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Community Development Upper Level 310 West Poplar St, Suite 200 Walla Walla, WA 99362 |
Contact Information Phone 509.524.2610 Fax 509.524.2630 E-mail: planning@co.walla-walla.wa.us bbradley@co.walla-walla.wa.us Office Hours 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday - Friday |
Annexation Information
Please contact Tom Glover, Director, or Steve Donovan, Principal Planner, at 524-2610 if you have questions about the annexation of land into a city's corporate limits. You can submit questions via email at planning@co.walla-walla.wa.us.
Contiguous lands that are located within an urban growth boundary can be annexed into the corporate limits of a city. The County's Comprehensive Plan anticipates that land located in the urban growth area will be annexed during the 20 year planning horizon.
New "islands" of incorporated territory that are not contiguous with the existing city limits cannot be created.
Lands that are located outside of an urban growth boundary cannot be annexed into a city.
Land can only be removed from an urban growth boundary by the County Commissioners, at the request of a city. The next review of the urban growth boundaries in College Place and Walla Walla will be in 2007.
Annexation requests are reviewed by the County Boundary Review Board per state law. The County Commissioners do not review annexation requests. The Boundary Review Board (BRB) is a five member body of local residents. Certain smaller annexation requests may be exempt from BRB review.
The County and the City of Walla Walla have contractually agreed through a jointly adopted management agreement for the Walla Walla urban growth area to not invoke the BRB's jurisdiction for annexations to the city of Walla Walla.
In most cases, farm animals that are lawfully established in the County before annexation are considered nonconforming uses after annexation. You can get written confirmation of the rules for the annexing city since each city's rules are different. Animals that violate the County's code are not made legal by the act of annexation, unless the annexing city's regulations permit the animals.
Outdoor burning is prohibited in urban growth areas, with very few exceptions for agricultural burning. There is no change in the burning regulations when annexation occurs.
The annexation process includes a least one public hearing before the City Council of the city proposing the annexation.
There are several different mechanisms for a city to annex land into its corporate boundary. The process typically takes about 100 to 270 days, depending on the method used.
In most cases, development of vacant lands in the Walla Walla urban growth area is the same in the City as in the County.
The use of outside utility agreements to effect annexation by a city in exchange for allowing connections to a City water and/or sewer system has been upheld by the Washington State Supreme Court.
Information on changes to property tax rates in city versus incorporated area can be obtained from the County Auditor.
Information utility taxes, and surcharges that change as a result of annexation can be obtained from the annexing city.
For more information you can visit the Municipal Research Services Corporation website at www.mrsc.org. Click on the Research Tools tab and then click on the "inquiries" topic on the drop down menu.