WEBVTT 00:00:01.039 --> 00:00:03.399 Vancouver is set to become the second largest 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:06.459 city in Washington state through annexation of 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:08.839 the urban growth area. Yes, that is what the 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:10.919 city council is talking about. And today I'm 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.279 going to let you know, especially you homeowners 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.660 out there, what this could mean for you as this 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:19.079 potentially goes forward. Let's get into it. 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:21.260 And welcome to Spotlight Vancouver, Washington. 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:24.280 I am your host, Doug Varinas, licensed realtor 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:29.000 in Washington state and Oregon. The City Council 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:33.659 of Vancouver is proposing to annex. They say 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:36.179 they want to go big or go home and annex all 00:00:36.179 --> 00:00:38.640 of the urban growth areas, but there is certain 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.920 plans for them to annex a little bit at a time. 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:45.759 They're mulling this over. But this would mean 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.840 that the areas of Hazeldale, Philida, Salmon 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.070 Creek, Mount Vista, Orchards, Five Corners. would 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:56.009 all become part of the city of Vancouver. So 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:59.750 what does that mean for you as a homeowner? If 00:00:59.750 --> 00:01:03.750 you're in those potentially annexed areas, you 00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:07.980 know, no one is certain. But let's go over the 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:12.959 proposal. And so, yeah, they are proposing basically 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:17.599 to annex all of these areas at once is the original 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.780 plan. I think they're worried about capturing 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:24.500 that growth. So all of the growth that's happening 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:27.400 is happening in these urban growth areas and 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:30.379 beyond. So all of the construction you see that's 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:32.780 happening is happening outside of the borders 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:34.840 of the city of Vancouver. And I'm sure they are 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:36.730 looking at. at this going, we need to capture 00:01:36.730 --> 00:01:39.489 this tax base because the city of Vancouver pretty 00:01:39.489 --> 00:01:41.750 much developed. Of course, there's some things 00:01:41.750 --> 00:01:44.269 here and there. They're going for density, which 00:01:44.269 --> 00:01:46.489 would increase the tax base. But in general, 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:49.230 there's not a lot of blank space to build in 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.430 the city of Vancouver. And when you go out to 00:01:51.430 --> 00:01:54.090 these urban growth areas and beyond, again, you 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:57.590 see a lot of farmland, a lot of fields. And however 00:01:57.590 --> 00:01:59.930 you feel about that, I believe that eventually 00:01:59.930 --> 00:02:03.430 these areas are going to be developed. And so 00:02:03.430 --> 00:02:06.750 the city of Vancouver wants to take advantage 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:10.030 of this by annexing these areas and building 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:12.210 their tax base. I mean, to me, that's really 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:14.349 what it comes down to is they see the growth 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:17.310 happening and they want to capture that. Government's 00:02:17.310 --> 00:02:20.830 mission is to grow bigger and to feed its tax 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:23.150 base, feed the beast. And I believe the city 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:25.430 of Vancouver sees this as an opportunity because 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:28.789 the growth of this area of Clark County is substantial. 00:02:29.930 --> 00:02:32.930 and they want to capture that tax base. There 00:02:32.930 --> 00:02:36.810 was a quote from Vancouver City Mayor Anne McEnerny 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:39.909 -Ogle that said, here, I'm going to pull it up 00:02:39.909 --> 00:02:42.930 here, I would hate to make a profit off annexation. 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:45.669 That doesn't feel appropriate, which seems like 00:02:45.669 --> 00:02:49.090 a pretty naive statement. I'm not sure where 00:02:49.090 --> 00:02:51.310 that's coming from. I don't have a strong opinion 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:55.039 about the Anne McEnerny -Ogle. She seems like 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:56.560 a nice person. I haven't met her personally, 00:02:56.740 --> 00:03:00.520 but that statement in and of itself just seems 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:03.159 like, oh, I don't know why we're doing this. 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:07.080 Like, what could be the purpose? Where to anybody, 00:03:07.099 --> 00:03:08.860 I think, that's reading between the lines and 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:12.960 you don't have to read too much is it's money. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.759 It's an investment. And they talk about that. