Urban Growth in Fairwood, Washington

1. Urban Growth in Fairwood, Washington Michael Joslin City of Fairwood Annexation Introduction Fairwood, Washington is a large suburban area located in currently unincorporated King County. The area is located to the southeast corner of the City of Renton. In 2005, this area had a population of over 40,000 people. Problems have arisen because of the large number of people who live in a living in a suburban environment not without the services provided by a city. Many services to this city are currently provided by King County, which now has to deal with a tight budget. Several solutions have been proposed to cope with this problem. Annexation of the area to the City of Renton was first proposed in 1993 and incorporation into a city was proposed in 2006. A City of Fairwood was proposed in 2006. This proposed city would have been established in the eastern portion of the Fairwood area and would have had a population of 26,110 people in 2005. The new city would be able to offer slightly better service than it is currently receiving from King County. Any more improvements in service would result in an increase in taxes. A new city in this area could likely face financial difficulties because Fairwood is almost completely a residential area. There is a small amount of commercial development but practically no industry. Residential areas typically cost more in services than the revenues that they produce. Residents within the proposed boundary voted on the initiative for incorporation on September 19, 2006, which was defeated by a very narrow margin. If Fairwood were to become a city it would not immediately have to establish new services that a city normally provides. The cost to startup these cities would cost too much for the new city. Most likely, the city would most likely use what is called a contracting model, which is what many new cities in King County have used. This would involve contracting services from surrounding jurisdictions. Such services as education, which is already provided by several schools operated by Kent and Renton, would continue to serve Fairwood. One realistic option that Fairwood could choose instead of incorporation is annexation of the entire area to the nearby city of Renton. This idea was first presented in the early 1990s and the Fairwood Potential Annexation Area was established in 1993. This area covers approximately 10.3 square miles and had a population of 42,226 in 2005. This would be significant to the City of Renton because the addition of the entire area to Renton’s current population of 55,360 would increase the city’s population by 43% to 97,586. Renton receives much of its tax revenue from industries, as opposed to Fairwood, which is mostly residential. High tax revenue from industry could address financial problems that a new City of Fairwood could face. Annexation would improve the level of service to Fairwood, particularly police, parks and recreation. King County currently spends $240 per resident for these services while Renton spends $440. The King County Sheriff’s Office currently provides service to the area and would likely continue to do so if Fairwood choose to incorporate. The Renton Police Department, which would take over service to the area, has a much higher response time to high priority calls than the Sheriff’s Office. Renton also spends much more on parks and recreation while the County spends very little. In 2007, the western portion of the Fairwood Potential Annexation Area was given the chance to become part of the City of Renton through a vote. The residents in this area voted in favor of annexation and became part of Renton on March 1, 2008. This area does include portions of the proposed city of Fairwood. Soos Creek Park in western Fairwood. Photo taken from: http://flickr.com/photos/bikejr/2992562272/in/photostream/ The Fairwood Library, currently run by the King County Library System. With incorporation of the City of Fairwood would still be operated by King County, with funding coming from the new city. Photo taken from: http://www.librarytechnology.org/photos-libraries/13504.jpg Shady Lake located in eastern Fairwood. Taken from: http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/wlr/water-resources/small-lakes/data/Images/Desire_shore.jpg • How to Incorporate a New City in King County • A group of citizens organizes itself into a committee and survey a community to see if there is any interest in incorporating. • The committee will conduct a Governance Options Study, which will determine how realistic incorporation is. This study will look at things like demographics, expected tax revenue and cost of services. • Afterward the community sets up the likely boundaries of the new city. • The committee writes a Notice of Proposed Incorporation that includes boundaries, population, registered voters, style of government and name of the new city. This notice is sent to the county Boundary Review Board. • A public Information Meeting is set up where the committee answers questions of citizens and officials of surrounding cities. • Afterwards the committee will come to a final decision regarding boundaries of the new city. The King County Office of Records and Elections will determine the required number of signatures for the incorporation petition. The committee has 180 days to gather the required signatures and turn them into the boundary review board. • An Economic and Fiscal Analysis study is performed determined costs of services depending on several different scenarios. • The Boundary Review Board holds another public hearing. At the end of the hearing the Board will decide whether or not to make a recommendation for incorporation. • An election is held within 60 days of the public hearing, which requires a majority to pass. • If decide on incorporation than city officials must be elected within 60days and the city must begin operating within 360 days. Petrovitsky Park. With annexation to Renton Parks would receive about $125 more per capita in funding then they currently receive from King County. Photo taken from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2902441061_907ef969ac.jpg?v=0 • How to Annex a New Area to a City • Residents of a proposed annexed area petition the council of a city for a public vote. • The Council of a city passes a resolution for a public vote among those in a proposed annexation area. • Residents can request annexation without a public vote if a petition gathers signatures from landowners whose combined property value is 60% of the proposed area. • Residents can requests annexation without a public vote if a petition is signed by landowners whose combined acreage at least a majority of the acreage of a proposed area. References: City of Renton. 2008 Fairwood/Petrovitsky Potential Annexation Area. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://rentonwa.gov/government/default.aspx?id=6234 Fairwood Municipal Initiative. 2008. Advocating for the incorporation of the proposed City of Fairwood. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://fairwoodmi.org/default.aspx King County. 2008. King County Annexation Initiative: Fairwood and Benson Hill. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www.metrokc.gov/annex/fairwood.aspx King County. 2007a. What if the entire Fairwood PAA were to annex to Renton. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www.metrokc.gov/annex/fairwood/Cost%20of%20Annexing%20%20All%20of%20the%20Fairwood%20PAA.pdf King County. 2007b. What if part of Renton’s PAA were to Incorporate. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www.metrokc.gov/annex/fairwood/Cost%20of%20Incorporating%20Fairwood.pdf King County. 2007c. Boundary Review Board. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www.kingcounty.gov/property/annexations/ProcessAndProcedures/Incorporate/BecomeACity.aspx