§ 70-38. Withdrawal of territory.

Sec. 38. Any area of the county may withdraw from or be made a part of the district as provided in this section.

The decisions made by the board on the matter of said withdrawal or inclusion shall be on the basis of benefits to the land involved.

Upon written petition of not less than 50 landowners of an area of the county, or 50 percent of the landowners if there are fewer than 100 landowners of said area, asking withdrawal from or inclusion into the district, the board shall call a hearing and shall cause to be published a notice of the time and place of said hearing on the matters asked in said petition. The notice shall be mailed to each landowner in the area sought to be withdrawn or included at his address are shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the county. The notice shall also be published in the petitioning area pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code. A copy of said notice shall be transmitted to the county boundary commission. The commission shall advise the board as to the judgment of the commission regarding the proposal.

At the hearing the board shall hear and consider all evidence and testimony in favor of and in opposition to the proposal and shall consider the advice of the commission.

After the hearing, the board shall take one of the following actions:

1.

The board may deny the petition, in which case its action is final, and the proposal is lost as far as the particular petition is concerned.

2.

The board may agree with the petitioners, in which case it shall by resolution order the petitioning area withdrawn, or included, as the case may be, and thereupon said area is withdrawn, or included, as the case may be.

3.

In the event the board feels that the matter should be decided by an election, it shall hold an election in the petitioning area. A majority of electors voting at said election shall then decide the issue.

If upon withdrawal there are any outstanding obligations of the area withdrawn, said withdrawal shall not release any of the property withdrawn from said obligations.

The boundaries of the district may be changed by the Legislature.

Notice of any change of boundaries made pursuant to this section, other than by act of the Legislature, shall be filed with the Secretary of State within 10 days after the effective date of such change. The notice shall contain a description of the boundaries of the district as changed by the withdrawal or inclusion of the area.

(Stats.1953, c. 1598, p. 3300, § 38. Amended by Stats.1957, c. 357, p. 1151, § 295.)