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| 3/9/2010 8:09:00 PM | Email • Print • Submit a story
Comment on this article | Gearhart voters reject annexation measure
Final count shows defeat by 74 percent
By NANCY McCARTHY
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART - For the second time in nine years voters in Gearhart rejected the annexation of the Highlands and Palisades subdivisions north of town into the city limits.
The final count released by the Clatsop County Elections Office Tuesday night showed 107 votes in favor (25 percent) and 312 against (74 percent).
There are 862 registered voters in Gearhart. Turnout appeared to reach 48 percent.
With the results showing the measure substantially rejected, Gearhart Mayor Kent Smith said he wasn't "terribly" disappointed and credited the opponents to the annexation for conducting an effective campaign.
"The people opposed to the measure were good at getting their message out there," Smith said. "You have to take your hat off to them.
"They had some very persuasive arguments, but I didn't agree with them."
When asked if the City Council would attempt to annex the area again, Smith responded emphatically, "Never. Never. We have no interest in trying to push this through again.
"I'm talking about myself," Smith said, "But I think the rest of the council got the message. There's no reason for us to ever pursue this again."
Initiated by the City Council nearly a year ago, the annexation included 129 acres on the west side of U.S. Highway 101 between 13th Street, Del Rey Beach Road and the beach.
After the council approved the annexation, opponents gathered 121 signatures from the city's registered voters, more than the 89 required to put the issue on the ballot for Tuesday's special election.
Their major issue of contention was the gate blocking the Highlands subdivision. Gated communities are prohibited by Gearhart's city ordinance, and residents feared that the Highlands gate would set a precedent for other gated areas.
Such gated communities would violate the small-town neighborliness that Gearhart wants to preserve, the opponents said.
However, City Administrator Dennis McNally and city councilors said that the Highlands gate would be "grandfathered" into the city because it existed before the city ordinance was approved, and no other gates would be allowed.
Nancy Anderson, who led the opposition, said the election validated their actions.
"I'm real pleased," Anderson said. "No gates in Gearhart!"
The measure's defeat, she added, was a "wake-up call to the commissioners that they need to include the community in the actions they take."
At the same time, Anderson said, it was a wake-up call for the community to "stay abreast of things going on here."
Opponents conducted a "grassroots" effort to defeat the measure, she said. "Eight to 10 of us who felt strongly about it went out and talked to our neighbors."
They also mailed one-page fliers listing the reasons to vote "no" on the measure to every registered voter in the city. Those in the proposed annexation area weren't allowed to vote.
The council approved the annexation last November after receiving consent forms by property owners representing 54 percent of the land, 63 percent of the property value and 63 percent of the property owners.
By state law, the "triple majority" approval of land, property value and ownership allowed the council to annex the entire area, including properties that didn't consent.
Taxes on annexed properties could be reduced if council decides to remove them from the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District and from the Gearhart Rural Fire Protection District. Those districts aren't in the city's boundaries. Water rates for the annexed areas also would be lower by 1.5 percent.
The city would receive about $56,000 in increased taxes, about $14,000 shy of the amount needed in salary and benefits to hire an additional police officer to cover the newly annexed areas.
Voters considered the annexation of the Palisades and Highlands subdivisions once before in 2001, when they defeated it by a 71 percent margin.
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