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Central Point considers new way to manage growth By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- City planners and the City Council are seriously considering a new approach to annexations to manage growth. The approach, called pre-annexation agreements, would require the city and developers to agree on a variety of issues before annexation could occur. The issues covered in such an agreement could include the timing of development, rezoning, and required streets, sidewalks and storm drains, said city planner Tom Humphrey. It could also require a master plan of the development and a schedule showing when and how much land would be annexed. The purpose of such an agreement would be to create "some certainty for developers and a level of comfort for the city and the school district," Humphrey said. City and school administrators have been working together recently as the district addresses overcrowding in some schools. Humphrey helped the district when administrators were looking at redrawing school boundaries to relieve crowding. Even though kids are being bused to some schools that have declining enrollment, "there is going to come a time when they're going to run out of room," Humphrey said. "We've got three annexations proposed, all of which are housing-oriented," he said. "We have to figure out some fair way to bring in different housing units that respect the market and developers and recognize the potential impact on schools." The three proposed annexations total more than 220 acres. The largest is proposed by W.L. Moore Construction, which owns 194 acres off Taylor Road and west of Highway 99. Company manager Bret Moore is developing a master plan for the large site and plans to include mixed residential and commercial uses. Planning consultant Mike LaNier is working with Moore on his project. LaNier said his perception is that the council and staff want to be more involved in annexations, especially Moore's because it is so large. "I think the big concern they have is bringing in the whole piece," LaNier said. He said he suspects a pre-annexation agreement would give the staff a better way to work with a developer on such a large project. "I don't see it as an onerous situation at all," LaNier said. "We're already doing it." Moore and another developer are working with the city on a traffic study for the area around West Pine and Haskell streets as part of their new housing developments off of Taylor Road. LaNier said many Oregon cities are trying different ways to control or curb growth. A much more severe method is voter-approved annexations. Rogue River voters approved such a requirement in 1996. Corvallis has had such a requirement since 1976. Last year, Talent voters approved a new city charter that allows either the council or citizens themselves to refer proposed annexations to a popular vote. It does not require voter approval of all annexations. Humphrey said the city of Hermiston has used a preannexation agreement recently. It was proposed by the property owners who wanted to annex into the city. Councilman Dave Gilmour said the council still has to study the idea more. It's good to have some predictability for developers and the city, he said, but it's unclear if the pre-annexation agreement can help control the rate of growth. Whatever the city does, Gilmour said, it has to make sure that annexations don't put undue burdens on the people who already live in Central Point. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA