Q. Why are there still “township islands” within the city of Ann Arbor?
A. Starting more than a century ago, when Ann Arbor built its water and sewer system, owners of property that hadn’t yet been annexed to the city had a choice: accept annexation and connect to city services or keep their own wells and septic systems and stay in their townships.
For almost a half-century there have been discussions about annexing the remaining “township islands.” In 2011, city council directed staff to create a plan to do so. Implementation began in 2016 with twenty parcels. A second round for eighty-eight more parcels began in 2018. At that time the city’s planning staff indicated there were slightly more than 500 township island properties within the city’s boundaries.
Annexation requires the agreement of the relevant township and the approval of the state boundary commission. Ann Arbor, Pittsfield, and Scio townships agreed decades ago to accept annexations within the city limits in exchange for the city’s promise not to expand beyond them. But individual property owners can object and have sometimes prevailed at the boundary commission.
In 2020, the Ann Arbor News reported, the boundary commission found in favor of owners in Ann Arbor Township and Pittsfield Township who’d objected to the 2018 annexation. The city went to court, which told the commission to reconsider. It then approved some of the Ann Arbor Township annexations, but again rejected the ones from Pittsfield.
