Champaign County commissioners approved a proposal to annex 18 acres of land to the city of Urbana this week, a plan many residents living in that area had opposed.

The commissioners are required to approve the annexation as long as it meets all the requirements in the state law. It will now move on to the Urbana City Council, which will decide whether to accept the annexation.

Earlier this year, about 20 residents attended a hearing about the plan, which includes an area that stretches roughly from south of Wards Lane to Pearce Place along U.S. 68, including the Olde Towne Condominium complex. Despite opposition from many residents in the area, those living in the condos had sought the annexation in return for city services such as utilities and police and fire protection.

Residents who opposed the annexation said they did not want to pay for city services but had little choice.

The Urbana Twp. trustees have previously said the township will lose about $12,000 in annual revenue and will have to re-negotiate its contract with the city for fire protection.

Urbana’s city council will have 120 days to make a decision on the annexation, said Doug Crabill, assistant to the director of administration for the city.

The city’s most recent annexation was 2009, when about 500 acres of land from the Morrow Gravel Company was brought into the city.