Annexation

The City of Portland expands its corporate boundaries to include areas by annexing property. In most cases, annexations are initiated by the property owner. The property owner submits their request to the Planning Commission requesting annexation in order to receive city services. All annexations must meet the following threshold requirements:

• The territory must be contiguous to the municipality's corporate limits.
• The territory must be within the municipality's urban growth boundaries, unless a referendum is held pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) § 6-58-111(c)(2) or all 3 of the following are met:
  1. The tract is contiguous to a tract of land that has the same owner and has already been annexed by the municipality.
  2. The tract is being provided water and sewer services.
  3. The owner, by notarized petition, consents to being included in the municipality's urban growth boundaries. T.C.A. § 6-58-118.

The Planning Commission considers the request and makes a recommendation to the City Council regarding the annexation. Annexations are done by resolution, as required by the Tennessee Code Annotated, requiring one reading. In conjunction with the ordinance being read by the City Council, a public hearing is held. A Plan of Services for the area for annexation is considered, as a resolution, in conjunction with the annexation ordinance.

Public Notification for Annexation

Notice for Annexation

Three separate notification steps are required for any annexation:

1. U.S. Mail: A resolution describing the territory proposed for annexation, including the plan of services, must be "promptly" sent by first class mail to the last known address listed in the office of the property assessor for each property owner of record within the territory proposed for annexation a minimum of 14 calendar days before a public hearing on the proposed annexation.
2. Posting: 3 copies of the resolution must be posted both in the territory that is proposed for annexation and in a like number of places within the municipality proposing the annexation.
3. Published Newspaper Notice: Notice of the proposed annexation must be published "at about the same time" that it is posted in a newspaper of general circulation, if there is one, in such territory and municipality. In no event shall the notice be published less than 7 days in advance of the public hearing. The notice must include a map that includes a general delineation of the area to be annexed by use of official road names or numbers, or both, and other identifiable landmarks, as appropriate. T.C.A. § 6-51-104.

Notice for Plan of Services

A notice of a public hearing on the Plan of Services for the territory under consideration must be published in a newspaper of general circulation not less than 15 days before the hearing date and time. The notice must indicate the time, place, and purpose of the hearing, as well as the location(s) where the proposed Plan of Services is available for public viewing (3 copies must be available for public inspection during normal business hours). T.C.A. § 6-51-102.