Annexation is a political process that allows a city to expand its boundaries by adding land that is currently outside its city limits. In Santa Cruz County, the process requires an application to the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission Formation Commission (LAFCO), which regulates the boundaries of cities and special districts. There is a LAFCO in each of the 58 counties of California. The objectives of LAFCO are to:

• encourage efficient service areas for services provided by cities, counties, and special districts;
• guide urban development away from prime agricultural lands and open space resources; and
• promote orderly growth and discourage urban sprawl.

Background

In recent years, the City of Watsonville has tried unsuccessfully to annex surrounding rural land for development. Their most recent proposal for annexation includes approximately 400 rural acres in the Buena Vista area, targeted for high-density residential and light industrial development. As the first step towards annexation of this area, the City added portions of the rural Buena Vista area to their "Sphere of Influence" in 1997, which makess it eligible for possible future annexation and absorption into City boundaries. This action, however, did not guarantee annexation of the Buena Vista area to the City of Watsonville.

Shortly thereafter, citizens formed the nonprofit group Action Pajaro Valley (APV) to address growth in the Pajaro Valley. in the Pajaro Valley. Since Watsonville’s prior attempts at annexing other areas outside of its city limits had been met with significant opposition by individuals or groups protecting their own agricultural and environmental interests, these historic opponents of annexation were strategically included in APV as “Stakeholders.” Because APV membership was by invitation only, it did not include representation from the Buena Vista area. Coincidentally, Watsonville’s City Manager co-chairs APV. In March 2002, APV published its Growth Management Strategy, claiming to bridge development interests and environmental concerns.

Based on APV’s Growth Management Strategy, the City of Watsonville submitted and passed its “Orderly Growth and Agricultural Protection” Initiative, Measure U, in November 2002.  Measure U calls for preservation of agricultural lands and expansion of the City’s boundaries to accommodate housing and business development over a 20-25 year period. Once again, the input of those living inside the proposed Buena Vista annexation area was specifically excluded because only voters from within Watsonville’s existing city boundaries were eligible to vote on the Measure.

Subsequent to the passage of Measure U, the City of Watsonville, together with State Assemblyman Simon Salinas, managed to change state land use planning law, bypassing provisions that ensured LAFCO can make informed decisions as to whether an annexation or reorganiztion is appropriate and acceptable.The passage of Assembly Bill 520 in 2003 changed existing development review and timeline processes by allowing for removal of the mandatory nine-month action timeframe following an annexation decision by LAFCO. This Bill, opposed by the California State LAFCO, is applicable only to Watsonville.

A few years later, in 2005, the City Council also voted to modify and redesignate airport runways in order to accommodate plans for high-density and non-conforming development plans around the airport.  These changes which carry intrinsic risks to public safety, were deemed an acceptable risk by the council and City Manager.  The State of California did not agree, however, and in 2006 issued a request for the City to rescind their decisions to modify and eliminate airport safety zones to accommodate new housing in the vicinities around the airport.  As usual, the City of Watsonville chose to ignore this objective input and instead, proceeded with certifying the 2030 General Plan and corresponding EIR which provide for the overdevelopment of Buena Vista.

These actions led to a lawsuit against the City of Watsonville  filed by the Friends of Buena Vista and our partners.

What’s next?

The outcome of the lawsuit, expected in late June,  will drive the course of further action by both the Friends of Buena Vista and the City of Watsonville.  We are hopeful and confident that we will prevail.  However, in the event we do not, we are positioned to continue to take action to ensure any planning for the Buena Vista area is done in a responsible manner, taking into consideration the constraints of the area.  Should the City continue in their quest for annexation of Buena Vista, Specific Area Plans will be developed for each of the three Buena Vista growth areas designated by Measure U. Unlike the broad-based General Plan, these Specific Plans are intended to provide detail on the intended development and include such things as zoning (residential, commercial and industrial), housing and industrial/commercial types, densities and  locations; locations of roadways, sewer systems, schools, parks, open space greenbelts, types and placement of public lighting, sidewalks, etc.

Additional EIRs may also be prepared for each individual growth area, to evaluate the impact of the Specific Plan on the respective area. Upon completion of these plans, the City will compile and submit a formal request for annexation to the Santa Cruz LAFCO for preliminary approval. If LAFCO approves the request for annexation, there is an opportunity for protest by voters and landowners within the proposed annexation areas. If 50% or more protest, approval is denied and annexation is defeated.  If at least 25% of the voters protest, there must be a general vote by all voters and landowners within the annexation area. Such protest can defeat annexation attempts, regardless of the City’s desires or LAFCO’s position. 

What FBV Is Doing

FBV continues to actively communicate its responsible growth message to local government agencies, throughout the planning process. Unfortunately, to date, this has for the most part fallen on deaf ears at the City level, forcing the organization to take a “no to annexation” position. Watsonville’s plans and unilateral decision-making process have raised a significant level of mistrust not only with FBV but also with other organizations and “Stakeholders” who originally supported APV’s Growth Management Strategy adopted by the City of Watsonville and used as the basis for Measure U. As a result, FBV is working with a skilled attorney and other local organizations to curb Watsonville’s attempts at annexation.