Cities like Port Angeles that want to annex land will have to get permission from all residents and not just the largest property owners, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The ruling could cloud the proposed annexation by Port Angeles of unincorporated residential and commercial areas of Clallam County between the city’s eastern boundary to Morse Creek.
The area includes several car dealerships, Wal-Mart, Les Schwab and the new Safeway shopping complex. It also includes the Gales Addition, Bay Loop and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.
Port Angeles city officials have been studying annexation for months, but has made no decision yet.
If the decision is to annex, opponents said they wanted the matter decided by a vote of all property owners in the affected area — rather than by the “petition method,” which many residents feel would give unfair advantage to large property owners and commercial developments.
It was the “petition method” of annexation that was thrown out by the state’s high court in its decision Thursday.
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The rest of this story appears in the Friday/Saturday Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.