Vancouver is set to become the second largest
city in Washington state through annexation of
the urban growth area. Yes, that is what the
city council is talking about. And today I'm
going to let you know, especially you homeowners
out there, what this could mean for you as this
potentially goes forward. Let's get into it.
And welcome to Spotlight Vancouver, Washington.
I am your host, Doug Varinas, licensed realtor
in Washington state and Oregon. The City Council
of Vancouver is proposing to annex. They say
they want to go big or go home and annex all
of the urban growth areas, but there is certain
plans for them to annex a little bit at a time.
They're mulling this over. But this would mean
that the areas of Hazeldale, Philida, Salmon
Creek, Mount Vista, Orchards, Five Corners. would
all become part of the city of Vancouver. So
what does that mean for you as a homeowner? If
you're in those potentially annexed areas, you
know, no one is certain. But let's go over the
proposal. And so, yeah, they are proposing basically
to annex all of these areas at once is the original
plan. I think they're worried about capturing
that growth. So all of the growth that's happening
is happening in these urban growth areas and
beyond. So all of the construction you see that's
happening is happening outside of the borders
of the city of Vancouver. And I'm sure they are
looking at. at this going, we need to capture
this tax base because the city of Vancouver pretty
much developed. Of course, there's some things
here and there. They're going for density, which
would increase the tax base. But in general,
there's not a lot of blank space to build in
the city of Vancouver. And when you go out to
these urban growth areas and beyond, again, you
see a lot of farmland, a lot of fields. And however
you feel about that, I believe that eventually
these areas are going to be developed. And so
the city of Vancouver wants to take advantage
of this by annexing these areas and building
their tax base. I mean, to me, that's really
what it comes down to is they see the growth
happening and they want to capture that. Government's
mission is to grow bigger and to feed its tax
base, feed the beast. And I believe the city
of Vancouver sees this as an opportunity because
the growth of this area of Clark County is substantial.
and they want to capture that tax base. There
was a quote from Vancouver City Mayor Anne McEnerny
-Ogle that said, here, I'm going to pull it up
here, I would hate to make a profit off annexation.
That doesn't feel appropriate, which seems like
a pretty naive statement. I'm not sure where
that's coming from. I don't have a strong opinion
about the Anne McEnerny -Ogle. She seems like
a nice person. I haven't met her personally,
but that statement in and of itself just seems
like, oh, I don't know why we're doing this.
Like, what could be the purpose? Where to anybody,
I think, that's reading between the lines and
you don't have to read too much is it's money.
It's an investment. And they talk about that.
But the implications of this annexation. that
have been analyzed by the city council have put
it at to be very expensive initially, as much
as a $50 million budget deficit that they would
have to finance somehow. Somehow they're going
to have to finance that or they're going to have
to come up with the money. So what does that
mean? Higher taxes. Again, it seems pretty obvious
that like if they're going to be, this is an
investment. They're going to be running at a
deficit to provide services. And so they talk
about police, fire and like sidewalks, city streets
and stuff that this is going to be quite expensive
initially. And I know that Anne McEnerny Ogle
and the city council members aren't going to
be paying for that out of their pockets. And
so I think in the end, what this means for the
annexed areas is going to be higher. taxes. Yeah.
And possibly more regulation. No, that, you know,
a lot of, so basically like in these County areas,
these unincorporated areas, like typically the
zoning is a little looser. I mean, it's becoming
less so, but it's a little bit, you know, there's
a little more flexibility in use, you know, so
I used to have three, I was allowed to have three
chickens in the city of Vancouver and, you know,
in the County, you know, the other day I saw
a rooster and, you know, my neighbors have goats
and. Obviously, this brings up some other concerns
with neighbors and stuff. But what I'm saying
is, oh, and fireworks is another one. be able
to blow up whatever you wanted to in hazel dell
but not in the city of vancouver and so i think
that's tightening up too but in general like
these urban growth areas were kind of more wild
west as far as like being able to do what you
want with your property and i understand the
need for zoning and regulations in general i'm
appreciative of that and i do think that makes
a more livable community and there's a lot you
know, a lot of thought that needs to go into
land use and what's best and balancing people's
needs. But in general. I am more in favor of
being able to do what you want with your property
within reason and not have that regulated. And
so I'm not I'm not pro HOA, like run away from
the HOA. I want to do what I want with my property
within reason. And then, you know, I want to
be able to negotiate that stuff with my neighbors.
And in general, I'm I'm for less regulation about
what I can do with my home and my property. And
I feel like, you know, these areas that are going
to. potentially be annexed. Again, none of this
is written in stone. They're considering it.
They're weighing all their options. But I see
this leading to more stricter regulation for
homeowners, stricter zoning, stricter stipulations
for what you can do, which I don't see being
a great thing for these areas in general. Depending
on your view, obviously, it's my show. I can
give my opinion. And so I'm very leery about
this in general if you're living in these urban
growth areas. Because, again, if I call 911 or
my house is on fire, I can call somebody and
I get services. So I'm not lacking in basic services
here living in the Blueberry Hill neighborhood,
South Salmon Creek. Like, it's not a wasteland
out here. You know, Phyllida, Salmon Creek. Salmon
Creek, orchards, you know, these are all areas
that, you know, you go to Salmon Creek and there's
sidewalks and it looks nice and there's the streets
don't have huge potholes in them. So if I'm living
in Philida or Salmon Creek or I mean, a lot of
these neighborhoods. I'm wondering what I'm getting
for those potentially higher taxes. Like what's
in it for me? And that wasn't described in the
article. It mentioned that Vancouver would become
like the would become the second largest city
in Washington. You know, the. Poor city of Vancouver
would be in debt by annexing this. But if you're
in the city council, if you're in the city of
Vancouver, I'm imagining you are doing the equation.
