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Residents say annexation is being used to leverage water services; dispute on emergency response times
Summary
During the public hearing on 510 Marsengill Road, residents accused the city of using water access to pressure property owners into annexation and disputed staff statements about slower emergency response outside city limits.
Several residents at the Westminster planning commission hearing said the city was ‘‘holding water rights over people’s heads’’ by conditioning continued water service on annexation covenants. One resident told commissioners that the homeowner "had no choice" because wells are expensive and that using access to water as leverage is unfair.
Residents also disputed a claim they attributed to staff about delayed emergency response outside the city. Staff responded that they did not intend to represent that fire response would be 20 minutes and clarified they had mentioned police response can take longer outside city limits. Staff emphasized contiguity—not ownership or demographics—was the basis for bringing the parcel forward for annexation review.
Commissioners acknowledged the seriousness of the residents' concerns but noted the planning commission's legal role is to confirm whether the parcel meets the ordinance. Several commissioners urged communicating these concerns to city council for potential policy review and clarification of how water-service paperwork is explained to residents.
