City Council Defers Annexation Decisions

SEATTLE-The Seattle City Council this week approved a resolution that would defer decisions to designate the North Highline and West Hill areas as “Potential Annexation Areas” in Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan until at least 2005. In the meantime, the council is asking the city’s executive agencies to continue examining whether the annexations would be in the city’s best interests.”The reality is this is going to take years, and probably not just one or two,” says council president Jan Drago, who sponsored the resolution. “There is no reason to rush toward a vote on these annexations before we know the full impacts of how the additional services will affect Seattle taxpayers, what King County’s role may be in paying for some of those services and what other infrastructure issues could arise from incorporating these areas into the city.”The North Highline and West Hill areas are two of the 10 remaining unincorporated areas within King County. They include the White Center neighborhood and other areas north of Burien and SeaTac and west of Renton. Currently, the county provides local services to these unincorporated areas but is encouraging adjoining cities to annex these areas so the county can focus on providing regional services and alleviate some of the pressure on its budget. While the city wants the additional people, businesses and land as part of its tax base, it wants to minimize its costs for sewer, road, public safety, health and human services. In the cases of North Highline and West Hill, the city is concerned that the costs of providing these services may exceed the potential tax base.Last week the council approved a separate resolution that indicated what amendments would be considered in this year’s Comprehensive Plan Update. That resolution omitted amendments that would designate North Highline and West Hill as potential annexation areas this year. The resolution approved today reiterates the Council’s position to defer consideration of this issue until 2005 and sets out the conditions that must be met prior to the Council taking up these potential annexations.Specifically, the Council says it will not consider these areas for annexation until: King County agrees to pay for the $80-million replacement of the 14th/16th Avenue South Bridge within “a reasonable timeframe”; the County prepares a comprehensive report on operation and capital costs associated with annexation of these areas; other jurisdictions abutting the potential annexation areas indicate they are not interested in annexing these areas, and; it is known whether North Highline and West Hill residents and existing Seattle residents favor the annexations.