WASHINGTON, Wis. (WCFW) – The Town of Washington hit a significant milestone in the years-long process of incorporating as a village to prevent further annexations.

The town has been pursuing incorporation for well over a year now. Officials began circulating a petition to incorporate part of the town as a village over the summer of 2024, receiving hundreds of signatures from area residents in support of the move.

The motivation to begin the process stems from the annexation of land for the Orchard Hills housing development and Whitetail Woods housing development. Their goal is to prevent the city of Eau Claire and city of Altoona from annexing more the town’s land for more housing developments and utility expansion.

Residents have expressed concerns about an increase in traffic and changes to the fabric of their neighborhoods with the introduction of higher density housing. The Orchard Hills development specifically was at the center of a lawsuit between the Town of Washington and the developers of the project, who reached a settlement requiring the developers to pay $100,000 for road expenses over three years.

According to a WQOW report, the town of Washington has now officially submitted its petition to the Wisconsin Department of Administration for consideration. The agency will have 180 days to approve, deny, or recommend changes to the petition before the process can move forward.

The process will still take years to complete and would conclude with a referendum posed to voters. During the early stages of the petition process, the City of Eau Claire also passed a resolution stating that it expected to annex even more land for utility expansion. That resolution would need to be included in the final review process for incorporation.

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