More than half of the property owners living in the unincorporated portion of the La Cabreah neighborhood off of Dupont Road have petitioned the City of Fort Wayne to be annexed.

If approved, this voluntary annexation would bring 174 residential properties and about 105 acres inside the City limits. Currently, the southern part of the La Cabreah neighborhood is already within the City limits. Fifty-one percent of the property owners signed the petition for voluntary annexation, which meets the threshold needed to request a voluntary annexation.

“Several La Cabreah neighborhood leaders approached the City of Fort Wayne requesting information about voluntary annexation,” said Pam Holocher, director of Planning & Policy. “They told us they wanted to petition for annexation so they could access City services, especially Police & Fire protection.”

The first step in the voluntary annexation process is for the City’s Planning & Policy Department to write a fiscal plan, which outlines the services, and their costs, which would be provided to the new City residents. Services such as police and fire protection, leaf pickup, pothole repairs, infrastructure maintenance, garbage and recycling collection and more would be available to new residents. School district boundaries are not affected by annexation.

The fiscal plan will then be introduced to City Council along with an ordinance and a resolution proposing the voluntary annexation. Additional State requirements must be met, such as a remonstrance period, three public informational meetings, and a public hearing before City Council. If no remonstrance is filed and the voluntary annexation is approved by City Council, the soonest the annexation could take effect would be spring of 2019.