The Planning Division is requesting the City Council conduct a public hearing and approve a Resolution to Exclude Property to deannex a portion of the Briarwood Planned Unit Development (PUD) property that is described as Tract 2A of C/S 2544 Amended. The deannexation will result in about 122 acres of undeveloped land being taken out of the City and reverted to Agricultural Open Space zoning as it was before it was annexed and made part of the Briarwood PUD. Petitioners and property owners Max Thornton, Co-Trustee of the Katherine Thornton Trust, and Richard Paasch, Manager of PM&M, LLC have signed the attached petition to request that this property be deannexed. A 20-day public comment period beginning September 30 was legally noticed on September 30 and October 14. No comments have been received as of October 7, 2010. City staff has reviewed this deannexation request and support the deannexation of this property. Staff has proposed two conditions of deannexation that are discussed in more detail in the Background Section of this report and also included in the Resolution to Deannex attached to this report.

The City Council may:
• Approve the Resolution to Exclude Property to deannex the above mentioned property; or
• Not approve the Resolution to Exclude Territory.

This property currently was intended to be developed in the City for residential uses so there may be some potential for lost tax revenue for the City if the property is deannexed. However, the property is very rugged and it is unclear whether the development originally proposed by the Briarwood PUD could be built at the proposed densities. Since the property is not currently developed and no City services are extended to the property, the City will not lose any infrastructure investment by de-annexing it.

The Planning Division is requesting the City Council approve a Resolution to Exclude Property to deannex a portion of the Briarwood Planned Unit Development (PUD) property. The deannexation will result in about 122 acres of undeveloped land being taken out of the City and reverted to Agricutlural Open Space zoning as it was before it was annexed and made part of the Briarwood PUD.

Staff has reviewed this deannexation petition and finds that the request is consistent with the City’s deannexation policy in that:

1. The property is not currently connected to City water, wastewater or storm drainage facilities, and cannot connect to these facilities without a significant expenditure of personal or public funds, and
2. The property is not adjacent to public rights-of-way (however, the City is expected to condition this deannexation to maintain a road right-of-way for a future connection between McMasters Blvd. and Colleen Drive), and
3. The property is not encumbered by any indebtedness of any improvement district of which the territory is a part, and
4. The property is located on the outer perimeter of the City limits and upon exclusion of the property will not result in a parcel wholly surrounded by City limits.

The requested deannexation is not consistent with the City’s deannexation policy in that:
The property is adjacent on the west side to acceptable limits of annexation as defined on the most recent update of the Limits of Annexation Map.  If deannexed, this will mainly result in the Briarwood Golf Course being the defining City Limits along a portion of the west, north and east portion of the Briarwood PUD. This inconsistency does not appear to be a significant deterent to deannexing this property. 

City staff supports the deannexation of this property since it complies with the deannexation criteria outlined above, is not currently developed, delivery of City services would be challenging to the property, and it is on the outer edge of the City Limits of Annexation Map. However, staff has proposed two conditions of deannexation provided below and also included in the Resolution to Exclude Property attached to this report to address concers about future public access across the subject property and continuing access to an existing City water reservoir that serves the Briarwood area. The proposed conditions of deannexation are as follows:

• An easement shall be executed and recorded by the petitioners that establishes public access for future road and utility infrastructure across the subject property (See Easement Document attached to the City Council Deannexation Memo for October 25, 2010).

• The petitioners agree to execute a new five (5) year agreement with the City to continue to provide access across Certificate of Survey 2165 for city personnel, approved contractors, and vehicles to service and inspect the Briarwood Water Storage Reservoir as stipulated in the access agreement between the City and the petitioners dated February 6, 2007.

Staff finds that with these conditions in place, future public access and utility access will be maintained with this deannexation.

This deannexation petition aligns with the deannexation critera as set out in the City's Deannexation Policy and discussed in more detail in the Background Section of this report.