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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ind. Courts - "Two Jeff annexations hang in the balance"

An unattributed story today in the LCJ has these quotes:

Two areas that Jeffersonville had sought to annex this year could remain independent for another year unless courts allow them to become part of the city by Wednesday.

The areas – the well-established Oak Park Conservancy neighborhood southeast of Middle Road and a roughly 30-acre tract near Stacy Road north of Ind. 62 -- include 7,800 acres and 9,000 residents.

The city proposed in August 2007 to take over the areas. But both efforts are tied up in court cases challenging the annexations, and Indiana law doesn’t allow an annexation to take effect the year before a U.S. Census. The next federal census is in 2010. * * *

Larry Wilder, a lawyer for Jeffersonville in the case, said today he was still hoping the Indiana Supreme Court will decide by Wednesday not to review Oak Park’s case. But he acknowledged that if the court doesn’t do that, the annexation can’t take effect until 2010.

Oak Park residents appealed after the annexation was upheld by Clark Circuit Court and the Indiana Court of Appeals.

“The Supreme court is well aware” of the importance of acting by year’s end, Wilder said.

Kathy Dolan, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Supreme Court, said the court had received just today all the documents requesting it to consider the Oak Park case.

“Typically, it is a matter of a few weeks” before the court decides whether to accept such appeals, she said. But “each case is different.” * * *

Denise Poukish, a leader of opposition to the annexation near Stacy Road, said she and her neighbors in the Bethany Farms subdivision who are fighting that takeover would like it to be delayed for another year.

Special Judge Ted Todd has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. on whether that annexation can take effect immediately. Todd already ruled Dec. 17 in favor of the city in the lawsuit by Bethany Farms residents, whose neighborhood isn’t being annexed but is adjacent to the Stacy Road property.

The opponents want Todd to grant a stay of the annexation pending an appeal.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 30, 2008 10:37 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts