Two small residential areas near Lindbergh High School in the Fairwood area have started the process to annex to the City of Renton.

Those two proposals and similar successful ones on the East Renton Plateau have had planners and the Renton City Council thinking about the affect such small incremental annexations will have on city services.
Because of their small size, the annexations don’t trigger the threshold for getting sales-tax revenue from the state to help pay for transition costs.

What’s the “tipping point,” the question goes, when those annexations mean the city will have to add staff to serve the residents themselves or to maintain the open space or roads or other infrastructure?

“At some point, depending on the size and scale, they can impact services and the need to add additional people as they continue to grow,” said council president Terri Briere of the small annexation areas.

That point hasn’t been reached yet, but city planners are tracking the incremental effect that small annexations are having on city services on the East Renton Plateau, which several years ago opted not to annex to Renton.

The City Council will explore those issues at its retreat next month. The council has two camps: One that keeps the city’s arms open to new residents and the other concerned the city needs to be wary of annexations that can degrade services for existing city residents.

Next year, West Hill will vote on whether to annex to Renton. And, the City Council will have to decide whether to accept that annexation.

The two annexations now before the City Council are part of Renton’s Fairwood Potential Annexation Area. Last fall Fairwood voters easily voted against annexing to Renton. Two attempts to incorporate Fairwood also have failed.

As part of its meeting Monday, Feb. 28, the City Council will consider the Gaile annexation directly north of Lindbergh. For the annexation process to move forward, the council must accept a petition signed by property owners who own at least 10 percent of the area’s assessed valuation.

The proponents have chosen the direct-petition method of annexation, which means that annexation will occur when the owners of property representing 60 percent of the area’s assessed value sign a petition. There is no vote.

The City Council will hold a similar meeting March 14 on the Fairlane Woods annexation, which is near the Gaile annexation area.

The city also has had some contact with property owners in part of what was known as the Red Mill annexation. That annexation included much of Fairwood’s commercial area.

The city has policies to follow in accepting 10 percent petitions. However, council members will consider at their retreat the philosophies they hold about whether to deny such petitions and then adopt a policy.

Right now, generally speaking, the City of Renton doesn’t aggressively pursue new territory, letting residents in areas outside the city decide whether to begin an annexation process. But, ultimately, the City Council can reject any annexation.

Robert Harlan is one of the proponents of the Gaile annexation, named after the area’s voting precinct.

“It only makes sense,” Harlan said the annexation. “King County doesn’t want us. From Renton we’ll get better services.”

Just to the west of the Gaile Annexation area is the part of Benson Hill that annexed to Renton, with good results, Harlan said he has been told by residents there.

Linda Sarturnak of Fairwood, who favored annexation to Renton, has been helping the two groups work through the annexation procedures. She sees neither incorporation or wholesale annexation in Fairwood’s future.

“That way, the areas that want to be part of Renton can be,” she said, through these smaller annexations.

THE PROPOSALS

GAILE ANNEXATION
Acres: 43
Population: roughly 354
Households: 154
Assessed valuation: $38 million
Public meeting: Feb. 28

FAIRLANE WOODS ANNEXATION
Acres: 37
Population: roughly 248
Households: 108
Assessed valuation: $27 million
Public meeting: March 14