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City of Anacortes petitions to expand urban growth area to include nine city parcels totaling 7.24 acres
Summary
City of Anacortes asked Skagit County to expand its urban growth area to encompass nine city‑owned parcels (7.24 acres) used as park and operational lands; county staff recommended docketing and the Board of County Commissioners will decide whether to docket on Feb. 25.
City of Anacortes has petitioned Skagit County to expand the Anacortes urban growth area (UGA) to include nine city‑owned parcels totaling 7.24 acres, a county planner said during the Feb. 18 Planning Commission meeting.
Robbie Eckroth of Skagit County Planning said the parcels are currently used for trails, community forest lands, parks and some operational purposes (one parcel contains a soil storage pile used by Anacortes Public Works). The city is not requesting the boundary change for population or employment capacity; instead, staff said the city's stated purpose is to exercise municipal authority over its properties to facilitate recreational and operational management and policing.
"All the included parcels are owned and managed by the City of Anacortes," Eckroth said. "If annexed the city plans to continue the same uses on those parcels." The city plans to designate the parcels as parks on its future land use map and eventually annex them after they are inside the UGA.
County staff reviewed the petition and found it consistent with docketing criteria; the department recommended the Board of County Commissioners docket the petition. The board is scheduled to consider whether to docket the proposal on Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m., Eckroth said. If the board dockets the petition and it is appealed, new state law requires a 60‑day appeal period before annexation can occur.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions. Commissioner Henley asked the staff position; Eckroth said the department recommended docketing and characterized the change as "benign" with "little to no effect on current uses." Commissioner Day asked why annexation could not proceed immediately; staff explained parcels must be inside a UGA prior to annexation and that a 60‑day appeal period now applies under recent state law changes. Eckroth also said Anacortes completed a land capacity analysis and retains some capacity within existing city limits, so the petition is not being driven by a need for additional population or employment capacity.
The petition is currently in the county docketing process and will proceed only if the Board of County Commissioners votes to docket it on Feb. 25. No annexation or zoning change will occur without subsequent steps including potential annexation and any required appeals.
