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Northwest Arkansas' popu- lation growth is pushing cities to expand their borders. Annexation in Benton and Washington counties is often amicable, done at the request of landowners, county records show. Other times it pits city against city, such as last year's dispute between Rogers and Bentonville over nearly 3,000 acres. The process also forces county governments to face the prospect of declining rev- enue from sales taxes as cities grow and the unincorporated areas of the counties shrink. The growing cities, mean- while, increase revenue from the sales taxes and property taxes collected in the annexed areas. The residents of the tar- geted areas have little chance of stopping a city if it wants to annex them. Arkansas law al- so allows a city to annex land by an election. The people in the land being annexed get to vote, but so do the residents of the annexing city. The rural Benton County residents who wanted to stop Rogers' annexation plans peti- tioned instead to join Benton- ville. If all the landowners in a tract of land sign petitions and file with the county to seek annexation, then the county must allow it if the annexing city's council approves it, ac- cording to state law. No city is ever going to turn down growth, said Sen. Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville near the time of the Rogers annexation. Lindsey was the longtime di- rector of the Northwest Arkan- sas Council before his election to the Legislature in 2009. The council fosters regional coop- eration and coordination. "Every entity wants to be successful, if you will," he said. The benefits of annex- ing developing property will almost always outweigh the cost of extending city services because city services are al- ready in place and their fixed, baseline costs are already be- ing paid, he said. "That is the natural draw of expansion and economic de- velopment: More people mean more resources," Lindsey said. "More resources means better city services. More city ser- vices attracts more growth. Nobody wants to be stagnant. Historically that has been the process, and I don't think it's going to change. And you need density to provide some kinds of services that won't work without it. Things like public transportation rely on density." The cities' work to expand comes at a cost, said Larry Kelly of Gravette whose home used to be in the unincorpo- rated community of Hiwasse. Residents of the Hiwasse community asked Gravette to annex them to get away from a rival annexation attempt. When Bella Vista declared its intention to annex Hiwasse in 2012 — and take in the pro- posed route of the Bella Vista bypass to I-49 — the residents of the area tried to find a way to stop it. "The only way to not be annexed by one city is to be annexed into another, and we did not want to be annexed at all," Kelly said. R e p . J e f f W i l l i a m s , R-Springdale, is a former county assessor and city coun- cilman. He sits on the House Committee on City, County and Local Affairs. Williams said cities should try to con- vince areas to come into a city by voluntary petitions from af- fected landowners whenever possible. And cities should be willing to ask residents what the city can do to entice them to that result, he said. The Hiwasse annexation and the case between Rogers and Bentonville show prop- erty owners push back when they are being taken involun- tarily, he said. Williams said so far the dis- putes he's seen in Northwest Arkansas are nowhere near as bitter as ones his committee members has witnessed in other parts of the state. Gar- land County in southwest Ar- kansas in particular has had intense fights between Hot Springs, Hot Springs Village and the county government. Northwest Arkansas is for- tunate to have the problems to solve that are caused by growth, he said. Other parts of the state have annexations driven by declining popula- tions and the desire to in- crease a share of the tax base from a shrinking total. Lindsey likened the con- flict between Rogers and Ben- tonville to an intense family dispute. "We've always had our fusses and fights, but the regional concept has been a principle of ours for 30 years. It's become who we are. It is interwoven in our fabric." A booming economy has created the region's tightest housing market in at least 12 years, figures from the Uni - versity of Arkansas show. The opening of new schools and improvements to roads, along with other infrastructure work, means areas outside city limits attract more residents and the DOUG THOMPSON NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Cities busting out of their borders Fast facts Benton and Washington coun- ties have 32 cities and towns, according to regional planners. Of those, 21 have borders touching at least one neighbor- ing city. Cities in Benton and Washing- ton counties increased their size by 33,518 acres since 2006, according to the Northwest Ar- kansas Regional Planning Com- mission. That amounts to more than 52 square miles of territory. If an area the same size as the annexed land created a new city, it would be the second largest in the region. Fayetteville has 35,453 acres and Springda - le has 30,298. Gravette's land area in Benton County grew by 280 percent, mostly from one annexation in 2012, commission records show. No city in Washington County annexed land in 2012 or 2013, according to a review of records by the Washington County Clerk's office. The county re - corded only one in 2014. Then the annexation trend accelerated. Five annexations, three to West Fork and two to Springdale, took place in 2016 and three in 2017, one each to Greenland, Fayetteville and West Fork, according to county records. Benton County cities are an - nexing at a faster pace, with six in 2012 and eight in 2013, 14 in 2016, and 17 last year, county records show. Centerton and Bentonville each accepted four annexations. Voters in Rogers last fall approved two that took in 3,175 acres or a little less than 5 square miles. — Staff Report 49 265 412 71 264 112 412 16 62 71 265 265 16 BENTON COUNTY WASHINGTON COUNTY Fayetteville Farmington Tontitown Springdale Elm Springs Cave Springs Washington County annexations Cities in Benton and Washington counties have added about 30,343 acres to their cities since 2006, gures from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission show. County records show ve annexations in 2016 and three in 2017. SOURCE: Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission Legend Land annexed since 2006 NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHRIS SWINDLE Lowell N ANNEXATIONS 49 71 12 264 112 59 72 71 94 265 94 62 102 Cave Springs Lowell Rogers Bentonville Centerton Gravette Bella Vista Highfill MISSOURI ARKANSAS Booming Benton County Benton County cities are annexing at a faster pace than Washington County with 14 annexations in 2016 and 15 this year. Gravette grew by 280 percent, mostly from one annexation in 2012. SOURCE: Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHRIS SWINDLE Legend Land annexed since 2006 N Arkansas methods of annexation Election: Residents of the city doing the annexing and of the area to be annexed vote in an election scheduled by the annexing city. The most votes overall decides if the annexation goes through. Ordinance: If a city completely surrounds an unincorporated area, its governing body may annex the area by ordinance. Other laws on the books now prevent cities from creating new "islands" by surrounding unin - corporated areas. Petition: When 100 percent of the landowners with clear title to 100 percent with clear title to 100 percent of the acreage to be annexed petition to come into a city, the city's governing body can accept the request by ordinance. Majority: When a majority of landowners with title to a ma - jority of the land to be annexed petitions for annexation, the pro- posed annexation is put through a waiting period of 30 days. During that time, any interested party can challenge the annex- ation in circuit court. Source: Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission v Continued on next page 8V v SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2018 ∂ ∂ 507 SOUTH MAIN STREET, BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS 479-273-5545 WWW.BENTONVILLEGLASS.COM SERVING NW ARKANSAS SINCE 1971 To donate, or to learn how you can help address hunger in Northwest Arkansas, please call 479-872-8774 or visit www.nwafoodbank.org NWA Food Bank 1378 June Self Drive Bethel Heights, AR 72764 2018—OUR 30 TH YEAR TO HELP THE HUNGRY In spite of all the progress in Northwest Arkansas….. HUNGER remains. Over 72,000 people in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington Counties are food insecure, including 1 in 4 Northwest Arkansans under the age of 18. You can help. Every dollar donated to the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank can be converted into 11 meals to feed the hungry through over 160 partner agencies in our service area.