GRETNA- The City of Gretna is poised to double in size and add nearly 3,000 people after the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday sided with the city in an annexation dispute with Sarpy County. At issue was a 2017 annexation package by Gretna to bring nearly 3,000 acres into the city. The area includes Vala’s Pumpkin Patch, Sapp Bros. and housing subdivisions including Lincoln Place, Willow Park and Standing Stone.

In a lawsuit that has delayed the annexation by nearly four years, the county argued that the annexation wasn’t legal because it included 22 parcels of agricultural land that were “almost exclusively unplatted, with rural roads and no sewer connection,” according to a filing by the state Supreme Court. State law says cities can annex only land that is “urban or suburban in character.”

Last year, a Sarpy County District Court judge sided with the county, accepting its arguments that the contested parcels qualified as agricultural land. The district court found that none of the parcels were currently being developed, and that Gretna’s growth as a city had not trended in the general direction of the areas that Gretna sought to annex, the filing states. But the high court Friday overturned that decision, ruling that the district court failed to consider future development plans in the annexed areas.

Gretna Mayor Mike Evans said he was pleased with the ruling and excited to welcome a new crop of businesses and residents to Gretna. He said it could take a few months until the area officially is part of the city.

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