At the Mill Creek City Council meeting Tuesday night, Sept. 14, the Council opened the first of two public hearings set to discuss the possible zoning on the proposed annexation of the property bordering the northeast corner of Mill Creek.
In order for the annexation proposal to make it to a public petition, zoning must be determined for the designated area first.
The proposal announced by planning manager Tom Rogers was to have 80 acres of residential zoning, which will allow up to four units per acre, and 52 acres of community business zoning.
The proposed annexation area extends from current Mill Creek city limits eastward from 35th Avenue SE, and is bordered on the north by 132nd Avenue SE, on the east by Seattle Hill Road, and on the south by 138th Street SE.
It is estimated that the area contains 790 homes, Rogers said.
Although the public hearing was designed to discuss zoning concerns, it primarily focused on concerns over the annexation process.
In order for the property to be annexed, a petition has to be brought to City Council for consideration. In order to reach the Council, the petition needs to receive support from land owners representing 60 percent of the land value of the proposed area.
Yuchol Kim, a new property owner in the prospective annexation area, said his concern was over an unfair representation of property value coming from owners who have property in the business zones.
Rogers said for 60 percent of property value to be achieved from petition signers that it would take a “substantial majority of residential houses to sign the petition.”
Another concern was raised by Matt Grossaint who wanted to know if his property, which lies on the eastern border, could be excluded from the annex.
The Council said the annexation’s borders will be discussed by the board if the petition reaches more than 60 percent of property value.
“The City Council can approve all of (the proposed property), or any portion of it,” said city attorney Scott Missall.
The Council is currently using a rough set of boundaries that will be used in preliminary stages.
Another public hearing on the issue is set for Oct. 24.
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