Fishers City Council approves annexation of nearly 1,000 acres, but steps remain

The Fishers City Council on Monday night unanimously approved the annexation of nearly 1,000 acres along the city’s southeast border, but the move to add up to 3,000 residents into the city still has a couple of steps to go.

The annexation covers an area near Fortville that is roughly bounded by East 113th Street to the north, the Hamilton County line to the east, areas south of East 101st Street to the south and areas around Florida Road to the west. Two Fishers parks—Fishers Agripark and Flat Fork Creek Park—neighbor areas that would be annexed into the city.

Fishers officials held six public meetings in July to discuss the annexation before an ordinance was introduced to the council in September.

Fishers City Attorney Lindsey Bennett told council members that there will be a 90-day remonstrance period beginning Jan. 27. The final step will be for the Hamilton County Auditor to certify the annexation in June.

The annexation would add 2,500 to 3,000 new residents to Fishers who mostly live in two large subdivisions, Vermillion and Flat Fork. There are also some small neighborhoods and individual lots in the area.

Mayor Scott Fadness said last summer that the annexation would increase Fishers’ population to somewhere between 107,000 and 109,000 residents, creating more distance from Carmel (102,000 residents) as the most-populated city in Hamilton County.

Fishers would also be within shouting distance of replacing Evansville (115,000 residents) as the third-largest city in Indiana, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Fort Wayne, with a population of 264,000, is the second-largest Indiana city, behind Indianapolis at 970,000.

In Indiana, an annexation is automatically invalidated if 65% of landowners remonstrate. An annexation can be fought through the court system if 51% of landowners remonstrate. In 2015, the Legislature passed an annexation-reform law that limited municipalities’ power to perform involuntary annexations and eased the process for residents to fight annexations.

However, remonstrance waivers are attached to 710, or 74%, of the 960 parcels in the annexation area. That puts Fishers beyond the reach of any potential legal challenges to its annexation.

As the Flat Fork and Vermillion subdivisions were built, residents signed remonstrance waivers, which prohibit landowners from challenging an annexation in exchange for city services, such as sewer connection. Waivers are attached to a property, regardless of whether the landowner who signed it still lives there.

Additionally, residents in Rosanna Village, a small neighborhood along East 101st Street, east of Flat Fork Creek Park, signed remonstrance waivers about three years ago when Fishers replaced failing septic tanks and installed sewer utilities.

The annexation zone is the most developed unincorporated area along Fishers’ borders.

The Hamilton County Commissioners granted Fishers zoning jurisdiction over the area in 2005. The city also manages sewer utilities, fire response and emergency medical services there. Students living there attend Hamilton Southeastern School Corp. schools.

Responsibility for stormwater management, road repairs and snow removal, which are all currently provided by Hamilton County, would shift to Fishers. The city would also manage policing, which is primarily handled by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Fishers and Fortville police departments. The Hancock County town of Fortville would continue to provide drinking water to the area.

A citywide trash pickup contract went into effect this year in Fishers with Phoenix-based Republic Services.