Ordinance 20-007 Annexation CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
SPOKANE COUNTY,WASHINGTON
ORDINANCE NO.20-007
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY, SPOKANE COUNTY,
WASHINGTON REPEALING AND REPLACING CHAPTER 19.180 OF THE
SPOKANE VALLEY MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO NEWLY ANNEXED AREAS,
AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO.
WHEREAS, the City of Spokane Valley(City) previously adopted Title 19 of the Spokane Valley
Municipal Code(SVMC)relating to zoning and land use regulations,and has made subsequent amendments
from time-to-time as appropriate; and
WHEREAS, such regulations are authorized by chapter 36.70A RCW; and
WHEREAS, City staff have proposed an amendment to Chapter 19,180 of the SVMC to provide
criteria for considering proposed annexations, including review of public facilities and fiscal impacts; and
WHEREAS,pursuant to RCW 36.70A.106,on May 26,2020 the Washington State Department of
Commerce was notified with the City's notice of intent to adopt amendments to Spokane Valley
development regulations; and
WHEREAS, on June 11, 2020,the Planning Commission held a study session; and
WHEREAS, on June 12, 2020 and June 19, 2020, notice of the Planning Commission public
hearing was published in the Valley News Herald; and
WHEREAS, on July 9, 2020, the Planning Commission held a public hearing, received evidence,
information, public testimony, and a staff report with a recommendation, followed by deliberations; and
WHEREAS, on July 23,2020,the Planning Commission approved the findings and recommended
that City Council adopt the amendments; and
WHEREAS, on August 11, 2020, City Council reviewed the proposed amendments, Planning
Commission Findings and Recommendations; and
WHEREAS, on August 25, 2020 City Council considered a first ordinance reading to adopt the
proposed amendment; and
WHEREAS, on September 8, 2020 City Council considered a second ordinance reading to adopt
the proposed amendment; and
WHEREAS, the amendment set forth below is consistent with the goals and policies of the City's
Comprehensive Plan; and
WHEREAS, chapter 19.180 SVMC as amended, bears a substantial relation to the public health,
safety, welfare and protection of the environment.
NOW, THEREFORE,the City Council of the City of Spokane Valley ordains as follows:
Ordinance 20-007—Repeal and Replace Chapter 19.180 SVMC Page I of 5
Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this Ordinance is to amend chapter 19.180 SVMC to
provide criteria for considering proposed annexations, including review of public facilities and fiscal
impacts.
Section 2. Findings and Conclusions. The City Council acknowledges that the Planning
Commission conducted appropriate investigation and study, held a public hearing on the proposed
amendments and recommends approval of the amendments. The City Council has read and considered the
Planning Commission's findings. The City Council hereby makes the following findings:
A. Growth Management Act Policies - Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA)
provides that each city shall adopt a comprehensive land use plan and development
regulations that are consistent with and implement the comprehensive plan.
B. City of Spokane Valley Goals and Policies-The City of Spokane Valley has adopted goals
and policies consistent with the GMA and adopted County-Wide Planning Policies, set
forth below.
LU-P 19: Develop criteria to identify, process, and assess the annexation of land into
Spokane Valley.
LU-P20: Identify land designations for potential annexation areas in the
Comprehensive Plan for the adjacent Urban Growth Areas to the City.
CF-P16: Plan and coordinate the location of public facilities and utilities in potential
annexation areas, including identifying the fiscal impacts of providing the facilities,
utilities, services, and maintenance.
Strategy: Evaluate and develop criteria to assist in the evaluation of annexations.
C. ConcIusions
1. The Planning Commission held a properly noticed public hearing and
conducted deliberations on July 9, 2020. The Commission voted 7-0 to
recommend that City Council adopt the amendment,
2. The proposed amendment bears substantial relation to public health, safety,
welfare and protection of the environment. The proposed regulations provide
guidance to the City, to evaluate the consequences of the annexation on
utilities, sanitation, traffic, and law enforcement. The proposed regulations
will also allow the City to evaluate the financial impacts of the annexation on
providing the required public services at the City's adopted levels of service.
This evaluation will analyze the costs to provide services and anticipated
revenues from the proposed annexation area to support the required levels of
service. Further the regulations provide a clear process for establishing
interim comprehensive plan designations and zoning for any annexed areas.
3. The proposed amendment implements established Comprehensive Plan
policies and strategies. It provides the regulatory framework to carefully
review proposed annexations to understand the fiscal impact to the City to
provide necessary services and infrastructure, as well as to understand what
value the annexed area will bring to the City, such as adding new available
industrial, commercial, or park land for development and beneficial use.
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4. The proposed City-initiated Code text amendment is consistent with the
City's adopted Comprehensive Plan and the approval criteria pursuant to
SVMC 17.80.150(F).
Section 3. Repeal and Adoption. Chapter 19.180 SVMC is hereby repealed in its entirety and
replaced as follows:
19.180.005 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the process and criteria to annex adjacent and contiguous areas into
the City, and to ensure that the fiscal impacts of providing the facilities,utilities, services,and maintenance
of the annexation area are adequately considered prior to annexation.
