WHITE CENTER ANNEXATION? Dates set for first-round public hearing

(From the archives: Map of proposed annexation area)

ORIGINAL REPORT, 8:44 PM: Before Seattle city leaders can put potential annexation of White Center and vicinity on the ballot for voters in that area to consider, they need approval from a King County entity called the Boundary Review Board. Before the BRB makes its decision, it holds a public hearing. We’ve just learned the dates are set for its hearing on the Seattle annexation proposal: June 13th and 14th, starting at 7 pm both nights, at the Technology Access Foundation‘s Bethaday Community Space at Dick Thurnau Memorial Park (605 SW 108th). Documentation for the hearing is online – here’s the official notice; the online file for the proposed annexation is here. The city’s rep on the longrunning annexation issue moderated a public discussion at White Center’s Dubsea Coffee back in March; see our report here. If the Seattle City Council decides to seek annexation, a vote in the affected area could be sought in 2017 or 2018. But the BRB hearing is the first step.

ADDED FRIDAY MORNING: We followed up this morning with Seattle city government’s point person on the proposed annexation, Kenny Pittman. He said the city is still waiting for its formal notification of what’s on the BRB website, so it hasn’t made an official announcement of the hearings yet. He also said the city has yet to set up the webpage it promised at the March Dubsea meeting, with information about the proposal and process. We asked if any further community conversations are scheduled; not yet, he said, but he did mention that he’s been invited to the North Highline Fire District board’s meeting on May 16th (7 pm, NHFD HQ, 1243 SW 112th), and will be bringing along a Seattle Fire assistant chief.

28 Replies to "WHITE CENTER ANNEXATION? Dates set for first-round public hearing"

  • M May 6, 2016 (5:53 am)

    What’s the benefit for current Seattle residents? 

    • Mark schletty May 6, 2016 (8:13 am)

      Almost all downside for Seattle from what i have been able to find out, although the city spins it differently. The benefit is primarily to the county, which gets to dump infrastructure and services costs onto Seattle. What i really don’t understand is why White Center gets to vote on it and we in Seattle don’t.  I very much doubt the citizens of Seattle would vote to annex.

      • forgotmyname May 6, 2016 (8:31 am)

        The vote is a requirement of the State of Washington’s annexation and incorporation laws.  You can add your ‘spin’ to it, but the city has no say in how it’s done.  It’s all controlled in Olympia.

        And of course no one in Queen Anne is going to care that Highland Park folks are told “sorry, but you’re just going to have live with break-ins and prowls since the perps can just cross the city line”.  They’ll just believe any poorly informed scare monger posting on a neighborhood blog vaguely suggesting it’s “going to cost them” (Spoiler alert: it won’t.   Annexation costs are paid by special disbursement from the state).

        • Question Mark May 6, 2016 (4:41 pm)

          While I agree with you that state law on annexations is the rule, the city certainly has put its own stamp on this annexation. The vast majority of annexations are initiated by petition by property owners in the area proposed to be annexed. Seattle initiated this one by ordinance.

          • WSB May 6, 2016 (4:53 pm)

            As did Burien for the failed annexation attempt with this area, and the successful one immediately south. Surely you know there’s a long history with both cities claiming this as a “potential annexation area” and this agreement:

            http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/executive/psb/regional-planning/annexations/potential-annexation-areas/north-highline/NorthHighline3.aspx

            Seattle had “dibs” on this area before the Burien attempt, but chose not to pursue it, and said basically, hey, Burien it’s all yours. Burien tried. The voters said no. Nothing happened for a few years. Now Seattle’s trying, though we have yet to see how the newly configured City Council will deal with it – of the two finalists for West Seattle/South Park’s City Council seat, Lisa Herbold was the annexation skeptic. – TR

            (And to the other comment, which I just saw, yes, we’ve covered the other annexation areas. I haven’t caught up lately on where those proposals stand, though, but need to.)

            PPS – Our exhaustive archives on southern North Highline annexation are on our White Center site.

    • forgotmyname May 6, 2016 (8:21 am)

      Besides eliminating a poorly policed safe haven that allows criminals to commit crimes against Seattle residents and then scurry back across Roxbury without having to fear being caught? 

      There are economic, political, and social advantages to expanding the city’s tax base, population, and regulatory reach.  Not to mention it would help King County – whose resources which are being overtaxed because they have to provide ‘city services’ to White Center that the county isn’t suited to provide.   

