Vancouver eyeing annexation plans again

The councilors said that if annexations were to begin again, they would be committed to an open, transparent process involving a great deal of public outreach so people would understand what was happening.

“It’s not a ‘slam-dunk decision.’ That’s not how we operate,” City Manager Eric Holmes said Thursday. “The council truly understands that annexation can have impacts, positive and perceived negative, on areas that are unincorporated, and we don’t take that lightly.”

The city’s 1997 annexation of Cascade Park, which was the largest in state history, brought in 58,000 more residents and 11,260 acres, making Vancouver the state’s fourth-largest city, with a population of 170,000. If Vancouver annexed all the land in its Urban Growth Area — the urbanized area that’s expected to become part of the city over time — its total population of about 315,000 would make it Washington’s second-largest city, with more land area than Seattle. The bigger the city is, the more political clout it will have in Olympia and Washington, D.C., which can be helpful when seeking funding for projects or support for legislative issues.

The main interest would be to annex in a way that improves service for everyone citywide, Holmes said. But that wouldn’t include a promise of upgrading rural streets to urban standards with sidewalks, curbs, gutters and streetlights, he warned. (Pavement would be maintained, however, he said.) Many people wrongly thought the city had promised Cascade Park would be brought up to urban standards and were angry when that didn’t happen, Holmes said.

Under the state Growth Management Act of 1990, urban areas ultimately should be incorporated into city limits, Eiken said. However, he said, “We don’t want people to have unrealistic expectations of what people see the day after it’s annexed. The goal would be to improve it over time, but it’s a big undertaking.”

There are many methods of annexation, one of them being utility covenants that county residents signed when they hooked up to use city utility service. The covenants mean they agree to support annexation when the city is ready.

Under the utility covenant method, one place that’s eligible for annexation is the Walnut Grove-Barberton area in the vicinity of Interstate 205 and Padden Parkway, north of city limits. It encompasses 1,370 acres, or about 2 square miles, and has about 4,650 residents, according to 2010 Census data. Most of the land is zoned residential, but about 150 acres is commercial and 230 acres is industrial. It includes the Club Green Meadows private golf course and a retail area with Costco and Home Depot.

The city says there are numerous benefits to annexation. Currently, property owners in the Urban Growth Area pay more for some services. Some of their costs, including their property taxes, would go down once they annex. The financial impact depends on what services the owner is getting and where the property is.

Annexing the area would net the city about $1.1 million annually in ongoing revenue, according to the city’s initial research. Property, sales, natural gas and utility tax revenues would amount to roughly $2.9 million, while the additional ongoing expenses the city would incur from annexing the area (parks and road maintenance, police, jail, district court, corrections, animal control) would total about $1.8 million.

If the area is annexed, some services would change, but others would remain the same. The area would be served by Vancouver police rather than the county sheriff, and Waste Connections would provide trash service through a city contract. The city already provides water to all but six properties, and sewer service to a quarter of the area. (The remaining 75 percent is served by Clark Regional Wastewater District.) Schools wouldn’t be affected. Fire protection for the area already is provided by the city, which contracts with Fire District 5.

For more information about annexing into Vancouver, go to www.cityofvancouver.us, select “Inside City Hall” and click on “Community & Economic Development.” Then select “Annexation” from the left-hand menu.