Council OKs plan to annex

The Spokane City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution seeking to annex 134 acres of tax-rich land along North Division Street. At the same time, Spokane County leaders said they will sue the city if it doesn’t abandon the annexation.

In a 6-1 vote, council members approved a resolution notifying the Boundary Review Board of the city’s intent to annex the slice of land that includes the North Division Costco store and Holy Cross Cemetery. Residents of a planned unit development just west of Costco appeared before the council to protest the annexation.

“We have no wish to change,” said Sanford Munro, one of the residents.

A city takeover would remove Costco and other retailers from the county’s tax base, a loss estimated at $1.3 million a year. The annexation now goes to the Boundary Review Board, which can approve, modify or reject the proposal.

Councilman Brad Stark cast the lone vote against the plan.

He said if the residents don’t want to be part of the city, “I can respect that.” He also said that the city should concentrate on bringing growth to areas within current city limits.

Council members Mary Verner and Al French both said the city and county need to learn to work together rather than fight over issues such as annexation.

Commissioner Todd Mielke told council members Tuesday evening that Costco executives recently told him they are planning to move their North Division store outside city limits. He suggested the city was on shaky legal ground with the way it obtained approvals for annexation from property owners.

Since the city announced its plan to annex the land, county employees have surveyed owners of the property and found that 83 percent of owners don’t want their land to become part of Spokane, Mielke said.

However, the city over the years gained annexation approvals from property owners in exchange for extending water and sewer services. Those approvals were executed with covenants attached to property titles in which the original developers in most cases waived any opposition to annexation.

Costco Wholesale Corp. notified the city last year of its intent to support the annexation. Costco owns more than 10 percent of the value of the property in the proposed annexation, according to city documents.

The city has petitions or waiver covenants signed from property owners representing at least 75 percent of the value of the land within the area – enough to move ahead. The county hopes that the agreements will be ruled invalid.

Mielke said that those who signed the agreements were effectively held hostage by the city because they had no other way to get utility services.

Spokane assistant city attorney James Richman disputed Mielke’s argument, saying the city’s covenants and petitions are valid.

At an earlier news conference, Mielke argued that the city’s attempt to annex the land is illogical because if Costco moves, any extra tax revenue to the city would be reduced.

Spokane County Fire District No. 9, which serves the area, is fighting the city as well.

Bob Anderson, the district’s chief, worries that a drop in the number of people served will make future fire levies harder to pass and questions the financial boost to the city. He said an agreement between the city and the district calls for the district to continue receiving $131,000 a year in property taxes from the land even though the city would provide fire service.

City officials recently discovered that residents living just west of Costco have not been getting billed for sewer service and that the city has lost thousands of dollars of revenue over the years. The oversight is being corrected, officials said.

Mielke and Anderson said annexing the land would give none of the properties better policing, fire or other services and pointed to cuts to the city fire and police forces in the last five years because of budget problems.

“Balancing your checkbook with what’s in your neighbor’s back yard is not right,” Anderson said.