Arnold residents won’t be voting on an annexation measure next month, after all.
The city of Arnold has missed its chance to place the measure on the Aug. 6 ballot asking voters to approve the annexation of land that runs along Old Lemay Ferry and Vogel roads southwest of the current city limits.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said Arnold failed to file some necessary paperwork to place the measure on the ballot to involuntarily annex six undeveloped land parcels totaling 99.87 acres.
Bella Terra, a 99-home subdivision to be built at the northwest corner of Vogel and Old Lemay Ferry roads, is part of the area the city of Arnold was interested in annexing.
City officials had announced its plans to ask voters in August to approve the annexation, but they missed the May 28 deadline to file the ballot measure, Richison said.
He said city officials realized in early July that they missed the filing deadline.
“There was a miscommunication between the city and the county, and we did not get it submitted on time,” Richison said. “It will not be on the ballot.”
In the past, Richison said the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office would email municipalities a form for measures to be placed on a ballot prior to the deadline to file them, but the city didn’t receive one this year.
“I am not blaming the county,” he said. “The county is not required to send that form. That is a courtesy. The burden is on us to submit it. It is not the county’s fault. We didn’t get it submitted.”
Only Arnold residents would have been asked to vote on the proposed annexation because no registered voters reside in the area the city wants to absorb, Richison said.
Had the issue appeared on the August ballot, a simple majority of Arnold voters would have been needed to annex the land.
Richison said the city has canceled a public hearing about the proposed involuntary annexation that was scheduled for 7 p.m. today, July 18, at City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd., prior to that evening’s City Council meeting.
He said he does not expect the city to place the measure on the November ballot. However, he said Arnold would have until Aug. 27 to request the measure be placed on that ballot.
Richison said he expects the city will wait until April 2025 to seek the involuntary annexation.
“We are going to regroup,” he said. “It is disappointing. We put some work into it and spent a lot of time looking at it. If we want to run at it again, it will probably be in April. I can’t say that for sure because it is ultimately up to (City Council members), but that is my feeling where we are at.”
According to the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office, the parcel closest to the Arnold city limits is near Strawberry Ridge Drive and owned by Hopmeir Enterprises LP. It has an assessed value of $1,400.
The next closest piece of land is near Old Lemay Ferry Road, is owned by the Ronald J. Hopmeir trust and has an assessed value of $3,300, those records show.
The Jefferson County Public Water Supply District No. C-1, which serves more than 14,500 customers just outside the Arnold city limits and in parts of Imperial, Barnhart, Antonia, House Springs, High Ridge and Hillsboro, owns the third closest parcel, which has a water tank on it. No assessed value is given for that property, according to the Assessor’s Office.
The next two parcels are west of Old Lemay Ferry Road and divided by Vogel Road. That land is owned by the Alvin and Laverne Burkard Trust and has a total assessed value of $2,800, records show.
The final piece of land is east of Old Lemay Ferry Road with Vogel Road to the north. It is owned by Compass Box Holdings LLC and has an assessed value of $200, according to the Assessor’s Office.
City Council documents said most of the property is zoned for residential use, although some of it is zoned for commercial use. The approximately 99.87 acres is surrounded by homes to the east and west.
“I think we will continue conversations with property owners in the area about voluntary annexation (which would not require a vote for approval),” Richison said. “We have not gotten a lot of traction with that in the past, which is one of the reasons we were going to put it on the ballot.”
Richison said Arnold wanted to involuntarily annex the land to assure any development is compatible with the city.
He also said if Arnold annexes the land at some point, it could ask the Fox C-6 School District if it wanted to have Simpson Elementary School, 3585 Vogel Road, become part of the city.
Since the school would be adjacent to the city limits, the Fox C-6 School District could ask the city to annex it, which could allow the city to provide school resource officer services to the school, Richison said.
He pointed out, though, that Lone Dell Elementary School, 2500 Tomahawk Drive, is adjacent to the city limits, and Fox officials have never asked for that school to be annexed.
“One of our goals was to try to touch Simpson so we could have a conversation with the school district about Simpson and Lone Dell coming in,” he said. “This kind of throws a wrench into all of that. We have to regroup and see what we might try for the future.”