Olive Branch response to annexation ruling

The City of Olive Branch has provided a response to the recent ruling by Chancery Court Judge Percy Lynchard Jr. regarding its annexation efforts. Judge Lynchard reduced the amount of land the city could annex from approximately 50 square miles in the original proposal to about 18.8 square miles.

As the response points out, Lynchard’s issued an “Opinion of the Court,” and is not yet a Final Decreee, which is expected to be delivered at some future point. An appeal of the opinion is still possible.

The entire response is printed here and may also be found on the city’s official website.

On April 5, 2021 Judge Lynchard issued his “Opinion of the Court” in regard to the City’s annexation case.  The Court’s decision is not yet final.  A Final Decree will be issued at some point soon, and thereafter the Court’s decision remains subject to appeal for a period of time.  The City will update this announcement in regard to the plan for services once the effective date of the annexation is determined.

Upon the annexation becoming final, the City of Olive Branch will be extraordinarily pleased to welcome approximately 6600 new residents to the City.  The annexation approved by Judge Lynchard would add approximately 18.8 square miles to the incorporated area, and currently includes approximately 2300 households.  By all measures this was a large and successful annexation.  The areas included in the annexation are historically part of the “OB” community and on behalf of myself and the Board of Aldermen, we welcome you as neighbors.

The City is pleased that the Court recognized Olive Branch’s need to expand and the City’s established paths of growth to the south and east of the current city limits.  Importantly, the Court recognized the City’s “superior” record of past performance in providing municipal services and noted that the City is in strong financial shape and well positioned to “sustain its services and quality of life.”

Likewise, the City is disappointed that other areas were not included in the Court’s ruling.  The excluded areas include spillover from the City’s ongoing growth.  Additionally, the excluded areas currently receive some City services and would benefit from the full spectrum of municipal level services.  As the City implements its plan to serve the areas included in this annexation, Olive Branch will continue planning for the future in a manner consistent with the City’s growth strategy that has been in place for nearly a half-century.

Once a date is determined when the current annexation will become final, additional information for new residents will be provided through social media, the City’s website, and other outlets.