NRS268.580. General standards of territory to be annexed.

      1.  The governing body of any city may extend the corporate limits of the city to include any territory which meets the general standards of subsection 2 and every part of which meets the requirements of subsection 3, 4, 5 or 6.

      2.  The total area proposed to be annexed must meet the following standards:

      (a) It must be contiguous to the annexing city’s boundaries at the time the annexation proceedings are instituted.

      (b) Not less than one-eighth of the aggregate external boundaries must be contiguous to the boundaries of the annexing city.

      (c) No part of the territory proposed to be annexed may be included within the boundaries of another incorporated city as those boundaries exist on July 1, 1983.

      (d) No part of the territory proposed to be annexed may be included within the boundaries of any unincorporated town as those boundaries exist on July 1, 1983, without the prior approval of the governing body of the unincorporated town in which the territory is located.

      3.  All of the territory proposed to be annexed must be developed for urban purposes. An area developed for urban purposes is defined as any area which meets any one of the following standards:

      (a) Has a total resident population density of two or more persons per acre of land included within its boundaries;

      (b) Has a total resident population density of one or more persons per acre of land included within its boundaries, and is subdivided or parceled, through separate ownerships, into lots or parcels such that at least 60 percent of the total acreage consists of lots and parcels 5 acres or less in size and such that at least 60 percent of the total number of lots and parcels are 1 acre or less in size; or

      (c) Is so developed that at least 60 percent of the total number of lots and parcels in the territory to be annexed, at the time of the annexation, are used for any combination of residential, commercial, industrial, institutional or governmental purposes, and is subdivided or is parceled, through separate ownerships, into lots or parcels such that at least 60 percent of the total acreage, not including the acreage used at the time of annexation for commercial, industrial, institutional or governmental purposes, consists of lots and parcels 5 acres or less in size.

      4.  In addition to the areas developed for urban purposes, the governing body may include in the territory proposed to be annexed any territory which does not meet the requirements of subsection 3 if the area:

      (a) Is contiguous to the boundary of the annexing city and lies between the boundary of the annexing city and an area developed for urban purposes, so that the area developed for urban purposes is not adjacent to the boundary of the annexing city or cannot be served by the annexing city without extending services through such sparsely developed territory; and

      (b) Is contiguous, on at least 60 percent of its aggregate external boundaries, to any combination of the boundary of the annexing city and the boundary of the area or areas developed for urban purposes as defined in subsection 3.

Ê The purpose of this subsection is to permit municipal governing bodies to extend corporate limits to include all nearby areas developed for urban purposes where it is necessary to include areas which, at the time of annexation, are not yet developed for urban purposes, but which constitute necessary land connections between the municipality and areas developed for urban purposes or between two or more areas developed for urban purposes.

      5.  A governing body may also annex any territory that does not meet the requirements of subsection 3 if the territory is bounded on at least 75 percent of its aggregate external boundaries by the existing corporate boundaries of the annexing city.

      6.  A governing body may also annex any territory that does not meet the requirements of subsection 3 if:

      (a) The owners of record of not less than 75 percent of the individual lots or parcels of land within the territory sign a petition requesting the governing body to annex the territory to the municipality; or

      (b) The governing body receives a written statement from a governmental entity indicating that the governmental entity:

             (1) Owns the territory; and

             (2) Does not object to the annexation of that territory by the governing body.

      (Added to NRS by 1967, 1604; A 1983, 737; 1993, 87; 2001, 2941)