The North Liberty and Coralville city councils have approved a 10-year annexation moratorium plan that divides the unincorporated land between the two cities into four zones, including one that only can be annexed by North Liberty and one that can only be annexed by Coralville. A third area is limited to voluntary annexations by Coralville, and the final area cannot be annexed by either city and will remain unincorporated. This agreement settles a boundary dispute that’s been a point of contention since 2006. While the Coralville city council unanimously approved of the agreement, the North Liberty council’s vote was divided, with three council members voting for the plan and two voting against it. The discussion in North Liberty lasted almost two hours, with residents voicing concerns about transportation issues and the potential for high-density development in North Liberty’s annexation area, “while others simply do not want to be annexed into Coralville,” the North Liberty City Administrator said.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen report about the meetings can be found here. Annexation moratorium agreements are permitted by Iowa Code sec. 368.4.
