City Wins Appeal of County Land Use Decision

Earlier this year, Marion County approved an application for a 15,000 square foot warehouse on Highway 99E. The property involved is south of Aurora city limits, but located within its Urban Growth Boundary.

Aurora’s Planning Commission voted unanimously at its May 1 meeting to recommend that the city council appeal the decision. The council agreed, and voted unanimously to appeal the approval at its May 8 meeting.

That appeal was heard on June 6. The City of Aurora was represented by Planning Commission Chairman Joseph Schaefer and City Attorney Sara Kendrick, who both testified.

A decision was made by the Marion County Hearings Officer in late July, and the city’s appeal was upheld.

“The critical issue here is that the city requires annexation before industrial development can occur,” Schaefer said. “Even thought we won this appeal, as a general principle the county does not agree that annexation is required.  Unless the county changes its policy, we will likely need to appeal their next  decision on a similar project."