As long as the current city council is in place, the city of Mill Creek will not be actively seeking to annex any new areas to the city.
That was the result of the Saturday, March 3, Mill Creek City Council retreat, an all-day session meant to explore certain issues in-depth. This year, the topic was growth and the financial impact on the city.
Because the council said it wouldn’t actively seek to add new areas to town, the city now has parameters for its upcoming facilities plan. City staff needed to know what size of a city to plan for, and thus prepare its facilities plan accordingly.
The decision carries far-reaching impacts for residents in the city of Mill Creek. Since the council told city staff to plan for the current city limits when all developable land has been built, the city can plan for possible expansion of city hall, a public works equipment storage yard, a new city hall, or a combination of the three.
Currently, residents in the Websters Pond and Stonehedge subdivisions on the east side of 35th Avenue Southeast have an annexation petition drive underway. Mayor Donna Michelson said that preliminary estimates show the area as not bringing in revenue into the city, but didn’t rule out possibly annexing the neighborhoods, which have 535 residents and no retail or office development.
“We’re going to listen to them,” Michelson said. “We’ll give them the courtesy ear.”
Another area that could petition for annexation is land northwest of the city, bordered on the north by 128th Street Southeast and on the west by Interstate 5. That area is slated for large redevelopment into a mixed-use area of offices and homes. According to city projections, that area would have positive cash-flow into city coffers.
“We’d like to see what they have,” Michelson said about the development, adding that the area could become “the gateway to the city.”
In addition, council members decided they didn’t want the city spending money on park development outside the city limits. Currently the city has a 25 percent ownership of Tambark Creek Park, an undeveloped site on 35th Avenue Southeast, and 100 percent ownership of an area known as the Gold Creek park on 148th Street Southeast.
Thanks to that informal decision, city staff will now look at options for disposing of both properties.
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