Cypress Villages now clear to seek incorporation

Wednesday?s ruling of the state?s City Development Board has cleared the way for the developers of Cypress Villages subdivision to petition for incorporation.

According to board administrator Steve McCann, the board has dismissed petitions for involuntary annexation into Fairfield and Maharishi Vedic City primarily because the subdivision, located at the corner of Highway 1 and Airport Road, is not contiguous with either city.

Annexation has been a hurdle in the developers? pursuit of incorporation, which state law only permits after attempts at annexation into cities within 2 miles have been denied. Developers filed requests for voluntary annexation with both cities, but received no formal answer and opted to expedite the process by filing for involuntary annexation directly through the state.

Although most petitions for involuntary annexation are filed by cities, McCann explained counties or 5 percent of the qualified electors ? in Cypress Village?s case, the resident of the subdivision ? also have the ability to file.

Developer Dan Walker was very, very pleased with the board?s ruling.

?We?ve been trying to get to this stage for over 16 months,? he said.

Walker hopes to file a petition for the subdivision?s incorporation in time to be included on the City Development Board?s Sept. 9 agenda. He said the petition has already been written and just needs to be reviewed before submittal.

Walker is seeking to incorporate the community because of the many advantages, including access to state and federal funds.

For the complete article, see the Thursday, July 30, 2009, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.