UKIAH, CA., 6/4/26 — The city of Ukiah held an annexation scoping meeting this week aimed at gathering community feedback on potential environmental impacts if the city’s proposal to pull some unincorporated areas into the city limits were to go through.
The meeting Monday evening drew in about 20 Ukiah Valley community members, many of whom live or own businesses in the areas to be annexed, and many of whom passionately expressed being against annexation.
According to the city, the purpose of the meeting was to gather input to help the consulting firm preparing a supplemental environmental impact report find out what it should include. The report will be prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as part of the annexation proposal process.
The city said the report will be supplemental to the city’s environmental impact report that was done for its 2040 general plan, which maps out Ukiah’s sphere of influence, a designation for areas with probable growth where public services and utilities could be reasonably provided by the city.
A California law called the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act of 2000 requires Local Agency Formation Commissions, the regulatory commissions that oversee boundaries, to identify spheres of influence for cities and special districts to manage growth in an intentional way.
The city said the supplemental report will evaluate potential environmental impacts of the proposed annexation and identify necessary mitigation measures as well as consider reasonable alternatives.
The environmental report will be put together by Rincon Consultants, a California-based environmental consulting firm, with the input from community members at the meeting as well as from agencies that could be impacted by the proposed annexation if it ultimately gets approved by the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission, which the city is several steps away from approaching.
“The next phase will be take that input, we take those comments, and we actually prepare the environmental impact report,” said Matt Maddox, principal at Rincon Consultants, who facilitated the meeting. “We do the analysis, we determine what impacts will occur if the reorganization project is adopted, and then identify ways if there are environmental impacts to reduce or avoid those impacts, as well as conduct an alternative analysis on other projects that could be proposed.”
Maddox said after the report is drafted, a 45-day public review period will open, then the final report will be prepared, published and presented at a planning commission hearing, then the City Council would make a decision on the proposed annexation based on the supplemental environmental impact report.
Several commenters had input that was not entirely environmentally related, but most often critical of the proposed annexation for several reasons. Multiple commenters expressed disapproval of the city’s proposed annexation of lands to the north and south of Ukiah, saying they didn’t want it.
Jill Bales, a resident of the southern area proposed to be annexed, said she and likely her neighbors bought their homes outside the city limits to be outside Ukiah, or they couldn’t afford to buy within the city. Bales also expressed worry about property values increasing, thus upping property taxes.
A few comments criticized the city for spending money on the proposed annexation before asking residents if they wanted to be annexed. Two people used the term “putting the cart before the horse,” to describe how the city was going about the proposed annexation in reference to gauging public approval before spending resources on annexation proposal efforts.
Several said the city should do a poll to find out if residents want annexation to happen, and Ross Liberty of the grassroots No Ukiah Annexation group, said the group will be conducting a poll themselves with the help of the city, to find out public approval rates for the proposed annexation.
There is a public voting aspect involved in the annexation proposal process, but not until the city’s application to the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission is complete.
It’s called the protest vote. After the city presents its annexation proposal to the commission, landowners and registered voters in the areas proposed to be annexed will receive written notification of the protest process and be able to submit their choice of whether they approve of the annexation. If the commission receives more than 50% disapproval, the annexation proposal will be canceled, and the city cannot reapply for a year.
A few comments touched on concerns of the city changing zoning designations after annexation, which city officials said would not be as easy as some may think.
Part of the proposed annexation is an aspect called prezoning, where the city would adopt the county’s zoning for the areas proposed to be annexed, maintaining existing county land use and development standards, the city said.
“The proposed project would not change allowable land uses, development intensity, or site development standards, and would not induce growth or enable development beyond what is currently permitted,” the city’s webpage for the supplemental environmental impact report relating to annexation reads.
While most comments were about annexation in general, several brought up potential environmental impacts of the proposed annexation, as the city wanted to focus on.
Commenters mentioned possible emissions from increased coverage areas for emergency services and consequential runoff as well as disturbance of wildlife if the city decides to develop or update infrastructure in the areas that could be annexed.
The current comment period before the report is drafted closes June 8 at 5 p.m. and community members can submit input by sending an email to CSchlatter@cityofukiah.com or mailing a letter to city of Ukiah, Attn: Craig Schlatter, Community Services Director, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA 95482.
The next city of Ukiah annexation workshop for community members to learn more about the city’s proposal is June 11 at 6 p.m. in the community room at the Alex Rorabaugh Recreation Center at 1640 S. State St. in Ukiah.