Novato annexation muddle prompts official apology
The Black Point neighborhood was one of five communities in unincorporated Novato at the center of confusion over an annexation document. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
By Will Houston | whouston@marinij.com |
PUBLISHED: October 14, 2019 at 4:41 pm | UPDATED: October 16, 2019 at 6:11 am
Five unincorporated communities near Novato will not be annexed by the city as a recent planning document seemed to imply, officials said Monday.
The document, a draft municipal service review by the Marin Local Agency Formation Commission, contained "misleading" language, said county supervisor and commission member Judy Arnold, which prompted concern among residents of Black Point, Green Point, Bel Marin Keys, Indian Valley and Loma Verde that the city would annex them.
"It should have been noted here that the City of Novato has an Urban Growth Boundary that would not allow these unincorporated neighborhoods to be annexed into the city limits," Arnold wrote in a prepared statement on Monday, "and that Marin LAFCo would not move forward with any annexation without support of the people who live in these communities."
The urban growth boundary, approved by Novato voters in 1997 and renewed for another 20 years in 2017, limits urban sprawl outside of city limits.
Susanna Mahoney, president of the Black Point Improvement Club, said she had heard from another group on Friday that annexation was being proposed and contacted Marin LAFCo to get more information.
"LAFCo states that these (municipal service reviews) are frequently used by the state and other authorities for policy making so any ambiguity in that report puts us at risk," Mahoney said. "So I'm very relieved to hear that the errors in the report will be corrected and the review will now reflect the intent of those who voted for the urban growth boundary. And it sounds like annexation will be off the table, at least for now."
The Marin Local Agency Formation Commission, also known as Marin LAFCo, is a state-created body tasked with managing local governmental boundaries, evaluating municipal services and protecting prime agriculture lands. LAFCo's municipal service review for Novato and other communities is required by state legislation and analyzes services provided by the city and special districts to determine if they could be improved.
Jason Fried, Marin LAFCo's executive officer, said the document works to influence decisions about changes to spheres of influence, which are areas just outside a local government agency's boundaries, such as a city limit, that the agency could potentially expand service to in the future. This latest review for Novato proposes no changes to the existing spheres of influence, Fried said, except to dissolve a now-defunct county service agency run by the Marin County Parks Department.
The source of the annexation fears came from page 14 of the draft review under a section titled "Unincorporated Islands," referring to unincorporated areas that are largely surrounded by incorporated city boundaries. The document states these islands "create governance and service delivery inefficiencies and deficiencies" and that Marin LAFCo's policy on these islands is to encourage the cities to annex them.
The document then goes on to list the five communities, which gave the impression that annexation was on the table.
Craig Knowlton, a board member of the Indian Valley Associates community organization, attended the commission's Oct. 10 meeting in Novato to voice his disagreement of their community being an "unincorporated island."
"We strongly oppose any additional influence by the city up to and including annexation," Knowlton told the commission.
Upon reading the draft review again, Fried said he could see how residents could infer their neighborhoods were up for annexation.
"I deeply apologize to anyone who got confused by that," Fried said Monday, adding that they plan to update the document to make the urban growth boundary restrictions more clear.
Mahoney said the strong response to the rumors of annexation is because residents in Black Point and Green Point value their unincorporated status.
"Our motto is, 'We're fiercely unincorporated' and we intend to stay that way," Mahoney said.
Responding to residents' concerns about lack of notification, Marin LAFCo has extended the public comment period for the draft municipal service review through Oct. 31. The commission is set to review the final draft at its Dec. 12 meeting. The commission is then likely to vote on any proposed changes to spheres of influence at its first regularly scheduled meeting in 2020, Fried said.
Public comments can be submitted by email to staff@marinlafco.org
More information about the draft review can be found at bit.ly/2MdxEBH.
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