Tag: annexation waivers

Oral arguments heard in Bloomington’s annexation lawsuit, decision at least a month away

On Friday morning, oral arguments were heard in a constitutional challenge that the city of Bloomington has made to a 2019 state law, which causes annexation waivers to expire after 15 years.

The areas rendered in black, Area 1A and Area 1B, had their lawsuits with constitutional claims dismissed by the city. The remaining five five areas, shown in different colors where subject of the arguments made on Friday, March 15, 2024.

After arguments were presented, which lasted about an hour, judge Nathan Nikirk, did not have any questions for either side. He gave attorneys 30 days to submit their proposed orders in the case.

Nikirk is presiding over the case as a special judge out of Lawrence County, after judge Kelsey Hanlon recused herself.

The 30-day deadline will fall about two weeks ahead of the April 29 start of the annexation trials for two of the areas  for which Bloomington’s city council approved annexation ordinances in 2021. That litigation involves separate action, initiated by remonstrators.

The city’s lawsuits about those two areas (Area 1A and Area 1B) are no longer among the cases that are consolidated under one cause number, and which were heard on Friday.

The city initially filed seven lawsuits, one for each annexation area, but subsequently dismissed the cases involving Area 1A and Area 1B, with prejudice.

Those dismissals, however, still factored into arguments made on Friday. Continue reading “Oral arguments heard in Bloomington’s annexation lawsuit, decision at least a month away” →

March 15: Oral arguments on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to 2019 annexation law

Remonstration counts for each area. 1 dot = 1 person in the 2020 census.
Lawrence county circuit court photo of special judge for Bloomington annexation lawsuit Nathan Nikirk

Next Friday (March 15) at 8:30 a.m., oral arguments will be heard on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to a state law about annexation waivers.

It’s part of a long court process to determine how big Bloomington will be in the next few years.

The hearing will take place in Monroe County circuit court at 7th Street and College Avenue.

The state law in question was enacted in 2019. It caused annexation remonstrance waivers to expire, if they were more than 15 years old.

A remonstrance waiver is a document that some landowners signed, agreeing to give up the right to remonstrate against annexation into the city, in exchange for connection to the city sewer system.

At least on the surface, Friday’s hearing on the constitutional question involves just five of the seven areas (Area 1C, Area 2, Area 3, Area 4, and Area 5) for which Bloomington’s city council passed annexation ordinances in 2021.

But a legal thicket involving the other two areas (Area 1A and Area 1B) could have an impact on the way the constitutional case is decided.

Continue reading “March 15: Oral arguments on Bloomington’s constitutional challenge to 2019 annexation law” →

Bloomington moves to dismiss 2 of own lawsuits as legal tactic to push annexation trial ahead

Ten days ago, the city of Bloomington lost an argument in court, to move ahead with the standard judicial review of annexation for two areas west of town.

The shading on the map reflects a 1-dot-per-person plot based on the population of census blocks as measured in the 2020 decennial census.

Two days later, on Sept. 7, the city of Bloomington filed a motion to start the process to appeal the ruling of special judge Nathan Nikirk, out of Lawrence County.

Nikirk had ordered that the standard annexation trials for Area 1A and Area 1B would be delayed, until Bloomington’s related but separate litigation—over constitutional questions related to annexation waivers—is resolved.

The related constitutional litigation is actually a consolidation of seven separate lawsuits, one for each of the annexation areas.

In addition to the appeals process, the city of Bloomington has now started another procedure that could lead to faster scheduling of a standard annexation trial for the two areas. The idea is to take a step towards quick resolution of the related constitutional litigation—but just for Area 1A and Area 1B.

On Wednesday, Bloomington’s legal tactic was to file a motion to dismiss its own lawsuits for Area 1A and Area 1B, over the constitutional question of waivers.

The idea is that if the special judge Kelsey Hanlon out of Owen County were to grant Bloomington’s motion for dismissal of the Area 1A and Area 1B constitutional cases, and agrees to reconsolidate just the five remaining lawsuits, that would satisfy the condition of Nikirk’s Sept. 5 order. Continue reading “Bloomington moves to dismiss 2 of own lawsuits as legal tactic to push annexation trial ahead” →

Analysis | A first look at remonstrance waivers: Numerical impact of new law not yet measured for Bloomington’s annexation effort

July is the last full month of summer before Monroe County Community School classes start on Aug. 4.

The darker shades of color indicate parcels with a remonstrance waiver of any date. Image links to a .pdf file with the image in vector graphic form.

The first day of school this year is also the date of a public hearing on Bloomington’s planned annexation of territory into the city.

The annexation of eight separate areas, each with its own parallel annexation process, would add more than 9,000 acres to Bloomington’s land area and about 14,000 new residents to its population.

With a public hearing on the horizon, and Bloomington city council votes expected in September, legal questions about remonstration waivers could come into sharper focus sooner than the time when the formal remonstration process would start.

Waivers are legal documents signed by a property owner giving up the right to remonstrate against annexation, in consideration of the ability to purchase utilities service from the city.

The key question is: Which waivers are valid? Indiana’s state legislature enacted a law in 2019 that voids any remonstration waiver signed before July 1, 2003.  The city of Bloomington says it is proceeding as if the older waivers are valid.

A formal remonstration process would start only after the city council voted to enact the annexation ordinance for a particular area. Continue reading “Analysis | A first look at remonstrance waivers: Numerical impact of new law not yet measured for Bloomington’s annexation effort” →