LAKE STEVENS – While the city was celebrating the completion of the Frontier Village annexation, another potential annexation cleared a major hurdle.
Residents and property owners in the Soper Hill area have gathered enough signatures to allow the 292 acres and nearly 1,000 people to come under city control.
“This is awesome, this is what we’re trying to do,” director of finance and administration Jan Berg said. Berg will become the city administrator Jan. 1.
The city is working to create one community around the lake. In January, the city annexed 855 acres at the north end of the lake. Last week, 708 acres in the Frontier Village area on the west side of the lake came under city control.
Now, the city is trying to bring in the Soper Hill area, west of Highway 9 and south of Soper Hill Road. Efforts also are under way to annex a 438-acre parcel on the east side of the lake.
Annexation by petition requires signatures from property owners on 60 percent of the assessed value of land.
So far, about 62 percent has been collected, resident Will Brandt said. He’s hoping to gather more signatures, bringing the total up to about 65 to 68 percent to create a buffer in case there’s a problem, he said.
Joining Lake Stevens will mean local control, slightly lower property taxes, local representation and local law enforcement, he said.
“We really want to be part of Lake Stevens for better police protection,” Brandt said.
The area is unincorporated county land currently patrolled by the sheriff’s office.
At least one major property owner hasn’t signed the annexation petition. About 20 percent of the assessed value of the Soper Hill area is owned by Polygon Northwest, a real estate developer.
Polygon is in various stages of building five neighborhoods and about 500 homes on land where the Hewlitt-Packard manufacturing plant used to be, city planning director Becky Ableman said.
Reached by phone, a Polygon official declined comment.
If Polygon doesn’t sign, the annexation still may proceed. Still, city officials are working with Polygon to ensure their building projects would continue uninterrupted, Berg said.
The Soper Hill annexation likely will be forwarded to the county for review by February, she said.
“We want to make sure we do everything right, so we don’t want to rush it,” Berg said.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Sign the petition
Property owners interested in signing an annexation petition can stop by City Hall, 1812 Main St., or e-mail LakeStevens YES@comcast.net.
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