Another aspect of the comprehensive plan is annexation of Ellensburg’s Urban Growth Area (UGA) into the city limits. One of the goals of growth management is planned growth and to establish a process for incorporation of the City’s UGA into city limits.Through annexation, the City of Ellensburg pursues the long-term financial health of the City by expanding the City’s existing tax base, while providing additional land for future residential, commercial and industrial development that allows the City of Ellensburg to focus infrastructure and resources on areas that can be annexed successfully and cooperatively. Proposed Annexation properties must be located in an adopted Urban Growth Area (UGA), must be contiguous to the City of Ellensburg, and must be designated in the City’s Comprehensive Plan as a potential annexation area.
Annexation Methods
Cities in the State of Washington are given a number of tools to annex unincorporated areas. A brief description of possible annexation methods is outlined in Planning Bulletin PB-35. For a more detailed description of all annexation methods please refer to the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington’s Annexation Handbook.
Of the available annexation methods, the City of Ellensburg has most often used the Direct Petition method. The direct petition method of annexation requires that a minimum of 10% of the property owners (calculated by assessed value) sign petitions to initiate the annexation process. Upon successful initiation the requested annexation is forwarded to the City Council for an official initiation action. Once successfully initiated by the City Council, a minimum of 60% of the property owners within the annexation area (calculated by assessed value) must sign the petition, PF-02 Petition For Annexation Form.