Signatures submit annexation to vote

A Tierra Buena annexation will be decided by voters after opponents delivered enough protest signatures.

The 395-acre Tatla-Walker Reorganization was opposed by 149 people claiming to be registered voters. They turned in protest signatures at a Thursday hearing at Yuba City City Hall representing 36 percent of the 411 registered voters in the annexation area. Signatures from 25 percent were needed to put it to a vote.

No date was set for the election, which could be done by mail rather than on the June or November ballots. It will be up to Sutter County supervisors to set the election after the signatures are verified.

The annexation, a contentious area that was left out of a previous Tierra Buena annexation that brought 518 acres into Yuba City, had sparked protests and counterprotests.

Five protest signatures were withdrawn Thursday after proponents circulated pro-annexation fliers in the neighborhood.

Area residents in favor of the Tatla-Walker annexation said they were happy to see Yuba City growing and new retail businesses moving here. Some also want to abandon their wells in favor of better water that the city could provide.

“The water at my place, Tierra Buena, is bad,” said Harold Griffith of Romero Street.

An annexation opponent said the city was getting ahead of its streets and infrastructure, a concern voiced by others who feared traffic problems on inadequate streets.

“I'm not against growth, I'm for planned growth,” said Ric Ballou of Elmer Avenue.

Ballou says traffic becomes congested because the Pease Road interchange and Tuly Road have not yet been built. He predicted that no one would get out of the area if there was a levee break or plane crash because of the poor road circulation.

Annexation opponent David Lane, also of Elmer Avenue, predicted the annexation would not make it past the election.

“I think we stop it,” Lane said.

But Joe Chima, an Eden Way annexation supporter, said people will vote for the annexation when they have the facts.

“When they are properly informed, they will rule in favor of the annexation,” Chima said.

A second annexation that would bring 206 acres into Yuba City was successful Thursday.

The South Butte House Road Reorganization was adopted unanimously by the Sutter County Local Agency Formation Commission after only three protests were registered, which accounted for 15 percent of the registered voters within the annexation area. The area should become part of Yuba City in a matter of weeks after the city files the paperwork and fees.

Both annexations were proposed by developers.

In other business, Yuba City Councilman Rory Ramirez was named the commission's chairman.

Appeal-Democrat reporter John Dickey can be reached at 749-4711. You may e-mail him at jdickey@appeal-democrat.com.