-out battle."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 6, 2008 08:28 AM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions