UKIAH, CA., 6/9/26 — The city of Ukiah will answer community questions and address what it says are rumors and misinformation about the city’s proposed annexation at a public forum this Thursday.
The proposed Ukiah annexation would add areas to the north and south of Ukiah into the city limits. The city’s annexation proposal webpage says the change would allow for more reliable and coordinated government services, including police, code enforcement and infrastructure maintenance as well as strengthen the city’s tax base to fund services and community amenities.
According to Deputy City Manager Shannon Riley, there are common misconceptions about Ukiah’s proposed annexation, such as that it’s more expensive to live in the city. She said property taxes would not go up because of annexation, if it happens.
Riley also said residents worry the city would build more dense development in the areas proposed to be annexed, bringing urban sprawl to rural areas. Zoning wouldn’t change with annexation, meaning the designated uses of areas would stay the same, like agricultural areas, she said.
Residents have also expressed concern in public comment sessions about the proposed annexation being a power or money grab by the city. Riley explained that individual property rights wouldn’t change and taxes collected from the area would be used to provide services like police, fire, streets, parks and recreation, for the community. She also said that if annexation goes through, residents of the annexed areas would then be able to vote in city elections and run for council. She said the city would gain jurisdictional responsibility for public safety, street repairs and more in the annexed areas if it happens.
According to Riley, the proposed annexation wouldn’t change most residents’ daily lives, it would change how local government coordinates services, infrastructure and planning. Annexation is not about altering neighborhoods but rather aligning governance, services and representation with the community that is already there, she said.
The meeting will feature city officials from different departments presenting how the proposed annexation might affect their departments like public safety, utilities, planning and building.
City officials will go over the annexation proposal currently being considered, which has been reduced in size since the proposal was first presented last year.
Last week, the city held a scoping meeting to get community input on potential environmental impacts if annexation were to go through.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Community Room at the Alex Rorabaugh Center at 1640 S. State St., Ukiah.
Is there any chance that Amazon could use land as a Massive data center, and once it becomes City, that they will use all out water? May seem outlandish, but want to make sure that can’t happen.
Excellent question and concern. Ukiah and indeed Mendocino County needs to pass law outlawing data centers
It’s more likely to happen on County land than in the City of Ukiah.
The fear of sprawl from a tiny city is a bit ironic given this is something the County actively does on a regular basis and has way more land and opportunity to sprawl. Look at all the failed cannabis farms that ran wild with trash thrown about and the ecological damage done. Keep in mind the city of Ukiah has been essentially the same size since the mid 80s. Who really is the boogey-man when it comes to sprawl?
Between the lack of cooling water and the exorbitant cost of power I would highly doubt that anyone would consider Ukiah as a choice for a data center. It does however sound like a good excuse for a protest party downtown by the brewery.
City of Ukiah power costs:
$.20 -.27 per kilowatt-hour
PG&E power costs:
$.45 – ..62(+) per kilowatt-hour
NoDataForU – Where are you pulling this bit from? PG&E is more than double the Ukiah rates for energy.
There are areas that want to be annexed, and the city won’t include them because they won’t generate $$$. It all has to do with the city wanting $$ and a favorable bond rating. I don’t trust the city’s intention. I don’t believe they are trustworthy stewards of our $$. Highly inflated S&B for City Manager and Riley. City has been very effective at growing homelessness, high fees, licenses, and taxes, driving out small business, and increasing low income apartments with no single family homes. Give them more, and it’s more of the same.
What areas want to be annexed? The empty farmland? The south end of town is mostly break-even if not a drain on the city finances. Ukiah already contributes more to Mendocino county than it contributes to itself and Mendocino County isn’t rebuilding Ukiah’s roads, and parks. What is driving out businesses are the botched cannabis county ordinances, poorly maintained infrastructure throughout the county, overt protectionism, and the rampant piracy community living in the back country.
Everything you accuse the city of doing the county has already been doing with a known corrupt county DA, complicit BOS board, botched elections, multiple years of yet to be produced property escape bills, Unintentionally using mental health voted in funds for new jail, 1.5$ million settlement to the current auditor, and the mostly stunted tiny city of Ukiah is the problem with Mendocino County? Blame the child for the parent’s behavior? You can’t sit here and accuse the city of building income controlled apartments for the underpaid people in Mendocino County then accuse the city of causing the homeless when the city is doing more leg work for the poor in this community than the county has ever done. The county (One of largest legal employers in Mendo) pays employees less than In-n-out, and Costco employees. The cost overhead inside the county is clearly unstainable when not that long ago the BOS couldn’t make heads or tails with their own budget.
No matter what BS comes form Ukiah officials, this is a money grab pure and simple that will hurt everyone in the County, which can’t afford to lose these tax generators. Ukiah is so mismanaged their only option is to try to grab these tax generators for no increased services. In fact, it will likely lead to service cuts overall when the County has to make more cut backs to important areas like the Sherriff’s Department.
