4.n. 07/12/2007. Wayne M. Fowler, Sr. Local Government Analyst

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1 4.n. 07/12/2007 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Local Agency Formation Commission Wayne M. Fowler, Sr. Local Government Analyst LAFCO MINOR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE AMENDMENT (addition) TO THE CITY OF BLYTHE AND REORGANIZTION TO INCLUDE ANNEXATION 51 TO THE CITY OF BLYTHE AND DETACHMENT FROM THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY WASTE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT DISTRICT. Prior Agendas: waiver of FIR requirements 4/07 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report addresses a City initiated application for a 110 acre minor Sphere of Influence amendment, and annexation to the City of Blythe. The site is currently undeveloped but does have several inhabited structures included in the proposal boundaries. This proposal is part of a larger 740 acre specific plan development, known as Crescent Shores, of which 630 acres is already within the City. There are no boundary or service concerns with this proposal and staff will recommend approval of this proposal with standard terms and conditions. GENERAL INFORMATION: APPLICANT: City of Blythe, 235 North Broadway, Blythe, CA., has initiated this proposal by resolution of application. LOCATION: The proposed annexation is generally located south of 6 th Avenue, north of 8 th Avenue, east of Intake Blvd., and west of Olive Avenue. POPULATION: It is estimated that the population within the reorganization area is persons. REGISTERED VOTERS: The County Registrar of Voters has reviewed this proposal and has found that there are 7 registered voters living within the boundaries of the proposed reorganization making this proposal legally uninhabited. The Registrar shows that there are 2 registered voters living within a 500 radius of this proposal. AREA: Both the minor Sphere of Influence amendment and reorganization are the same territory, and consists of approximately 110 acres. CEQA DETERMINATION: The City of Blythe, as lead agency for CEQA purposes, has prepared an Initial Study which resulted in the City adopting a Negative Declaration for this proposal. The City of Blythe in adopting the Negative Declaration and filing of the Notice of Determination has complied with the provisions of the California

2 LAFCO PAGE 2 July 12, 2007 Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and all appropriate State Guidelines. PROPERTY TAX EXCHANGE: The City of Blythe and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors have adopted corresponding master property tax resolutions. These resolutions call for the City to receive 25 percent of the County General Fund allocation. EXISTING CONDITIONS: The site is located north of the inhabited core of the City, west of the Colorado River. Presently the site is in agricultural use, and appears to be under cultivation growing alfalfa for livestock feed. The western tip of this proposal includes several inhabited single family homes with out buildings associated with farming land uses. This area is not within an agricultural preserve. Current County zoning for this site consists of R-R (Rural Residential) and AG - agricultural. LAND USE PLANS: The City of Blythe seeks annexation of this 110 acre area so that specific land use planning can be done comprehensively for the entire 740 acre tentative Crescent Shores Specific Plan. The proposed Crescent Shores development will be a mixed use development and will include an 18 hole golf course, single and multi-family residential, RV park, retail, marina and river front commercial land uses. The area specifically associated with this 110 acre proposal is part of the golf oriented land uses. The City has pre-zoned this area as low density residential LDR. SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: BOUNDARY: The boundaries of this proposal do not present any boundary or related service delivery issues, nor does it isolate any existing pockets of development. The western boundary of this proposal follows a Palo Verde Irrigation levee/canal. REORGANIZATION SERVICES: The City has submitted a plan of how municipal services would be extended into the annexation area and their impact upon City services. A copy of that plan is included with this staff report. Staff does not have any significant concerns about the impact upon services that this proposal would impose upon the City. The City of Blythe provides a full range of municipal services which includes provision of water, wastewater collection and treatment, fire, police, flood control and parks and recreation services. Water: The City of Blythe provides domestic water service for City residents and some areas within the City Sphere of Influence. The ground water along the Colorado River, below a certain elevation comes under the jurisdiction of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Any groundwater use in this area is deemed to be using Colorado River water, and the Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID) is the agency which under the Federal Quantification Settlement Agreement signed in 2003, is the local agency which has the adjudicated water entitlement to Colorado River Water. Since PVID does not provide water for domestic use, the City of Blythe, which is within the boundaries of PVID is the local purveyor of domestic water. The City currently has 14 deep water wells, 5 water storage reservoirs with a capacity of 4 million gallons. The City s current pumping capacity is 7.6 million gallons per day, with a current peak daily water usage of 6.6 million gallons per day. The City is currently constructing several new wells and a new Water

3 LAFCO PAGE 3 July 12, 2007 Production Treatment Facility. The City has indicated that it can and will provide domestic water to the Crescent Shores development. Waste Water Collection and Treatment: The City of Blythe provides waste water collection and treatment for the City and some areas within the City SOI. The City s treatment facility currently has a capacity of 2.4 million gallons per day treatment, and current utilization of 1.5 million gallons per day treatment. The City estimates that it has adequate capacity at its existing treatment facility to handle the planned Crescent Shores project. The City is exploring the formation of a Community Facilities District (CFD) to fund construction and up-grades to the water and sewer system for the northern areas of the City. Police: The City of Blythe maintains its own police department which is staffed with 25 sworn officers and 13 non-sworn personnel. The County Sheriff s Department provides secondary back-up services. This annexation (110 acres low density residential)will not have any great effect upon the ability of the Department to provide service. Fire Protection: The City maintains its own Fire Department, which is a volunteer department. Currently the City has one full time Fire Marshall and 35 fully trained fire fighting volunteers. The City is already providing first response service to the area of the proposal. Fire service is one of the issues being closely reviewed by the Municipal Services Review (MSR) currently being conducted, for the City of Blythe. MINOR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE POLICY: The Cortese/Knox/Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (CKH 2000) requires that prior to a review of an agency s Sphere of Influence, a Municipal Services Review must be completed for that agency. The Commission in recognizing that prior to LAFCO being able to complete the MSR s for every agency in the County, added specific policy language in the adopted Policies and Procedures for Riverside LAFCO. Policy (a) deals with Minor Sphere of Influence amendments and says An amendment to the SOI of any agency may be processed and acted upon by the Commission, in advance of the preparation of a Municipal Services Review, if the following criteria are met: a. The requested amendment is either less than 40 acres or less than 3 percent of the combined acreage of the subject agency s existing boundaries and sphere of influence, and; There are no objections from other agencies that are authorized to provide the services the subject agency provides and whose SOI underlies or is adjacent to the subject territory... An MSR for the eastern county which includes the City of Blythe is under preparation with an expected adoption by the Commission in September Per Commission Policy guidelines (a), this 110 acre minor Sphere amendment is less than 1% of the total acreage of the City of Blythe and its existing Sphere of Influence. There have been no objections from any other agency in the Palo Verde valley to this proposal or the City of Blythe providing service into this area. COMMENTS FROM AFFECTED AGENCIES/INTERESTED PARTIES: There have been no significant comments received from any agency or individual concerning this proposal. DETACHMENT FROM COUNTY WASTE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT DISTRICT (RCWRMD): On

4 LAFCO PAGE 4 July 12, 2007 March 24, 1994, the Commission approved the formation of the RCWRMD as a separate financial and legal entity to operate and finance solid waste facilities in Riverside County. The District became effective on May 2, As part of the Commission's action, it determined that future annexations to cities should detach from the RCWRMD unless those cities have annexed into the District. This is based on an understanding between the County and the Council of Government's (COG s), that annexation of cities to RCWRMD will be accomplished in an organized fashion to ensure appropriate representation on the governing board of the District. Therefore, staff will recommend concurrent detachment from the District. CONCLUSIONS: This proposal was initiated by the City of Blythe. The proposal includes: A 110 acre minor Sphere of Influence amendment (addition) to the City of Blythe s existing sphere. This 110 acre area is part of the Crescent Shores Specific Plan development, consisting of 740 acres in total. Area of the annexation is pre-zoned Low Density Residential. There are no significant service concerns associated with this proposal. SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS: Based upon the factors outlined above, STAFF RECOMMENDS that the Commission: 1. Find the City of Blythe as lead agency, has filed a negative Declaration on this proposal and has complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and all appropriate State Guidelines, and that the Commission has reviewed and considered the environmental documentation; 2. Adopt the attached STATEMENT OF DETERMINATIONS for the proposed Minor Sphere of Influence amendment (addition) to the City of Blythe; 3. Amend the Sphere of Influence of the City of Blythe (addition) of the approximately 110 acres of territory involved with this reorganization; 4. Approve LAFCO MINOR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE AMENDMENT (addition) TO THE CITY OF BLYTHE AND REORGANIZATION TO INCLUDE ANNEXATION 51 TO THE CITY OF BLYTHE AND DETACHMENT FROM THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY WASTE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, subject to the following terms and conditions: a. The City of Blythe shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission ( RLAFCO or LAFCO ), its agents, officers and employees from any claim, action or proceeding against LAFCO, its agents, officers and employees to attach, set aside, void or annul an approval of LAFCO concerning this proposal.

5 LAFCO PAGE 5 July 12, 2007 b. In accordance with Government Code Section (t) and 57330, the subject territory shall be subject to the levying and collection of any previously authorized charge, fee, assessment or tax of the City. 5. Authorize the Executive Officer to initiate landowner protest proceedings pursuant to Government Code Section et seq. upon payment of the required fees; 6. Direct the Executive Officer to prepare and execute a Certificate of Completion upon receipt of fees required by Government Code Section (made payable to the State Board of Equalization). Respectfully submitted, Wayne M. Fowler Sr. Local Government Analyst