Again, it's a math equation on the investment.
I'm sure they worked out a break -even point
based on tax projections. These areas are growing.
More homes are being built. Again, if they're
looking for density, eventually that's more high
-rise apartments. You don't see that a lot here,
unless you're in the waterfront. You know, everything's
going to grow out from there. You know, typically
you see a lot of single housing developments,
again, building that tax base that the city wants
to capture. So this is an investment for them.
So, you know, they're talking about this deficit
and stuff, which is, you know, I don't know,
boo -hoo. I'm not crying too much for it. Like,
they're figuring out how they're going to come
out ahead eventually. That's what this is all
about to me. Maybe this is a hot take. And if
you disagree, I'd love to hear about it in the
comments. Let me know if I'm wrong or I'm missing
something. I'd love to have a conversation about
it. But just off the cuff, again, you know, there's
some areas in Minnehaha and Five Corners and
stuff where there's like the streets are in bad
shape and there's potholes and no sidewalks and
gravel stuff and the zoning's kind of weird.
So, you know, maybe there are some advantages
with that. You know, if you're living in one
of those areas and the county hasn't done a lot
to improve your your the infrastructure there,
I could see where you would be. Maybe think this
is a plus, but I'm struggling to find the advantage
for people living in these areas where they're
going to be like, sweet. Now I'm in the city
of Vancouver, you know, because they are going
to try to recapture that budget deficit via taxes.
And then going forward. You know, that's are
those ever going to go away? You know, like,
you know, any sort of tax increases to sort of
fund the deficit or the services that they're
providing? You know, I just feel like it leads
to more regulation and higher taxes. And again,
I could be wrong off the cuff take. But if I
live in Salmon Creek, I'm like, well, what's
in it for me? I live in a great neighborhood.
I'm in Philida, like I'm walking on the sidewalk.
Schools are good. The streets are good. You know,
what is the advantage? And so it's it's a big
question mark to me. I'm sure it's a big question
mark to everybody. This news just kind of came
out recently. I think everybody's kind of digesting
it. But to me, it just looks like they want to
grab they want to build their tax base. That's
it. Plain and simple. They want more of that
tax revenue. So they're going to try to find
a way to go through this with this annexation
and we'll see what happens. But I'm not buying
this whole like we're going to we're going to
go broke. I think one of the city council members
was saying, you know, this road could lead to
insolvency and maybe it doesn't initially. I
don't know. Again, I'm not claiming to be an
expert, but this is a it's just my interpretation
of what this annexation could mean for people.
So I'm leery, to put it gently, I guess. There's
some political implications that may happen.
I typically think of the city of Vancouver border,
like if you're in the city of Vancouver, I typically
think of that as a more left -leaning area. And
then those unincorporated areas are sort of maybe
lean a little bit more right. And the whole thing
about Vancouver, I think it's a purple city.
And I think, to be quite honest, being a purple
city is what has saved Vancouver from... the
blight of the West Coast, basically, you know,
Seattle, San Francisco, you know, the cities
where they've just kind of failed, Portland.
And Vancouver has largely avoided that, I believe,
just through more centrist, more centrism, more
balance between political parties here. And I
really think that's helped the city of Vancouver
with livability. And I think it's helped attract
people here. And so, you know, I do think it's
one of the cities on the West Coast that for
the time being is just seems more balanced and
more rational. So I don't know how that affects,
you know, you will be bringing the extra voters
in. And so maybe that's I don't know what the
political implications are, but does that do
they expand the city council, you know, with
all these new voters? Does that make the city
council, you know, I could see it just being
continued to be to be pretty balanced. I hope
so, because I just just with my own eyes, I've
seen. Blue City is just... tank. They just failed.
As far as livability goes, they've failed to
address basic issues for whatever reason. Business,
they haven't been friendly to business and they've
left and they have, they're just in the tank.
You know, people are leaving these states in
droves. I just heard a report that California,
Oregon, I think Washington are losing Senate
seats when they do the count again. And so people
and the states that are gaining are, you know,
Idaho. Texas, Florida. So, you know, people are
leaving. So I'm glad to see as a I've lived on
the West Coast my entire life. And I'm sad for
me to see that. But I guess not super surprising.
But I think Vancouver has been a bastion of rationality
during this time. And I hope it continues to
do that. And I don't see how that would change
because I just think those more painting with
a broad brush, the more conservative voters in
these unincorporated areas would just be brought
in. They would vote more conservatively and you'd
still have a balance. So I'm not seeing that
tip to a more blue city or blue government. So
I'm hopeful that we can just remain balanced.
Because, again, I think that's been helpful.
I'm going to have links in the show notes and
the description to these articles. And I believe
one of them has a map of the city of Vancouver
and these unincorporated areas that are potentially
going to be annexed. But, again, let me know
what you think. What are your thoughts on this
annexation proposal, this idea out there that
the city of Vancouver is going to annex these
outlying areas? And what do you think the implications
are going to be? to be. Are you worried? Are
you excited? What do you see happening? I'd love
to hear about it. Also, if you're looking to
invest out of state, you're looking at Cincinnati,
Ohio, you're looking at the Phoenix area, the
Reno, Nevada area, reach out to me. I have a
large network of... agents, partner agents, and
other vendor partners in these areas that can
put you on some really great investment properties.
I'd love to talk to you more about this. I'm
an out -of -state investor too, as well as in
Vancouver. So Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta area,
a lot of these areas that are growing, that are
landlord -friendly, I have a lot of contacts
in. So don't hesitate to shoot me an email or
a DM. And everybody, take care. Hope you're doing
well, and I'll see you on the next episode.