Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-01-22 - AGENDA REPORTS - HASLEY HILLS COMMERCE ANNEX (2)Agenda Item: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT UNFINISHED BUSINESS City Manager Approval: 1116 Item to be presented by: Ken Pulskamp DATE: January 22, 2008 SUBJECT: ANNEXATION OF HASLEY HILLSNALENCIA COMMERCE CENTER DEPARTMENT: Community Development RECOMMENDED ACTI City Council direct staff to proceed with processing the annexation of Hasley HillsNalencia Commerce Center to the City of Santa Clarita. BACKGROUND On July 10, 2007, the City Council authorized funding in the amount of $35,000 for preparation of a map, legal description and environmental document associated with this annexation as well as LAFCO application fees that are required to process this annexation. The prezoning, General Plan amendment and environmental documentation are nearing completion and ready to be scheduled for public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. Once the public hearings are completed, the annexation application can then be filed with LAFCO. Currently there are incorporation and annexation studies underway for the west side areas. These studies were initially anticipated to take three to four months and were originally expected to begin in the Spring of 2007. Over Summer 2007, it became clear that this timeline was no longer realistic. It took longer to get the consultants under contract than expected. The amount of information the consultants requested from the County for the incorporation study was more extensive than anticipated. It was not known that the County Chief Executive Officer's (CEO) office would have similar requests from other communities that would be processed ahead of Santa Clarita, thereby taking much longer for the studies to be completed. On December 20, 2007, staff from the CEO's office and members of the Castaic Area and West Ranch Town Councils met with the City's Annexation Subcommittee in order to provide an ,P. update on the timeline for preparation of the incorporation and annexation studies for the Westside areas. The Subcommittee and Town Council's best estimation as to an anticipated schedule for completion of these studies would be as follows: March 1: Actual data submitted by various County departments received by the CEO's office for review before being released to consultants. June 30: All County data would be provided by the CEO to consultants. September 1: First draft of incorporation and annexation studies submitted to City, Town Councils for review. Incorporation study submitted to Supervisor Antonovich's office for review. September 15: Review by City and Town Councils complete. November 1: Review of incorporation study by CEO for Supervisor Antonovich's office complete. January 2009: Consultants finalize the incorporation and annexation studies and the alternative governance report based on the findings in the incorporation and annexation studies. February 1: Date that findings of the reports could be made available for the communities' consideration. During the meeting, members of the Town Council expressed their desire that the City wait to pursue any annexations west of I-5 until the studies were completed and their communities could weigh in on the issue of incorporation versus annexation. In a telephone conversation with the County CEO's office on January 16, 2008, staff was advised that the CEO does not require that an initial feasibility analysis for an incorporation be reviewed by their office; however, that Supervisor Antonovich could request the County review this study. If only the actual County data provided to the consultants by the CEO is used to prepare the study, this would be a fairly quick review by the CEO and may not take as long as estimated during the Annexation Subcommittee meeting. If estimates or assumptions are made that need to be verified by the CEO, their review would take longer. ANALYSIS It is anticipated that the applications for prezone and General Plan amendment could be ready for scheduling before the Planning Commission in March, 2008 and before the City Council in April, 2008. The application materials can then be finalized and submitted to LAFCO by June of this year. Once the annexation process begins through LAFCO, that process can be expected to take from six to twelve months. The incorporation and annexation studies should be close to completion or completed by that time. It is unknown at this time if LAFCO will process any annexation requests for the area west of 1-5 until those communities have had an opportunity to determine whether they wish to initiate incorporation. The Executive Officer of LAFCO has advised staff that he would seek direction from the LAFCO Board if the City submits an annexation application before the question of incorporation is answered and that he would not seek that direction until such time as a complete application had been filed. If incorporation is initiated, LAFCO will not process an annexation application for any area included within the boundaries of incorporation. The residents and property owners of Hasley Hills/Valencia Commerce Center have worked diligently to get petitions signed requesting annexation to the City of Santa Clarita. We are in receipt of petitions representing 72% of all property owners/residents of the area. Given that the City told this group that it would process an annexation request if they secured over 60% of the residents/property owners signatures, it is staff s recommendation to proceed with a request of LAFCO to proceed with the annexation. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Staff recommends the City Council proceed with the annexation process for Hasley Hills/Valencia Commerce Center. The following four options exist: 1. Schedule the prezone and General Plan amendment before the Planning Commission and City Council as soon as possible. The Resolution of Application would be scheduled before the City Council at the same time as the prezone and General Plan amendment; 2. Wait until the incorporation and annexation studies for the west side areas are complete. The annexation would be delayed by three to five years if incorporation is initiated and proves unsuccessful; 3. Because the timeline for completing the studies has not been static, a third option the ` Council may want to consider is to wait until June 30th to see if the County does provide the data to the consultants as agreed. If the data is not forthcoming by this date, the prezone and General Plan amendment could then be scheduled for hearing, resulting in an approximately six month delay; or 4. Other direction as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT Funding for this annexation has been appropriated in the FY 07/08 budget under Annexation Services Account No. 13000-5161.003. No additional fiscal impact is anticipated to occur should the Council wish to proceed with processing the annexation application.