Flagpole annexation
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A flagpole annexation is an annexation by a city, town or other municipality in which the entity acquires new territory that is not broadly contiguous to the existing territory but is connected to it by a thin strip of land along the right-of-way of a street or road. The annexation thus resembles a flagpole, in which the connecting right-of-way is the "pole" and the annexed territory is the "flag".
Under some state and local laws in the United States, municipalities are prohibited from annexing land not directly connected to their existing territory. A flagpole annexation allows the annexation of land that is not directly adjacent to the municipality's existing territory. Flagpole annexations are commonly used when a municipality seeks to acquire unincorporated developed land, such as a newly built subdivision, that is separated from the town by undeveloped open land. Flagpole annexations may also be used when a municipality desires to annex a commercial area without annexing intervening residential areas, so as to collect tax revenues from the annexed area without having to provide services (such as electricity and garbage collection) to the residents of the intervening areas.
One example of a flagpole annexation is the Port of Los Angeles together with the San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City neighborhoods of Los Angeles, which are connected to the main part of the city by what is called locally the "Shoestring Strip" between Figueroa Street and Vermont Avenue. [1] (For more on the reason for this flagpole annexation, see the Harbor City article.)
Another example is San Ysidro, which is part of the city of San Diego. It is connected to the rest of the city by a narrow strip of land at the bottom of San Diego Bay.
Another is the the bitterly contested 2005 annexation of Elkhorn, Nebraska by Omaha.
