Property owners may seek annexation into a neighboring municipality for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the property owner seeks city services or city zoning. Whatever the motivation, a property owner who seeks annexation into a neighboring city can do so fairly quickly and easily under the Expedited Type II annexation process. The property owner applies to the Board of County Commissioners and if all statutory requirements are met, the process can be completed in as little as a few months. In a Type II annexation, the annexed property still remains in the township, so any property taxes levied by the township are still owed by the property owner after annexation.
The Expedited Type II process is set forth in Ohio Revised Code §709.023 – Procedure When Land Not Excluded From Township. The property owners requesting annexation waive any right to appeal in law or in equity a resolution of the Board, and waive any rights to sue a municipal corporation requiring a buffer as provided herein.
The petition must be filed in the office of the clerk of the board of county commissioners. The clerk shall enter the petition upon the board’s journal at its next session. The procedural requirements contained within Ohio Revised Code §709.023 are specific and must be followed exactly for the annexation to successfully occur in a timely fashion. Within (5) days of filing the petition with the county clerk, the agent for the petitioners must give notice to (a) the clerk of the municipal corporation to which annexation is proposed, (b) the fiscal officer of each township affected, (c) the clerk of the board of county commissioners of any other county affected, and (d) the owners of property adjacent to the territory proposed for annexation. The notice must include (a) the time and date when the petition was filed, (b) the county in which it was filed, and (c) a copy of the petition and any attachments or documents accompanying the petition.
The municipal corporation in which the property will be annexed shall provide to the board of county commissioners within twenty (20) days an adopted resolution or ordinance that states which services will be extended to the territory being annexed and the date such services will be available. The legislative authority of the municipal corporation must also adopt an ordinance or resolution stating that if the territory is annexed and becomes subject to zoning laws, and there are permitted uses in the annexed territory that the municipal corporation determines are clearly incompatible with the uses permitted under current township zoning regulations in the adjacent land remaining in the township, the legislative authority will require the owner of the annexed territory to provide a “buffer.” The clerk of the legislative authority shall file all adopted ordinances and resolutions with the Board within twenty (20) days of the petition being filed.
Within twenty-five (25) days after the petition is filed, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation affected, and each township affected, may adopt and file with the Board an ordinance or resolution consenting to or objecting to the proposed annexation. However, the objections can only be based on specific statutory grounds. If the municipal corporation and the townships affected timely file an ordinance or resolution consenting to the proposed annexation, the board of county commissioners must enter upon its journal a resolution granting the proposed annexation. If the townships and cities consent, there is nothing else to be done and the Type II annexation is complete. In the event objections are filed, the process can become much more complex and can result in litigation.
