William Wood is all for being annexed into Bothell. Brynn Westman’s not sure yet.
As he admired his well-groomed, large front yard/garden on 86th Avenue Northeast in unincorporated King County last week, Wood, 85, noted: “I like that … It makes us part of the (city). We’re floating here between Kenmore, it’s just two blocks away, and two blocks away is the city limits of Bothell. It’s no sense of it just staying this way when taxes can go to a city instead of the county.”
Wood has lived at the house for 16 years with his wife, Margery, who teams up with William to handle the yard work.
With five councilmembers present at its April 5 meeting, Bothell City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the next steps in the potential annexation of 11 unincorporated areas with a combined population of 27,000. Bothell’s population is currently 33,505, according to the 2010 federal census.
Westman, who lives on Locust Way in unincorporated Snohomish County, said that she’s heard good things about Bothell, but likes the way things are for her now.
“I’m happy with the services that we have already that are in place, they’ve always been good to us,” she said of fire, police, public works and so on. “Whenever we’ve had an emergency — we’ve had a fire going on in the back yard — the fire department’s here right away.
“We’ve been here for almost nine years and it’s been great.”
(Westman also noted that she and her husband like shooting off Fourth of July fireworks in their neighborhood; fireworks are allowed in Bothell, as well.)
Pointing toward 180th Street Northeast, where some Bothell High students park, Wood said that he’s seen and heard young drivers skidding, hollering and throwing trash out of their cars.
“I’m sure the police department will be more available for the things that happen — this (area) is supposed to be (patrolled) by the county cops … I think things will happen quicker when things come up,” he added.
Over the past year, Bothell has been conducting research and holding public hearings and open houses related to the potential annexation of areas surrounding Bothell in King and Snohomish counties. Bothell Community Development Director Bill Wiselogle said that all 11 areas have been identified by both counties and the surrounding cities as being most appropriately serviced by Bothell.
The City Council’s vote last week endorses holding an annexation election (possibly in the Nov. 8 general election) in the largest area — 5.6 square miles of unincorporated Snohomish County territory having a population of 22,000 — and annexing the other 10 areas, all but one in King County, by methods that do not involve elections.
“It’s been a very long process, and this is a very important step. And there’s more steps to go,” Wiselogle said.
“In the long run, I think it’s going to be a positive end result for everybody — the citizens in Bothell, the citizens hopefully coming into Bothell and also for the counties — it will enable them to be functioning at a higher and more efficient level,” Councilmember Del Spivey said at last week’s meeting.
Councilmember Patrick Ewing noted that potential incoming residents could help participate in discussions on how city services will work and in future parks and roads planning.
Depending on rulings of boundary review boards in both counties and election results, the city could begin preparations to serve new citizens as early as January 2012. The effective date for annexation would then be set sometime between Aug. 1, 2012 and Jan. 1, 2013 to allow time to ramp up services to accommodate the larger population.
Potential annexation within the Municipal Urban Growth Area (MUGA)/North, East and West of Bothell Annexation II (NEWBA II) in Snohomish County:
• Locust / 14th West;
• Damson / Logan;
• Filbert / Winesap;
• Thrasher’s Corner / Red Hawk;
• Canyon Creek / 39th Southeast;
• Fitzgerald / 35th Southeast;
• North Bloomberg Hill and Bloomberg Hill Island
Within the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) in King County:
• North Westhill/ Magnolia Dairy / South Westhill/ Westhill Island (North / South/ East);
• Maywood Island;
• South Norway Hill / Northeast 160th;
• Hillside Estates
Council’s lead-off speaker at last week’s meeting, Bill Evans, has been in unincorporated-county residents’ positions when he was annexed into Bothell from Canyon Park in 1992.
“The city is not perfect — we’re striving for that, and there will be situations where residents may not be happy with the decisions of the city,” Evans noted. “But overall, I think the services that they will receive and the benefits far outweigh being in an unincorporated area.
“We’re certainly in an exciting time in this city with our downtown development.” Along with Bothell services like police, fire and public works, there’s also road maintenance, stormwater management and more.
Evans added that current residents will save money because the “cost of the current city will be spread out over a larger area.”
Voicing one’s opinion in front of Bothell City Council is also a key to being annexed into the city, Evans said.
“You can get up to that podium and you can address the council. Right now, you go up to Snohomish County, and you may get a chance to address their Snohomish County Council on one of their meetings,” he said. “Local government is here for you to participate in — and we want your participation and want to hear from you.”
