Council declines to initiate withdrawal of two Berlin Road properties after staff recommends against deannexation

City staff recommended that Lebanon City Council not initiate a withdrawal (commonly called deannexation) for two properties on Berlin Road, and after discussion the council did not move forward with the request.

Development services director Michelle Olsen summarized the applicants and the staff review at the Jan. 14 public hearing. Olsen said two property owners at 32777 and 32756 Berlin Road requested withdrawal, citing limited access to city utilities, public-safety concerns including trespassing and encampments, and a desire to lower property taxes. Olsen told the council that water and sewer connections are available approximately 1.5 miles north of the subject properties, stormwater along the road follows rural roadside ditches, and that the city retains jurisdiction over Berlin Road even if a withdrawal were approved. She added that annexations that created the parcels occurred in 2001 and allowed partitions not permitted under Linn County rules.

The staff report noted that the Lebanon Police Department had responded to 66 calls for service and conducted 17 traffic stops in the area during the prior six months and that code enforcement has been active addressing trespass and camping complaints. Based on those findings staff recommended the council decline to adopt a resolution initiating the withdrawal process.

During discussion, councilors asked about potential cost savings if the properties reverted to county jurisdiction, and whether allowing withdrawal would set an undesirable precedent. One councilor said, “there's no criteria for it,” and another described the request as a “slippery slope” because the properties had used city annexation and subdivision rules to create lots now being sold. The city attorney clarified that state statute allows the city to initiate withdrawal when it determines ‘‘the public interest will be furthered’’ and noted there is little appellate case law interpreting private-party deannexation requests in Oregon.

A motion to move forward with initiating the withdrawal request failed to obtain support and ‘‘died’’ on the floor; the council took no further formal action on initiating deannexation. The city manager and staff indicated the decision was discretionary and that, if the council chose to pursue withdrawal in the future, it would require subsequent public hearings before the Planning Commission, City Council, and Linn County approval as part of a formal land-use process.

What happens next: there is no active withdrawal process following the Jan. 14 discussion. If property owners refile or if the council later decides to pursue criteria for deannexation, the procedure would come back as a formal land-use action with additional public hearings.