      It’s not like White Center is hermetically sealed off from Seattle.  What happens here affects the city and its residents a great deal.  Annexation puts the city in a position to address any of the problems.

    • Paul May 6, 2016 (8:37 am)

      Mark is 100% right that this is going to cost tax payers hard dollars and that, if put to a city wide vote, any expansion of city boundaries would like be turned down. As someone who frequents the area and lives on the south end. I am hoping for the annexation by Seattle- White Center is a a natural member of our community. No matter who annexes white center (and it must be annexed) I hope that it retains it’s edge.

  • Words May 6, 2016 (8:11 am)

    Please post a functional/readable/expandable map.  Perhaps the link is there for it to be useful enough to read the street names, but I cannot find it.

    • WSB May 6, 2016 (8:21 am)

      Best I could do when I wrote this last night. In March, city rep Kenny Pittman promised the city would have a webpage for all this. Couldn’t find it. This was from a county page (I have lots of outdated versions of the map from the Burien annexation attempt). Stand by for updates as we find them post-commute coverage!

  • West Seattle Gamer May 6, 2016 (8:23 am)

    M, as a resident of Highland Park just a few blocks north of White Center, I can say that my hope is that the area would be generally improved — cleaner, less crime, more businesses lasting longer. This would benefit these parts of Seattle near White Center a lot. I think White Center would benefit by being annexed by Burien or Seattle, but right now it’s underserved by the county.

  • RayWest May 6, 2016 (9:08 am)

    I say annex it. It is definitely time (overdue in fact) to overhaul White Center to make it cleaner and safer and promote more family-friendly businesses. I do not, and will  not shop there as it is now. Also, the excessive out-of-control development happening in West Seattle should migrate to this area but regulated so that new housing is actually “affordable” for middle and lower middle-class people.

    • Question Mark May 6, 2016 (4:56 pm)

      Ray, you’ll have to blame the state for some of the non-family-oriented businesses in White Center. Since marijuana became legal in Washington, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board has been busy licensing such stores, which are adults-only businesses. There have been 8 licenses issued in White Center when you’d expect 1 based on its population.

      In contrast West Seattle/Delridge, which has almost 5 times the population of White Center, had only two retail marijuana licenses issued by the state before Seattle’s quota was reached …

  • Nevermind Jm J Bullock May 6, 2016 (11:03 am)

    So, will I still be able to get free plastic bags from the Roxbury Safeway?

    • chemist May 6, 2016 (9:54 pm)

      Nope, but you can buy 1,000 of them on amazon for $25 with prime.

  • Courtney May 6, 2016 (11:08 am)

    As a resident of the area, I would vote no to Seattle at this time. They would definitely take our tax money (whether that is a lot or a little) but they won’t provide extra services. Nothing much would change – we’d be under-served by Seattle, just as we are under-served by King County. We said no to Burien previously because they were honest – no upgraded services, increased taxes.

    I wish annexation votes were at same time – if we truly must incorporate then the ballot should make us vote for either Burien or Seattle (not give us the option to say no to both separately). 

  • lawrence clayman May 6, 2016 (11:14 am)

      annex will only make white center better served…therefore cause it to improve in almost every category…i have been a business owner in the area for over 2 decades and i look forward to this to be over so we can fix other issues.

     

  • BlairJ May 6, 2016 (11:30 am)

    As a resident of Highland Park, a few blocks north of Roxbury, I consider White Center to be my neighborhood business district.  We frequent many of the small independent businesses there because we want a healthy business district.  It is a pedestrian oriented area lined with classic store fronts, rather than parking-lot dominated structures.  We hope that if annexed, White Center can retain its unique character, while benefiting from incorporation into the city.  Now is a good time for North Highline residents and businesses to work with the city, county and state to ensure that the annexation proposal put to voters maximizes the benefit for that area, and that if approved by voters it happens as soon as possible.

  • CJ May 6, 2016 (12:19 pm)

    We moved from Queen Anne to Roxbury last fall.  I’ve lived in Seattle 44 years, escapee from Tacoma.  Roxbury has an authentic, old neighborhood vibe.  The yards are big there re many mature trees, there are many unique features long stubbed out in the pricier nabes.  I’m going to go with the business leadership and vote FOR annexation.

