With hopes to block Ankeny's growth, tiny Alleman approves a massive annexation plan

The small city of Alleman approved an annexation plan with the goal of slowing the rapid growth of Ankeny, its neighbor to the south. But even Alleman's plan has drawn its own public outcry.

Mayor Bob Kramme of Alleman, population 423, took a stand this year against a proposal to add 585 acres of prime real estate to Ankeny's northeast side in an area about to burst with residential and commercial development. The land expansion ultimately was approved, but Alleman now has its own plan to annex 1,700 acres out of Polk County and into the city.

Annexing the properties would move Alleman's borders further south into an area that Ankeny has targeted for development.

"This is not a land grab by Alleman by any stretch of the imagination," Kramme said at Monday's public hearing. "This is Alleman trying to protect itself, protect ourselves and (our residents) from becoming completely overrun by the city of Ankeny and the thousands and thousands of people that are going to building houses down here in the area that they annexed into the North Polk school district.

"That's it, plain and simple."

Alleman is the home of the North Polk Community School District, whose student enrollment has grown alongside the suburban expansions of Polk City, Elkhart and Ankeny. Student growth has brought more traffic into Alleman and Kramme said it's destroying the community's streets.

Kramme also said his goal is to protect agricultural land and that Alleman does not allow as much housing per acre as Ankeny. That means any residential development in Alleman would be on a smaller scale.

"Alleman wants to remain agricultural. Agricultural is No. 1 to us," Kramme said. "We feel very, very threatened by Ankeny."

More:As Ankeny's growth surges north, could rural Polk County homeowners stand in the way?

The northeast Ankeny annexation approved earlier this year included property owners who did not agree to become a part of Ankeny amid concerns about how the change would affect their taxes and lifestyle. Iowa law allows annexation of nonconsenting properties to avoid irregular boundaries and "islands" of county land surrounded by cities.

The situation now has flipped, as Alleman's proposal would use the same provision, which allows up to 20% of land to come from nonconsenting owners. Of the roughly 1,700 acres in Alleman's proposal, owners of 16.5% of the land do not want to become part of the small community.

Several property owners have expressed over the past year that they want to join Alleman to help preserve agricultural land and to maintain a certain way of life in the face of Ankeny's growth.

Other property owners, hwoever, spoke out against the annexation at Monday's City Council meeting. During one heated interaction, a property owner and Kramme began to speak loudly over each other. Kramme directed a sheriff's deputy to escort him out, but he left the meeting on his own.

Bobby Mason, whose is against annexation, said he inherited his property from his stepfather and has deep roots to Alleman in his family. He said he used to be proud and excited to be a part of the community.

Now, Mason said, he can't trust the mayor and accused Kramme of being dishonest to him about the process, calling him a "phony." Mason said Alleman has nothing to offer him in terms of city services and that he is "300% out."

Byron Gustafson, another owner whose land would involuntarily become a part of Alleman, said that he sees no benefit to agricultural land being annexed into Alleman. He said the town was named after his wife's great-grandfather. He believes Alleman is just doing it for property tax revenue.

Jeremy Nefzger said he does not want to be a part of Ankeny and that, while he did sign up to join Alleman voluntarily, he now has concerns about future financial costs that make him unsure.

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Kramme said that it's impossible to predict if a property's tax bill would go up if it's in the city versus the county because assessments change and governments come up with their own budgets and tax rates each year.

According to Polk County data, the 2022-23 tax rate for a non-agricultural property in Lincoln Township is lower than a non-agricultural property in Alleman, but higher than an agricultural property in Alleman. The 1,700 acres that would be annexed into Alleman are now part of Lincoln Township.

The city of Ankeny also opposes Alleman's annexation plan, writing in a letter that Alleman already has a large amount of undeveloped land, provides few municipal services and is looking to create irregular boundaries that would cause issues with services and development in the future.

"At best it is premature and at worst it is reckless," Ankeny's letter said of Alleman's plans. The letter was signed by Ankeny Mayor Mark Holm and the City Council.

Ankeny and Alleman officials have offered conflicting accounts of whether the two cities have tried to discuss coming to an agreement.

The Alleman City Council unanimously approved the annexation proposal on Monday. The state's City Development Board will vote on final approval at an upcoming meeting.

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Alleman, Iowa, approves land plan to slow Ankeny's growth to the north