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:20.490 But the implications of this annexation. that 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:23.509 have been analyzed by the city council have put 00:03:23.509 --> 00:03:26.430 it at to be very expensive initially, as much 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:30.509 as a $50 million budget deficit that they would 00:03:30.509 --> 00:03:34.069 have to finance somehow. Somehow they're going 00:03:34.069 --> 00:03:35.930 to have to finance that or they're going to have 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.250 to come up with the money. So what does that 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:42.870 mean? Higher taxes. Again, it seems pretty obvious 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:45.110 that like if they're going to be, this is an 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:47.599 investment. They're going to be running at a 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.860 deficit to provide services. And so they talk 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:55.939 about police, fire and like sidewalks, city streets 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.360 and stuff that this is going to be quite expensive 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.840 initially. And I know that Anne McEnerny Ogle 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:03.740 and the city council members aren't going to 00:04:03.740 --> 00:04:05.939 be paying for that out of their pockets. And 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:10.659 so I think in the end, what this means for the 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:16.199 annexed areas is going to be higher. taxes. Yeah. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.519 And possibly more regulation. No, that, you know, 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.759 a lot of, so basically like in these County areas, 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:26.959 these unincorporated areas, like typically the 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.439 zoning is a little looser. I mean, it's becoming 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.199 less so, but it's a little bit, you know, there's 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.980 a little more flexibility in use, you know, so 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:35.980 I used to have three, I was allowed to have three 00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:38.079 chickens in the city of Vancouver and, you know, 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:39.920 in the County, you know, the other day I saw 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:42.259 a rooster and, you know, my neighbors have goats 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:45.980 and. Obviously, this brings up some other concerns 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:48.019 with neighbors and stuff. But what I'm saying 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:50.970 is, oh, and fireworks is another one. be able 00:04:50.970 --> 00:04:53.589 to blow up whatever you wanted to in hazel dell 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:57.350 but not in the city of vancouver and so i think 00:04:57.350 --> 00:05:00.389 that's tightening up too but in general like 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:02.550 these urban growth areas were kind of more wild 00:05:02.550 --> 00:05:04.589 west as far as like being able to do what you 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:06.910 want with your property and i understand the 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:09.889 need for zoning and regulations in general i'm 00:05:09.889 --> 00:05:11.670 appreciative of that and i do think that makes 00:05:11.670 --> 00:05:14.920 a more livable community and there's a lot you 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:16.560 know, a lot of thought that needs to go into 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.540 land use and what's best and balancing people's 00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:23.079 needs. But in general. I am more in favor of 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:25.279 being able to do what you want with your property 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:27.879 within reason and not have that regulated. And 00:05:27.879 --> 00:05:31.300 so I'm not I'm not pro HOA, like run away from 00:05:31.300 --> 00:05:33.740 the HOA. I want to do what I want with my property 00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:36.279 within reason. And then, you know, I want to 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.220 be able to negotiate that stuff with my neighbors. 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:41.240 And in general, I'm I'm for less regulation about 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:45.100 what I can do with my home and my property. And 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:47.899 I feel like, you know, these areas that are going 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:50.529 to. potentially be annexed. Again, none of this 00:05:50.529 --> 00:05:52.930 is written in stone. They're considering it. 00:05:53.009 --> 00:05:55.069 They're weighing all their options. But I see 00:05:55.069 --> 00:05:57.970 this leading to more stricter regulation for 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:01.069 homeowners, stricter zoning, stricter stipulations 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:03.509 for what you can do, which I don't see being 00:06:03.509 --> 00:06:07.100 a great thing for these areas in general. Depending 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:09.879 on your view, obviously, it's my show. I can 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:13.379 give my opinion. And so I'm very leery about 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.199 this in general if you're living in these urban 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.860 growth areas. Because, again, if I call 911 or 00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:22.720 my house is on fire, I can call somebody and 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.860 I get services. So I'm not lacking in basic services 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:30.300 here living in the Blueberry Hill neighborhood, 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.579 South Salmon Creek. Like, it's not a wasteland 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:36.250 out here. You know, Phyllida, Salmon Creek. Salmon 00:06:36.250 --> 00:06:39.529 Creek, orchards, you know, these are all areas 00:06:39.529 --> 00:06:42.230 that, you know, you go to Salmon Creek and there's 00:06:42.230 --> 00:06:45.009 sidewalks and it looks nice and there's the streets 00:06:45.009 --> 00:06:47.509 don't have huge potholes in them. So if I'm living 00:06:47.509 --> 00:06:51.910 in Philida or Salmon Creek or I mean, a lot of 00:06:51.910 --> 00:06:54.759 these neighborhoods. I'm wondering what I'm getting 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.019 for those potentially higher taxes. Like what's 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:00.519 in it for me? And that wasn't described in the 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.980 article. It mentioned that Vancouver would become 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:05.060 like the would become the second largest city 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:08.839 in Washington. You know, the. Poor city of Vancouver 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:12.339 would be in debt by annexing this. But if you're 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:13.819 in the city council, if you're in the city of 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:16.899 Vancouver, I'm imagining you are doing the equation. 