Manchester bid to annex 1,400 acres of St. Louis County will go to public vote

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV) -- The City of Manchester’s bid to add 6,500 new residents and 1,400 acres of new territory will go to voters, officials announced Wednesday.

The area Manchester wants to annex runs along its eastern border from Enchanted Parkway to Barrett Station Road on the west and south to Carmen Road. Mayor Mike Clement said that so many living in the proposed annex area have connections to residents of Manchester that the area should become part of the city.

“They really are our neighbors and that’s one of the strong reasons to annex, we have so many connections with the group,” he said.

In the city’s proposal, it stressed that annexation would bring the new residents less divisive and more responsive local government. Manchester’s elections are non-partisan.

In July, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced his opposition to the move. In a press conference, he stressed that residents in the unincorporated area that is the focus of the annexation will no longer be served by the county’s police department and its many specialized resources that smaller departments don’t have.

“Later this week I will write a letter to the boundary commission in opposition to this proposal,” said Page in July.

According to the proposal, approval would mean the county loses $2.3 million in revenue. But Clement told News 4 that money won’t be a windfall for Manchester because the city has plans to invest in improvements to the new neighborhoods.

Missouri Municipal League Executive Director Richard Sheets said that annexations are used by cities to bring new jobs and subdivisions into their city limits and increase their tax base. But he said cities have to be sure they don’t expand beyond their ability to provide the same level of service.

The St. Louis County Boundary Commission approved Manchester’s proposal on Tuesday, meaning it will be put on the ballot, but a date for a vote has yet to be determined. The annexation plan must be approved by a majority of voters inside Manchester and the area the city is seeking to add for it to go into effect.

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