Why is Paradise, NV (pop. 223,167) an “unincorporated town”?

[thelurkinghorror]

“Unincorporated town” is a specific term in Nevada. See the link for more info.

The general term in many states is “unicorporated area” or “census-designated place.”

The largest CDP in the US, according to the government, is Honolulu. East LA is one too.

[Lumpy]

If an unincorporated township is not a separate city, then what keeps it from being annexed by a neighboring city? Is a county township somehow different from unincorporated rural land?

[foolsguinea]

@HeyHomie

Back in the middle-late 1990’s, the city of Joplin, Missouri wanted to annex a few square miles of unincorporated space adjacent to the city. The annexation would have brought a handful of businesses (a gas station here, a sex shop there) and a couple thousands residents into the city. The debate about the annexation led to one of the stupidest things ever said by anybody, that I have ever encountered: a writer to The Joplin Globe wrote a letter to the editor opposing the move because, and I’m paraphrasing here, there is more crime in bigger cities, so why would Joplin want to become a bigger city?

This is so hilarious.

Ah, yes, the befuddledly anti-urban letterhacks of the Joplin Globe. I think they even hired one of those poor confused souls onto staff once.

Really, if all Joplin was known for was that line and a monster tornado, that’d be…Joplin. [/hijack]

I’m confused. Is Paradise bigger than Las Vegas proper, then? What’s actually Vegas?

[foolsguinea]

Oh, it’s half the size of Las Vegas. Wikipedia is my friend, I will look at the maps.

[Senegoid]

@HeyHomie

Funny you should mention the Modesto situation. My aunt and uncle live in Modesto and both are fierce opponents of both the Wood Colony and the Salida annexations. Both have written several letters to the editor, attended council meetings, and generally made names for themselves locally by so vehemently opposing the move.

That’s exactly what the residents of Wood Colony WANT to have happen. They have no say at the Modesto City Council (not being residents of Modesto), so they are working to appeal to Modesto residents to go to bat for them.

@Donnerwetter

“Annexation” seems to be an strange concept in the United States in this day and age. I have visions of armed men from Modesto, wearing unmarked uniforms and balaclavas who invade “Wood Colony” in the dark of night, occupying public buildings, rounding up the poor residents and forcing them to pledge allegiance to their new overlords.

That’s the vision that the Wood Colony residents have too!

(More specifically, they fear – perhaps correctly – that the Modesto Council would re-zone the vicinity to allow for commercial development, turning all the orchards and farmland there into a lite-industrial area of warehouses and parking lots.)

[guizot]

@Pasta

Adding to the “it’s common” theme, here’s a map of Los Angeles county with unincorporated areas shown in white. If you cross reference this with a Google satellite view, you’ll see that plenty of these areas are smack in the heart of the urban-scape. (To be sure, there’s plenty of mountain and desert terrain represented in white, too.)

Because of the scale of that map, what you see are many areas which have distinct identities–as though they were actual cities (East L.A., Marina del Rey, etc.). West Hollywood only became incorporated about 30 years ago, I believe.

But what that map doesn’t show is the numerous, nameless, obscure little patches of unincorporated areas, which have no apparent reason for being so (other than tax dodging), such as
this one I’ve already mentioned in another thread:

@guizot

I find it more of an oddity that there’s a little strip of land entirely inside of this Gateway strip of the City of Los Angeles which is NOT the City of Los Angeles. It’s just south of the 405 along Normandie, between 190th and Del Amo. It’s one block wide and about four or five blocks long, consisting mostly of industrial plants (such as the American Polystyrene Corporation, with a few other things, like a lone bar, “imaginatively” named “The Office”)–and I don’t think a single residence. These five blocks thought they were so special that not only did they refuse to incorporate with the City of Los Angeles (or with the cities of Torrance and Gardena, which probably would have taken them) but they refused to even join the area of the main other incorporated land between L.A. and Carson, which is only about 500 feet away. I mean, who the hell do they think they are?

