In all our discussions about planning for and managing growth, we don’t often talk about the process by which cities actually grow in area – annexation of new land into the city’s boundaries. Utah state code has an entire section dealing with this topic, and it is … a mess! Over the years, competing interests have jostled back and forth over how annexations should be allowed to work, and the result is what wee have in state code today. It needs an overhaul. Fortunately, there has been an effort underway since last year to do just that, and it appears that the next legislative session may be the time. In the meanwhile, in this session, we’ll talk about some of the processes required for annexation that must be followed today, and maybe what they should be. And particularly, how should areas just outside of current city boundaries be treated, because these areas are often the sites of significant new growth.