Bill would let those in ‘county pockets’ protest annexation

CHEYENNE — A measure to allow citizens who own property surrounded on three sides to protest city annexation has passed through a House committee.

On Friday, the House Education Committee voted in favor of House Bill 76, “Exception for annexation with landowner objections-repeal.” One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Clarence Styvar, R-Cheyenne, explained that HB 76 would repeal a provision of state law that prevents landowners from filing objections to a proposed annexation when 75% of their land is contiguous with city limits.

“This is a bill to help our constituents out,” Styvar said. “A lot of them will buy out in the county, and (development) will build up around them, and the city can just go and annex them. But people don’t want to be annexed.”

Charles Bloom, planning and development director for the city of Cheyenne, spoke in opposition to the bill. In 2022, the city began to annex dozens of what it called “county pockets” within city limits. The hope was to improve infrastructure and increase public safety on those lots, which were inadvertently created as the city grew over the decades.

Annexation of county pockets was a Cheyenne City Council goal in 2022, and at the time leaders said that being inside a county pocket could create a slower response time for emergency services, as well as other public safety issues.

Many times these properties are so integrated into the community “the common citizen had no idea they were not in the city, and even some of the residents that lived there ... did not know they weren’t in the city,” Bloom said Friday.

These pockets often have outdated, aging septic systems and other infrastructure issues, Bloom said.

Bob McLaurin with the Wyoming Association of Municipalities said his organization also opposed the bill, as a piece of property surrounded on three sides by city property is “effectively a part of that community.”

Kelly Carpenter with the Wyoming Farm Bureau said her organization supported HB 76, as it protects private property rights and gives landowners the ability to object to being annexed.

The committee voted 7-0 in favor, with two members excused, to send HB 76 back to the House, where it will be heard up to three times.