00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.180 Again, it's a math equation on the investment. 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.319 I'm sure they worked out a break -even point 00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:25.040 based on tax projections. These areas are growing. 00:07:25.300 --> 00:07:27.519 More homes are being built. Again, if they're 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:31.000 looking for density, eventually that's more high 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.500 -rise apartments. You don't see that a lot here, 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:37.279 unless you're in the waterfront. You know, everything's 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:39.399 going to grow out from there. You know, typically 00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:41.120 you see a lot of single housing developments, 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:44.060 again, building that tax base that the city wants 00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:46.480 to capture. So this is an investment for them. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:48.800 So, you know, they're talking about this deficit 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.199 and stuff, which is, you know, I don't know, 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.680 boo -hoo. I'm not crying too much for it. Like, 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:56.759 they're figuring out how they're going to come 00:07:56.759 --> 00:07:59.019 out ahead eventually. That's what this is all 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.819 about to me. Maybe this is a hot take. And if 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:03.459 you disagree, I'd love to hear about it in the 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:06.060 comments. Let me know if I'm wrong or I'm missing 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:08.199 something. I'd love to have a conversation about 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:11.800 it. But just off the cuff, again, you know, there's 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.540 some areas in Minnehaha and Five Corners and 00:08:14.540 --> 00:08:16.600 stuff where there's like the streets are in bad 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.699 shape and there's potholes and no sidewalks and 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:22.500 gravel stuff and the zoning's kind of weird. 00:08:23.530 --> 00:08:25.790 So, you know, maybe there are some advantages 00:08:25.790 --> 00:08:27.529 with that. You know, if you're living in one 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:30.050 of those areas and the county hasn't done a lot 00:08:30.050 --> 00:08:33.429 to improve your your the infrastructure there, 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:36.129 I could see where you would be. Maybe think this 00:08:36.129 --> 00:08:39.830 is a plus, but I'm struggling to find the advantage 00:08:39.830 --> 00:08:42.769 for people living in these areas where they're 00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:44.750 going to be like, sweet. Now I'm in the city 00:08:44.750 --> 00:08:46.789 of Vancouver, you know, because they are going 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:51.250 to try to recapture that budget deficit via taxes. 00:08:51.309 --> 00:08:54.940 And then going forward. You know, that's are 00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:57.539 those ever going to go away? You know, like, 00:08:57.580 --> 00:09:00.220 you know, any sort of tax increases to sort of 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:02.539 fund the deficit or the services that they're 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:05.700 providing? You know, I just feel like it leads 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:09.240 to more regulation and higher taxes. And again, 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:12.659 I could be wrong off the cuff take. But if I 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:13.899 live in Salmon Creek, I'm like, well, what's 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:15.940 in it for me? I live in a great neighborhood. 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:18.620 I'm in Philida, like I'm walking on the sidewalk. 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:21.480 Schools are good. The streets are good. You know, 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:25.100 what is the advantage? And so it's it's a big 00:09:25.100 --> 00:09:27.120 question mark to me. I'm sure it's a big question 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:28.840 mark to everybody. This news just kind of came 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.240 out recently. I think everybody's kind of digesting 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.620 it. But to me, it just looks like they want to 00:09:34.620 --> 00:09:36.679 grab they want to build their tax base. That's 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:38.379 it. Plain and simple. They want more of that 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:40.799 tax revenue. So they're going to try to find 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:42.700 a way to go through this with this annexation 00:09:42.700 --> 00:09:46.039 and we'll see what happens. But I'm not buying 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:47.600 this whole like we're going to we're going to 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:49.519 go broke. I think one of the city council members 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.019 was saying, you know, this road could lead to 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:55.340 insolvency and maybe it doesn't initially. I 00:09:55.340 --> 00:09:57.700 don't know. Again, I'm not claiming to be an 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:00.679 expert, but this is a it's just my interpretation 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:04.480 of what this annexation could mean for people. 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:09.149 So I'm leery, to put it gently, I guess. There's 00:10:09.149 --> 00:10:13.190 some political implications that may happen. 