    We like the community – best Dem caucus EVER!

  • Karen May 6, 2016 (1:13 pm)

    We live half a block out of the City limits and voted to REJECT annexation with Burien as we are aligned with Seattle.  We have Seattle addresses, most of us work in Seattle, and we look forward to being officially part of the City.

  • Mickymse May 6, 2016 (1:21 pm)

    Seattleites have an elected City Council that makes decisions like this affecting the City as an entity — and this was an issue that came up in the District 1 race last year. White Center residents get to vote on this because they get to control their won destiny rather than have the decision made by elected officials who don’t represent them.

  • Rob May 6, 2016 (4:15 pm)

    The city of Seattle has already stated that they are 300 police officers short to maintain there patrols what makes people think they will be safer once part of Seattle . The closest  police station is all the way down by homedepot . And to tell you the truth I fell safer in WC then down on Alki  or downtown Seattle . WC has less bars an a lot less mugings 

  • nemobeansmom May 7, 2016 (8:06 am)

    Vote NO to this…

    You will get stuck with higher sales tax, Seattle sick leave, Seattle minimum wage and no plastic bags. Plus Seattle city tax on your utilities.

    What you will gain….NOTHING!

    Burien annexed part of it a few years back…We got stuck paying for the 1st ave s improvements. 

    • Gorillita May 7, 2016 (8:43 am)

      I agree.  The police chief is working hard to get a  handle on crime in Seattle.  It would seem to me that annexation would raise the crime statistics.  It would be fine if Seattle could really clean up White Center, but with the shortage of police officers now, I have serious doubts that would be the case.

  • SWinWS May 7, 2016 (9:06 am)

    I have lived in Shorewood for a little less than 3 years and think this whole thing is quite ridiculous.   Somehow this issue touches a nerve with many people (on both sides).  I believe, because this goes back since the beginning of time, people have forgotten that the unincorporated areas were supposed to be “temporary” now we need to deal with it because it is costing the taxpayers, regardless, somewhere down the line.  For those comments sighting taxes, well, I can tell you that our property levies (unincorportated) is  much higher than in West Seattle proper, we pay something like $13 per $1000, whereas someone is Seaview/Junction is paying $9.7/$1000, so that’s a whopping 30% more in property taxes.  Contracting to King County Sheriffs, emergency services, etc. is expensive and if you have lived here then you know, that those services are quite the joke.  And, if you argue that sales tax, etc. is a reason; well, we all are guilty going across the arbitrary line of Seattle proper and buying a thing or two.  So, I think Un-Incorps are paying twice for this sense of being independent from Seattle/Burien overlords.  Personally, I think this all comes down to fireworks, and in that case, count me into the City of Seattle camp.

    • AMD May 7, 2016 (9:32 am)

      And roosters.  Don’t forget you can’t have roosters in the city.

  • WC Resident May 7, 2016 (11:00 am)

    Seattle doesn’t have a magic “Clean Up & Improve the Neighborhood” department. Whether White Center annexes to Seattle or not, the only thing that’s going to make improvements occur is community involvement by neighbors and business owners working together – something that we don’t seem to be very good at right now. SPD does not function as community policing/prevention, they are reactive only. (We watched them take 25 minutes to respond to a report of shots fired in South Park the other day [a weekend morning] – I don’t think they’re going to be any faster in White Center.) I’m on the fence about annexing to Seattle or not – King County isn’t set up to support urban areas, but Seattle isn’t a magic cure-all either. Either way, the only people who are 100% vested in making White Center a great place to live are those of us who live here, so the onus is on us no matter who our governing body is. So whichever way this goes, get involved with your neighborhood now, don’t wait on a vote two years in the future. The White Center Spring Clean is coming up, as well as other ways to get involved through volunteering, joining community meetings, getting to know your neighbors, etc.  

    • AmandaKH May 7, 2016 (7:59 pm)

      Hear Hear WC Resident!  As someone who lives a block from the “line” on the Seattle side, I am looking forward to WC Annexation.  Our community group, WWRHAH(.org) is very interested in annexation, and preservation of character and affordability on both sides of the line.  Currently, our group is resurrecting interest in the Westwood/Highland Park Urban Village.  With annexation, it is a HUGE opportunity for residents of WC to start a joint planning process.  If you are interested in being proactive – send us an email at contact@wwrhah.org.

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