September 3, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

See a farm field. Envision an HOA.

In the south metro where I live, HOAs are going up everywhere. The City of Lakeville was building so fast, for example, that they had to stop new construction for a while to ensure they had enough infrastructure to support all the residents coming in.

According to South Metro Scoop, the City Council is looking to do a land grab:

Lakeville’s city council took up a Joint Resolution for Orderly Annexation with Eureka Township — a legal agreement that spells out exactly how and when township land can become Lakeville land. The township board took up the same document a week earlier, and both governments published a joint notice of intent back in July.

Lakeville still has farmland and building-less vistas on its outskirts, but even that is becoming more rare. I suspect once the building moratorium is over, the construction will create an interrupted dotted landscape before you know it.

The area covered is roughly 560 acres, following a line near 225th Street where the two jurisdictions meet. Right now it’s agricultural land, and about 28 people live on it.

The report says that properties in the targeted 560 acres can stay in Eureka Township forever if the owners want. The agreement kicks in when an owner petitions to come in, and even then, Lakeville isn’t obligated to say yes.

What it changes is the speed. Under the agreement, an administrative law judge reviews a request without a hearing and has to order the annexation within 30 days if it follows the rules. Compare that to the old process, where any annexation could turn into a contested fight in front of the state’s Municipal Boundary Adjustments Unit.

I would expect that any such land is a prime target for HOA development, and the great migration to Lakeville continues.  What’s that old saying? The place is so popular that nobody lives there anymore.

Read the South Metro Scoop story HERE.