00:10:13.230 --> 00:10:16.169 I typically think of the city of Vancouver border, 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:18.570 like if you're in the city of Vancouver, I typically 00:10:18.570 --> 00:10:21.129 think of that as a more left -leaning area. And 00:10:21.129 --> 00:10:24.250 then those unincorporated areas are sort of maybe 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:26.370 lean a little bit more right. And the whole thing 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:28.710 about Vancouver, I think it's a purple city. 00:10:28.830 --> 00:10:31.629 And I think, to be quite honest, being a purple 00:10:31.629 --> 00:10:34.789 city is what has saved Vancouver from... the 00:10:34.789 --> 00:10:38.049 blight of the West Coast, basically, you know, 00:10:38.049 --> 00:10:40.909 Seattle, San Francisco, you know, the cities 00:10:40.909 --> 00:10:42.889 where they've just kind of failed, Portland. 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:46.289 And Vancouver has largely avoided that, I believe, 00:10:46.309 --> 00:10:48.990 just through more centrist, more centrism, more 00:10:48.990 --> 00:10:52.289 balance between political parties here. And I 00:10:52.289 --> 00:10:54.570 really think that's helped the city of Vancouver 00:10:54.570 --> 00:10:57.009 with livability. And I think it's helped attract 00:10:57.009 --> 00:10:59.529 people here. And so, you know, I do think it's 00:10:59.529 --> 00:11:03.159 one of the cities on the West Coast that for 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:06.220 the time being is just seems more balanced and 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:10.000 more rational. So I don't know how that affects, 00:11:10.220 --> 00:11:12.100 you know, you will be bringing the extra voters 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:14.980 in. And so maybe that's I don't know what the 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:18.220 political implications are, but does that do 00:11:18.220 --> 00:11:20.379 they expand the city council, you know, with 00:11:20.379 --> 00:11:22.519 all these new voters? Does that make the city 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:25.039 council, you know, I could see it just being 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.840 continued to be to be pretty balanced. I hope 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:31.299 so, because I just just with my own eyes, I've 00:11:31.299 --> 00:11:35.379 seen. Blue City is just... tank. They just failed. 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:38.039 As far as livability goes, they've failed to 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:41.159 address basic issues for whatever reason. Business, 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:43.100 they haven't been friendly to business and they've 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:45.299 left and they have, they're just in the tank. 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:48.419 You know, people are leaving these states in 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:51.000 droves. I just heard a report that California, 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:55.299 Oregon, I think Washington are losing Senate 00:11:55.299 --> 00:11:59.340 seats when they do the count again. And so people 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:02.100 and the states that are gaining are, you know, 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:07.360 Idaho. Texas, Florida. So, you know, people are 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.519 leaving. So I'm glad to see as a I've lived on 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.779 the West Coast my entire life. And I'm sad for 00:12:13.779 --> 00:12:16.659 me to see that. But I guess not super surprising. 00:12:17.539 --> 00:12:21.159 But I think Vancouver has been a bastion of rationality 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:23.980 during this time. And I hope it continues to 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:26.730 do that. And I don't see how that would change 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:28.950 because I just think those more painting with 00:12:28.950 --> 00:12:31.929 a broad brush, the more conservative voters in 00:12:31.929 --> 00:12:34.490 these unincorporated areas would just be brought 00:12:34.490 --> 00:12:36.330 in. They would vote more conservatively and you'd 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:38.470 still have a balance. So I'm not seeing that 00:12:38.470 --> 00:12:45.169 tip to a more blue city or blue government. So 00:12:45.169 --> 00:12:48.409 I'm hopeful that we can just remain balanced. 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:50.759 Because, again, I think that's been helpful. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:54.000 I'm going to have links in the show notes and 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.419 the description to these articles. And I believe 00:12:57.419 --> 00:12:59.639 one of them has a map of the city of Vancouver 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.740 and these unincorporated areas that are potentially 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:06.299 going to be annexed. But, again, let me know 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.759 what you think. What are your thoughts on this 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:12.139 annexation proposal, this idea out there that 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:15.139 the city of Vancouver is going to annex these 00:13:15.139 --> 00:13:18.100 outlying areas? And what do you think the implications 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:19.820 are going to be? to be. Are you worried? Are 00:13:19.820 --> 00:13:22.019 you excited? What do you see happening? I'd love 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:25.279 to hear about it. Also, if you're looking to 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:28.320 invest out of state, you're looking at Cincinnati, 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.039 Ohio, you're looking at the Phoenix area, the 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.480 Reno, Nevada area, reach out to me. I have a 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:38.820 large network of... agents, partner agents, and 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:41.419 other vendor partners in these areas that can 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:44.039 put you on some really great investment properties. 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:46.240 I'd love to talk to you more about this. I'm 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.019 an out -of -state investor too, as well as in 00:13:48.019 --> 00:13:51.039 Vancouver. So Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta area, 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.120 a lot of these areas that are growing, that are 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.919 landlord -friendly, I have a lot of contacts 00:13:56.919 --> 00:13:59.240 in. So don't hesitate to shoot me an email or 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.240 a DM. And everybody, take care. Hope you're doing 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:03.500 well, and I'll see you on the next episode.