Take a look who has the higher wages….Ukiah highest wage is no where near what the county pays its own heads (and staff) and there are more of them… Saying it is a money grab is sort of silly because its like saying businesses only set up shop in town to make money. Yes, that’s the point. Roads, parks, and sidewalks aren’t free either.
City Council is also mostly an unpaid position too.
BOS has real wages they pay out.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2024/ukiah/
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2024/mendocino-county/
Look up Transparent California in a generic online search and you can see which agency (city and/or county) is the bigger spender and ‘mis’-manager if this is a major concern. You can see everyone’s wages from top to bottom by name. Mendocino County wins for paying the highest wages (and benefits) and more numerous high wage (and benefits) earners if this was the parameter for ‘money grabbing…. ‘
The proponents actually still feel we trust them ?!?!
They lie and lie and lie some more.
Obviously the development minded folk will benefit and will get more traffic.
What they are not being truthful about are future taxes to pay for added infrastructure.
I wish we had leaders we could trust .
Greedy people run the world
Urbanist: I agree with you about almost everything you said. I wonder if the anti-annexation folks ever come to Ukiah, and if they do, how they avoid using the city’s services while they’re there–the roads, water, garbage and sewage disposal, electricity, parks, free parking, and automatic emergency services if they’re in an accident or mugged, etc. Who pays for those things? I assume they never attend the free social activities, like Pumpkin Fest, Concerts in the Park, Walk Downtown, etc.
However, I’m one of those parasites “living on the fringes,” supposedly using up County resources from a long distance. But I guess I’m not typical, because I don’t commute every day; I don’t use County resources except the public county road at most once or twice a week; I live off the grid so don’t pay for electricity or water services and am VERY conservative with both. (And, no, I am not a cannabis grower.) On the contrary, I have worked hard over several decades to repair the damages to my property that were caused by overgrazing, invasive plant infestation, and erosion from abandoned logging roads before I bought it.
I also have to disagree with you that “Rural folks love Amazon” and that “All these empty shops in Ukiah and Willits would be full if people lived in the cities.” Sadly, I think that is an outdated pipe dream. I do not shop on Amazon, at all. My friends who live in cities are the worst as far as shopping on-line. Every time I ask them where they bought something, 99% of the time it’s from Amazon, except for groceries and gas.
Your vision of the ideal city matches my own. But what are the chances that Ukiah will be able to adopt and realize that vision? I like “funky” too, but not ghetto. If annexation is the answer, I agree: let’s do it.
Eliot, by the way, my comment about the small, asphalt-enclosed redwoods in the glaring Amazon parking lot directly supports your comment about us being “an inept species” regarding any “long term vision of our planets future.” When and how do you propose to change that? How much more asphalt can the planet take? I also agree with you that greedy people run the world. They are mostly “free enterprise,” individual property rights zealots who hate paying their fair share of taxes.
You are right about the Amazon portion. Rural communities are the final frontier for Amazon to reach but they are making there way there too.
I bet many of anti annex people are mad because Ukiah is narrowing their roads and making the community more walk friendly.
People living in cities was about mixed developments in town. Ukiah is still mostly an R1 suburb with a small downtown core that is partially vacant throughout the year. All these under used parcels in the core area could be mixed developments with commercial below and condos/apartments above. It brings life back to the core of the city if people can walk to nearby shops and business establishments. There are busy downtowns with people out and about. It is not a dead concept. If Ukiah wants to be a destination, it needs to start planning like it has one. Make the town affordable for people to live in is step one. As costs rise, especially rural costs of living, the city would be an affordable option due to the convenience of everything being closer, shared investment in the surrounding infrastructure, and still be a small / median size town. If you can afford to stay rural, feel free to live on the fringe. Many people living in potter, redwood, McNabb are going to start feeling the pinch in their wallets of rural lifestyle costs. Gas, insurance, water, aging out, distance to doctors, land management, housing costs, taxes, etc …
You could still live in an urban Ukiah and still hike the redwoods or venture to Mendocino coast for a day trip. You don’t need to mow down your 5 acre parcel every week. You liberate yourself from extensive routine maintenance for more fulfilling activities. One minute you could be watching a movie and the next you are dinning in an outdoor cafe along a pedestrian only blvd or hitting a strike at the bowling alley and it wouldn’t be weird because other people in your community are doing the same thing. You can make urban living a great experience with some decent planning. There are many services and forms of entertainment that exist and Ukiah hasn’t really tapped into them due to the sprawled out society.
It seems pretty obvious. The city wants to widen the city’s tax base. The county residents do not want more code enforcement or to fund more curbs sticking out into State Street.