CARMEL, Ind. -- A 12-year process to bring a section of central Indiana into Carmel will continue, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
The section of land that Carmel wants to annex, known as Home Place, is bordered by 99th Street to the south, Pennsylvania Street on the west, 111th Street to the north and Westfield Boulevard to the east.
Carmel has been trying to annex Home Place since July 2004 -- 13 years ago.
In 2005, a group of Home Place landowners were successful in challenging the annexation, but the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the decision two years later.
FROM 2007 | Home Place Loses Annexation Fight
The latest court ruling focuses on fire protection, and whether Home Place can prove it is able to get fire protection without Carmel's help.
A city can't annex a territory if the following services are provided by an entity other than the municipality seeking the annexation:
- Police protection
- Fire protection
- Street and road maintenance
It also can't happen if the annexation would have a significant financial impact on residents.
The fire protection is the key in Tuesday's ruling.
A trial court ruled that Home Place failed to prove fire protection is furnished by a provider other than Carmel.
In the ruling, the court said “it is a Carmel firefighter that responds [to the emergency] relying on mostly Carmel equipment, apparatus, buildings, and administration.”
The lower court ruling was affirmed by the Indiana Court of Appeals. It is unclear exactly what the next step for the annexation will be.
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