UKIAH, CA., 11/22/24 – Last week, the city of Ukiah received approval from the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission to annex 752 acres of open space west of the city called the Western Hills. By incorporating the Western Hills, the city can develop the area while preserving open space and managing the landscape.
Jesse Davis, chief planning manager for the city of Ukiah, said the plan to annex the Western Hills region has been a long time in the making.
“The drafting of the general [annexation] plan was in 2022,” Davis said in an interview. He noted that the project and grants administrator for the city was instrumental in moving the project forward: “My colleague Maya Simerson was working on this as early as 2019 in terms of lining up the acquisition process and putting the initial pieces together to allow an annexation application to be submitted.”
According to Davis, the process of annexing land to a city’s jurisdiction is complicated and rarely occurs. To begin the Western Hills annexation, the city needed to update plats (representations of land parcels), legal descriptions, maps, housing agreements and other materials for the review and approval of the application by commission. The city then had to update its plan to include a “sphere of influence” amendment, which accounted for an additional 40-acre parcel that was acquired by the city in 2023 and was added to the application. After these steps, the commission voted to approve the city’s Western Hills annexation on Nov. 4.
The most recent city annexation project took place in 2023, when 16 parcels totaling 650 acres near the city limits were acquired. The land was city-owned but located just outside of the city’s jurisdiction. The annexation allowed the city to have full control over the parcels and to decrease property taxes paid by the city. The properties included water transfer facilities, recycled water infrastructure and aircraft hangers. One parcel, located at 3100 Vichy Springs Road, is a former landfill that stopped operations in 2001.
Prior to 2023, the last annexation project completed by the city of Ukiah occurred in 1988, when the city incorporated two parcels along North Bush Street, just north of Low Gap Road.
By annexing the Western Hills into the city of Ukiah, there will be an organized plan to ensure that development is properly sited and includes city utility services. The new annexation will allow these services as well as roads to receive more funding and maintenance than the area would as unincorporated county land.
According to Davis, annexation of this area also allows the city to address fire danger more effectively because resources, such as fire service grants, are often awarded to areas with clear jurisdictional control. Other resources the city will be able to manage in the Western Hills include services such as controlled burns, installing fire-safe cameras and reducing development pressures
For the Western Hills annexation, Davis emphasized that it’s taken a team of city employees and supporters to finalize the project.
“It’s been a long process for the city to arrive at that approval, and it’s involved a number of city employees and private individuals to make that happen,” he said. “The realization was that the project should be a part of the city’s vision as part of Ukiah’s General Plan, which we updated in 2022.”
Davis said that Ukiah’s General Plan also includes considering other areas for annexation, such as the Brush Street Triangle area located between Kohl’s and Raley’s.
“We identified properties such as the Brush Street Triangle and the former Masonite site. We laid that vision out, and from there proceeded to submit applications and go through the process to realize annexation,” Davis stated. “We are finally as a city in a position to commence our annexation efforts effectively, and that has never happened in the last 35 years.”
Although the Western Hills annexation is an exciting addition to the city of Ukiah, the process of building housing and infrastructure could be difficult.
“It will likely be some time before we see residential development occurring,” Davis added. He noted that sections of the Western Hills designated for development must be sold to developers and then undergo discretionary review before being turned into housing projects.
“There’s going to be steps that have to be taken in terms of moving the lot lines, identifying the plans and going through discretionary review with the design review board and the planning commission,” Davis said. “There’s no planned development, but the areas are eligible. We set the table for both residential development and public access.”
Editor’s note: The story said that the Western Hills annexation occurred east of Ukiah. A correction has been made to reflect that the annexation occurred west of the city.