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La Center officials think big

Annexation plan would quadruple city's size; diverse tax base, jobs the goal

By Marissa Harshman, Columbian Health Reporter
Published: March 31, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
Les Greear on Tuesday gives a tour of his 26-acre property on Northwest 31st Avenue near La Center.
Les Greear on Tuesday gives a tour of his 26-acre property on Northwest 31st Avenue near La Center. Greear said he doesn't want to be included in La Center city limits or have surrounding land used for industrial development. Photo Gallery

The 650-acre city of La Center might be nearly four times its current size by this time next year if all goes according to city officials’ plans.

The city is moving forward with plans to annex about 1,675 acres from its urban growth area. The move would stretch the 2,545-resident city to Interstate 5, add about 100 to 150 residents and allow for industrial business development along the corridor.

“It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs,” City Planner Dale Miller said. “We have no industrial land right now. We’re pretty much confined to commercial property, and we need jobs.”

City officials for the past decade have expressed a desire to expand the city’s limits to the freeway, but not everyone supports the idea.

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“Some people are all over it and want it done yesterday,” Miller said. “And there are other folks … who want to stay rural.”

Resident Les Greear is one landowner who is opposed to becoming a city resident. He wonders why the city wants his land, which includes a canyon, for industrial zoning.

“The canyon would be difficult to do anything with,” he said. “So I question why they would want to annex it.”

The current annexation plan does not include 575 acres of land at the I-5 junction because the inclusion of the area is being disputed in court. The disputed junction area also includes the proposed site of the Cowlitz Tribe’s casino.

In 2007, Clark County extended the city of La Center’s urban growth area to west of Interstate 5, adding 2,250 acres. In May 2008, the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled the county violated state law in allowing agricultural land to be developed and removed about 575 acres to the west of I-5 from the city’s urban growth area. The Clark County Superior Court reversed the decision, which an environmental group appealed. The issue is now before the state Court of Appeals. No hearings have been scheduled, but Miller hopes a decision will be made within the next six months to one year.

City officials have had preliminary discussions with homeowners in the proposed annex area during the past six months, and earlier this month the council approved spending $85,000 for consultants to assist with the effort.

The procedure

The annexation process also requires two petitions: one with signatures from those with 10 percent ownership of the value of the land being annexed and a second with 60 percent ownership of the value of land to be annexed. Collection of signatures for the 10 percent petition could begin soon and the 60 percent petition will occur near the end of the process, Miller said. The county assessor’s office will verify the signatures, and the city council will hold public hearings before accepting and approving the petitions. Miller expects the city will complete the process within a year.

Greear’s property on Northwest 31st Avenue is in the junction area being disputed in court. Should the county and city prevail in keeping the area in the city’s urban growth area, 20 acres of Greear’s 26-acre property would be considered for future annexation into city limits.

Greear purchased the land 43 years ago. If his land is annexed, Greear said he could no longer burn tree limbs on his property, he could have limitations on the type of livestock allowed on his land and he would have no say whether a large industrial complex was constructed next door. When the county was considering the growth plan a few years ago, Greear asked to be left out of the urban growth area but to no avail.

“Basically, we had no voice in it,” he said. “La Center, Ridgefield and the county told us what they were going to do.”

Greear acknowledges his property value would go up once inside city limits, but the change would also mean new costs for him. The city would be required to provide the annexed areas with sewer service and roads, and the landowners would pay hookup costs and all taxes and fees city residents pay, Miller said.

Different perspective

Another landowner, Susan Gilbert, lives on 30 acres on Northwest 329th Street, which also is in the disputed junction area. She supports the annexation. When she purchased the land 20 years ago, she knew growth was coming. Now she’s working to ensure the growth is well-planned.

Gilbert said the city would benefit from a more diversified tax base. Currently, the four cardrooms in downtown La Center make up a significant portion of the city’s budget, which means if the businesses struggle the city may as well.

“Having been involved in the county growth plan since its inception, I realized as time has gone by how important it is for the cities to have an industrial tax base,” Gilbert said. “Ridgefield is on its way, and it’s time La Center has its chance at it.”

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.

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Columbian Health Reporter