19.180.010 Annexation Methods and Applicability.
A. All annexations shall occur pursuant to the procedures set forth in chapter 35A.14 RCW, as adopted or
amended and as otherwise allowable by law. In addition to all other procedures allowed by law, all voter-
initiated, City Council initiated, and direct petition annexations shall be subject to the procedures set forth
in this chapter 19.180 SVMC. Other types of annexations may,but are not required to use these procedures.
B. To be eligible for annexation,the entire subject area must be within an adopted Urban Growth Area and
be contiguous with the City boundary.
19.180.020 Annexation Evaluation Criteria.
A. The purpose of this section is to provide criteria to evaluate annexations on the basis of their short-and
long-term community impact. Annexations shall be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
B. Prior to approval or disapproval of any annexation as allowed by law, the City shall consider at a
minimum the following:
1. The ability of the City and other applicable entities to provide required public services at a level
equal to or better than that available from current service providers;
2. The financial impact of providing the required public services at the City's adopted levels of
service, including potential sources of revenue. Review of financial impact shall include at a
minimum an analysis of the costs to provide services and anticipated revenues from the proposed
annexation area to support required levels of service;
3. The impact of annexation on any applicable City bonded indebtedness, including an analysis of the
impact of City bonded indebtedness upon property within the proposed annexation area;
4. Whether the annexation would follow logical boundaries,such as streets,waterways,or substantial
topographic changes;
5. Whether the annexation would eliminate an irregularity or irregularities in the City's boundaries,
thereby improving service delivery;
6. Review of existing infrastructure prior to defining boundaries of the proposed annexation to
determine logical inclusions or exclusions, including but not limited to the review of the following
factors:
a. Whether right-of-way will be needed for the provision of utilities or transportation links.
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b. Whether there are pre-existing utilities from a particular district or jurisdiction that are currently
in a right-of-way.
c. Whether the existing transportation network will produce an unfair burden on the City for the
operation, maintenance and preservation or replacement of assumed infrastructure.
7. Zoning that will be applicable for the proposed annexation area, subject to the requirements of
SVMC 19.180.040; and
8. Review of any other impact identified as necessary by the City.
C. Prior to any annexation,the City will confer with affected special districts and Spokane County to assess
the impact of the annexation. Where possible,boundaries should be mutually resolved by the jurisdictions
before final action on the proposed annexation.
D. The City may request that petitioner(s)provide information regarding the identified impacts as part of
a petition or part of the petition process, may require the petitioner(s)to respond to inquiries regarding the
impacts,and may require the petitioner(s)to conduct any studies necessary to evaluate any of the identified
impacts at their cost or to pay for such studies undertaken by the City.
19.180.030 Jurisdictional cooperation.
A. The City shall, as appropriate, cooperate with Spokane County and other municipalities to identify,
review, and address area-wide comprehensive planning, zoning, and service provision to urban growth
areas that are contiguous to the City's municipal boundaries.
B. When determined to be advantageous to the City, the City should assist in the creation of interlocal
agreements to provide technical and financial support to contiguous urban growth areas for the extension
and improvement of public services and facilities.
C. The City will cooperate with Spokane County and other service providers to establish uniform street
and utility standards within adopted service areas of the City as appropriate.
19.180.040 Newly annexed areas.
A. Annexed areas shall be annexed with the following Comprehensive Plan and zoning designations:
1. The Comprehensive Plan and zoning designation set forth in joint planning designations; or
2. The closest comparable City Comprehensive Plan and zoning designation to that imposed by
Spokane County.
B. Upon annexation of property, in the absence of a pre-established zoning designation, the City Council
shall, within the annexation ordinance, establish an interim classification for the property on the City's
Comprehensive Plan and zoning map. The interim zone shall be consistent with the annexation area's
Comprehensive Plan designation.
If an interim Comprehensive Plan and zoning designation(s) is established, it shall be in place no longer
than 12 months unless otherwise provided by ordinance. The process for establishing an interim zoning
district shall meet the requirements of RCW 36.70.795. For all property classified in the interim zone, the
City shall commence all steps necessary to establish an official zoning classification pursuant to the
procedure described in SVMC 17.80.140.
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C. The City may seek to mitigate increased expenses due to annexation through any means allowed by law.
An example would be to seek agreement from all property owners within the annexed area that they will
not object to the formation of a local improvement district to bring existing infrastructure into compliance
with adopted City standards.
19.180.050 Decision on Annexation.
Subject to applicable law regarding annexations by election, the City Council shall not be obligated to
approve or disapprove any annexation, regardless of the outcome of the review undertaken pursuant to this
chapter 19.180 SVMC.
Section 4. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance shall be
held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section,sentence,clause,or
phrase of this Ordinance.
Section 5. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect five days after
publication of this Ordinance or a summary thereof in the official newspaper of the City of Spokane Valley
as provided by law.
Passed by the City Council this 8' day of September, 2020.
A ems-- LLO
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Ben Wick,Mayor
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk
Approved as-t Form:
(_F / • c r _To)43
Offic f the City Attorney
Date of Publication: q if G,1
Effective Date: '5 —2_.3 �'�
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