[LSLGuy]

@Lumpy

If an unincorporated township is not a separate city, then what keeps it from being annexed by a neighboring city? Is a county township somehow different from unincorporated rural land?

This from further up-thread:

@friedo

This varies a lot depending on the municipality laws of each state. What Paradise did was to change their status from nothing, i.e. an unincorporated area of Clark County, to “unincorporated town,” which is a specific category under Nevada law that entitles them to certain services provided by the County and a limited “town advisory board,” who may be elected or appointed by the county, and whose job is to advise the county about the town’s needs. The county may delegate certain powers to the advisory board.

IOW, “unincorporated township” is a special designation, perhaps unique to Nevada, which is in effect a city without a city government. Since it’s a city, it can’t be absorbed by other cities without a fight. Since it has no city government, there are no pesky city regulations or taxes.

Neither fish nor fowl, it’s half-each.

[suranyi]

@Lumpy

If an unincorporated township is not a separate city, then what keeps it from being annexed by a neighboring city? Is a county township somehow different from unincorporated rural land?

State laws usually govern what cities can do, and in most cases they have strict rules about how cities are allowed to annex neighboring land. Even if the land is unincorporated.

[DrDeth]

@Senegoid

That’s exactly what the residents of Wood Colony WANT to have happen. They have no say at the Modesto City Council (not being residents of Modesto), so they are working to appeal to Modesto residents to go to bat for them.

That’s the vision that the Wood Colony residents have too!

(More specifically, they fear – perhaps correctly – that the Modesto Council would re-zone the vicinity to allow for commercial development, turning all the orchards and farmland there into a lite-industrial area of warehouses and parking lots.)

Can Modesto annex that area without the consent of it’s residents?

[Senegoid]

@DrDeth

Can Modesto annex that area without the consent of it’s residents?

I have no idea, except that the residents there are sure screaming bloody murder about it. At least, they seem to think they are in danger of that happening. As numerous posts have already mentioned, this kind of stuff varies from state to state.

Anybody in Ca know better?

[snowthx]

Here is an example of “un-incorporating” - the Weston Ranch neighborhood wanting to get out of the city of Stockton, CA and become part of the county. Not sure if this is considered un-incorporating.

*There are steps the neighborhood can take to detach from Stockton, said Jim Glaser from the Local Agency Formation Commission.

“It involves a petition signed by voters of the area that wants to detach,” Glaser said. “(It) takes 25 percent of (the) voters in that area.”*

I think a municipality can annex land without resident’s approval via eminent domain. But, the specifics may differ from state to state.

[suranyi]

@snowthx

Here is an example of “un-incorporating” - the Weston Ranch neighborhood wanting to get out of the city of Stockton, CA and become part of the county. Not sure if this is considered un-incorporating.

*There are steps the neighborhood can take to detach from Stockton, said Jim Glaser from the Local Agency Formation Commission.

“It involves a petition signed by voters of the area that wants to detach,” Glaser said. “(It) takes 25 percent of (the) voters in that area.”*

I think a municipality can annex land without resident’s approval via eminent domain. But, the specifics may differ from state to state.

Annexation and eminent domain are completely different concepts. With eminent domain a government body is taking ownership of a piece of property. It generally involves a monetary transaction. With annexation the ownership of properties within the annexed area don’t change, only the administrative hierarchy changes.

In other words, I could be forced to sell my house via eminent domain for a public purpose to either the city (if I lived in an incorporated city) or the county (if I lived in an unincorporated area). If I lived in an unincorporated area a neighboring city could, depending on state law and following proper procedure, annex my area but I would still own my house, so that would not be eminent domain.

[snowthx]

Thanks, suranyi, for clarifying the difference.

[Lumpy]

@suranyi

I could be forced to sell my house via eminent domain for a public purpose

e.g., because a rich person who can pay more taxes than you can wants the land. :mad: