(8)AR 041911 LAFCO's Island Annexation Policies

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Letter to Affected Cities/Toums Island Police Discussion December 1.0. 2010 2. The Commission determines that no territory within an established County Redevelopment Area shall be included within an island annexation proposal, unless written consent has been received from the County Board of Supervisors and County Redevelopment Agency. 3. The Commission directs that a City proposing to initiate an island annexation proposal shall have conducted a public relations effort within the area prior to the adoption of its resolution of initiation. Such efforts shall include, but not be limited to, providing information on the grandfathering of existing legal County uses into the City, costs to the resident/ taxpayer associated with annexation, and land use determinations. Documentation of these efforts shall be apart of the Item application submitted for consideration by the Commission. Determination #1 under Policy 29 outlines the Commission's definition of substantially surrounded. A question to be discussed at the January Hearing is whether the percentage of linear length determination should be amended. The attached maps identify islands within the respective city spheres which meet the criteria of 52% surrounded (current criteria) or greater. The criteria utilized by other LAFCOs around the state range from a low of 50% to as high as 75%. However, it should be noted that several LAFCOs have identified that "substantially surrounded" is determined on a case-by-case basis. This option is not identified in the materials included in this correspondence but may be discussed at the January 19, 2011 hearing. Please provide your City's or Town's response on the implementation of the criteria of substantially surrounded, including but not limited to support for the current criteria, preference for a different percentage, or other criteria for the mandatory determination by January 4, 2011. The Commission will be provided a copy of each response received as a part of the staff report for the hearing. In addition, at the August Workshop the Commission directed staff to return with a further discussion of the following items related to consideration of Islands: 1. Discussion of a potential policy determination on the question of the "entire island". This relates to the determinations required of the Commission under Government Code Section 56375.3. In several instances, the Commission has approved island areas which abut each other but which could be identified as substantially surrounded on their own as well as peninsulas of larger island areas which meet the Commission's substantially surrounded interpretation. The Commission will discuss this interpretation; discuss whether to amend or change its determination criteria; and discuss whether to add additional policy language to provide direction to Cities and its staff for the future.