Sultan City Council hears annexation opposition

It was standing room only at Sultan City Hall last week, as residents packed council chambers to attend a public hearing on the 124th Street annexation proposal.-á

The public hearing was held after 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, in front of the Sultan City Council, and continues Thursday, Feb. 11. Sixteen residents spoke out against the annexation proposal, with no one speaking in support. Concerns raised included urban sprawl, noncompliance with the city's Comprehensive Plan, traffic impacts and roadway hazards, lack of city infrastructure like sewer and a lack of public participation in the process.-á -á

Interim city planner Brad Collins advised council to keep the public hearing open until the next council meeting, largely due to the fact that the 60-percent petition was incomplete. The request is being driven by property owner Rusty Drivstuen, who spoke in favor of the annexation last May. Per state law, Drivstuen must submit the signatures of property owners representing 60 percent of the assessed value of the proposed annexation area.-á

"They're still in the process of trying to perfect that petition,GÇ¥ Collins said. "We had moved forward with the understanding that it was just a glitch that they hadn't all signed the petition yet.GÇ¥

Annexation occurs when a portion of unincorporated county becomes part of the incorporated city limits, and a 60-percent petition is a common method. As of Thursday, the petition was short one signature, which is why Collins advised council to continue the public hearing until Feb. 11.

"If at that time they have not finished their 60-percent petition, it may be time to consider whether we should continue to proceed ahead or whether they need to start over again,GÇ¥ Collins said.

The 124th Street annexation proposal is not new to those that live in the area. While there is no development proposal currently on the table, the area has been targeted in the past for high-volume residential development.-á -á

The property is made up of eight parcels situated on the north side of 124th Street Southeast, a dead-end roadway west of Sultan Basin Road and 1.4 miles north of the intersection at Sultan Basin Road and U.S. 2. The property is in the city's Urban Growth Area (UGA), but outside city limits. UGAs are mandated by the Washington State Growth Management Act, and are defined as areas in which "urban growth shall be encouraged.GÇ¥

The area is adjacent to the city's water treatment plant in the northernmost portion of city limits, forming an oddly protruding square of city limits that adjoins the annexation area at its eastern boundary. City limits not contiguous with the 30-acre water treatment plant property extend south of 124th Street Southeast, encompassing Rosewood, a multi-residential development off of 124th.

One resident expressed confusion over what is and isn't in the city's UGA. The matter is complex due to recent changes dictated by Snohomish County.

The 124th Street annexation property was incorporated into the UGA by Snohomish County in 2006. The large chunk of acreage south of 124th and directly west of Sultan Basin Road is undesignated and outside the UGA. The city filed a request with the county to add the area to the UGA, along with another portion of acreage off Rice Road, at the same time it requested the Trout Farm Road area be removed. The areas to be added were known as Addition Area 1 and 2. Addition Area 1, near the proposed annexation property, was 138 acres and included a section of property on the east side of Sultan Basin Road.-á -á

In 2014, the Snohomish County Planning Commission voted in favor of removing the Trout Farm Road area from the UGA, but rejected the inclusion of Addition Area 1 and 2, so neither was incorporated into the UGA.

As a result, the city's northern boundary is choppy, and there is a sizeable gap between the UGA area located north of 132nd and the UGA where the annexation property is located. This is why some residents feel the annexation creates an awkward island in the midst of land that is predominantly unincorporated Snohomish County.-á

Sultan Planning Board member Lucy Hitchcock spoke against the annexation, protesting the lack of feasibility studies and planning board involvement. The city included numerous passages in its presentation from the Comprehensive Plan to demonstrate the annexation as consistent, she said, but it failed to include a relevant passage from the introduction.

She quoted the plan: "The 2011 Comprehensive Plan update discourages annexations into the city until buildable land is unavailable within the city. The 2011 plan provides clearer direction and requirements, such as requiring a feasibility plan to meet adopted level of service standards for all facilities for development prior to annexation.GÇ¥

Hitchcock also expressed concern over the safety and capacity of 124th, as did several others. In addition to being a dead end, 124th is a narrow roadway with a surprising amount of traffic, resulting from a nearby business and a small gravel pit in the area. The street has no center line, and passing trucks often don't heed the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit, said residents.

Hitchcock pointed out that with congestion on U.S. 2 at an all-time high, additional residential development without a remedy for expanding roadway capacity simply doesn't make sense. There are public safety implications, she said, and questioned how the city would assure new residents that fire and police will be able to reach them in a timely manner.-á

"Without a feasibility study and a list of positive and negative consequences of this proposal and what to do about them, neither you nor the boundary review board has the information to make a responsible decision,GÇ¥ Hitchcock said.-á

Jean Roberts owns 10 acres of property south of 124th Street close to the annexation area, and has lived there for nearly 40 years. Roberts is adamantly opposed to the annexation, and expressed dismay that the council's resolution stated that, "Sultan City Council directed staff at its May 28, 2015 City Council meeting of their desire to annex the "124th Street Petition Area' into the City of Sultan.GÇ¥

That was not an accurate representation of what occurred at the meeting, she said.

"I was there; there were several other people there also. They did not direct staff to annex the 124th Street petition area. They were looking into it, and they said that more than one time,GÇ¥ Roberts said.

Roberts and several other residents questioned why they weren't notified of the public hearing sooner. She found it concerning that nothing had been said about the annexation since May 2015, and then seemingly out of the blue, she was informed of a legal notification about the hearing published in a Snohomish County newspaper on Jan. 13. Direct notification from the city wasn't received until three days prior to the hearing, Roberts said.

Numerous residents echoed her concerns, saying they felt the city's attempts at notification were inadequate.

Roberts questioned the council's ability to make an informed decision.

"How can you do that when there's been no public input?Gǥ Roberts said. "Sixty acres were going to be annexed in 2006; May 2015 it was 75.94; January 2016 it's 80 acres. All these numbersGǪ Who knows?Gǥ

Gerry Gibson has long been opposed to the proposed annexation and has spoken against it on numerous occasions. He quoted from former Monroe Monitor columnist Steve Higgins' December 2006 column "Dirty growth is no cure.GÇ¥

"Healthy growth can only occur when profit is not the principle motive, simply because expending resources purely for profit, as opposed to improving the quality of our total habitat are fundamentally at odds. In other words, when local legislators and administrators like a city, or county council and mayors listen to and act principally on advice from those who stand to profit, dirty growth occurs,GÇ¥ wrote Higgins. "Healthy growth occurs when officials have the desire and motivation to listen to and act on behalf of the popular electorate.GÇ¥

Gibson also protested the fact that the proposal's primary proponent, Drivstuen, appears to be in arrears on his property taxes. According to Snohomish County tax records, Drivstuen owes $11,518.40 in delinquent taxes.

"People that make requests like this should pay their taxes. Property taxes need to be paid by everybody,GÇ¥ Gibson said.

The 124th Street annexation public hearing will continue at the Feb. 11 council meeting. Should the council vote to annex the property, the matter would go before the Snohomish County Boundary Review Board. For more information on the annexation, visit http://ci.sultan.wa.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/January-28-2016-Council-Meeting-Packet.pdf.