10/24/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e overturned. A remonstrance election is scheduled in March for a River Road commercial area. Ms. Brody said State law does not provide sufficient tools to allow the annexation program to be successful as it is currently operating. The tri- ple-majority annexation process was envisioned to be the primary method that would be used when the annexation program was adopted in 1986; however, this method is no longer available. In its place, the State Legislature approved a double-majority annexation process, but staff has been reluctant to use this because of the lack of clarity provided by the legislature on how the process would operate. Because of this lack of clarity, the City has been using the council-initiated annexation process. Ms. Brody anticipated that a legislative interim committee would be estab- lished to review boundary commission and annexation law in relation to state land use planning. Ms. Brody mentioned several other obstacles faced by the annexation program. State law provisions allow remonstrance by as few as one or two electors. The majority of septic systems in the River Road/Santa Clara area continue to work well even though they are polluting the ground water, which means that individual residents do not have an immediate incentive to support annexation and the provision of sewer service by the City. The cost of sewer service is high. For an average size lot of approximately 9,200 square feet in the River Road/Santa Clara area, the public improvement costs are close to $4,000 which can be paid for through Bancroft payments of $300 twice annually. e Additional private costs are about $1,200, for which no financing is avail- able currently. Ms. Brody said options are being sought that would reduce the financial burden for area residents. Also, anti-city sentiment persists in the area, and there is the perception that urban-level services are not needed in the area or will not be worth the additional tax dollars. Mr. Rutan commented that mistakes have been made in the development of an annexation program that responds to State law, the metropolitan planning process, and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Though annexa- tion could help achieve a sensible goal of having as little government as possible, Mr. Rutan said the large number of court cases is indicative of the fact that the program is not working. Lane County Commissioner John Ball maintained that while it has not met with universal success, the annexation program has moved towards solving a prob- lem. He complimented staff for representing the council well in an often controversial area. Focusing on the voluntary nature of the program, he agreed with Mr. Rutan that it would be logical to reevaluate the possibili- ties. Mr. Holmer maintained that building on the voluntary system is the key to successful implementation and he considered it the council's obligation to make annexation more feasible and attractive to residents. He considered the issue of whether sewers can be connected prior to annexation the most diffi- - MINUTES--City Council October 24, 1988 Page 2 Work Session