Monroe considers annexation of Chain Lake West neighborhood

Published 10:38 pm Monday, October 18, 2010

MONROE— The city will have two public hearings today, and one of them could make Monroe a little bigger.

The City Council will have a joint hearing with the Snohomish County Council to hear public testimony about the annexation of Chain Lake West at 6:30 p.m. today at City Hall, 806 W. Main St.

The city last year started the annexation process for the 40-acre unincorporated territory, a partially developed site where 23 people are estimated to live, associate city planner Russ Wright said.

Monroe made a resolution years ago to annex unincorporated neighboring areas. Incorporating Chain Lake West is the first to happen because it has a lot of support, Wright said.

“It is the first of several annexations the city is going to start looking at,” Wright said.

If Chain Lake West becomes part of Monroe, its residents would receive city services, such as police. The city would collect the new area’s share of the property tax levies.

Other city services, including sewer lines, would not be installed until the area is developed, Wright said.

Chain Lake West is located north of Monroe, west of 191st Avenue SE between 136th and 132nd streets.

If the Monroe council approves the annexation at today’s meeting, Mayor Robert Zimmerman is expected to sign an agreement with Snohomish County. The annexation plan would then be sent for approval by the state Boundary Review Board for Snohomish County.

A second public hearing is scheduled on Dec. 7 to discuss zoning regulation. At that meeting, the council could adopt an ordinance annexing the property. That would begin a 45-day review period, at the end of which the annexation would be final.

The other public hearing at today’s meeting concerns an amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

The amendment would change a land use designation for four parcels on Currie Road.

Owners want to change the mostly vacant 10 acres a denser residential designation that would allow apartment complexes to be built. The city received comments from residents living nearby who were concerned about how increased population density would affect a nearby school and traffic.The council decided to have a public hearing to compare the change with another option, a residential designation that allows for single family dwellings but not apartments, Wright said.

Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.