10.216 Annexation.
(1) Annexation is the action taken to incorporate land into a city. Under State law, land may be annexed to a city only if it is within the Urban Growth Boundary, and is contiguous to the city limits.
(2) Application for Annexation. Except for the annexation of unincorporated territory surrounded by the city as provided in Subsection (7) below, applications for annexation shall include all of the requirements listed in Subsection (6) below, and be subject to the provisions of ORS 222.111 to 222.180 (Authority and Procedures for Annexation) or 222.840 to 222.915 (Health Hazard Abatement Law).
(3) Public Hearing for Annexation. A public hearing shall be held prior to the Council’s adoption of an ordinance for annexation. The City shall publish notice of the public hearing once each week for two successive weeks prior to the day of hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, and shall post notices of the hearing in at least four public places in the city for a like period.
(a) Exception: A public hearing is not required when all of the owners of land in the unincorporated territory consent in writing to the annexation, and file a statement of their consent with the Council per ORS 222.125.
(4) Annexation Approval Criteria. The City Council must find that the following State requirements are met in order to approve an annexation:
(a) The land is within the City’s Urban Growth Boundary,
(b) The land is contiguous with the current city limits, and
(c) Unless the land being considered for annexation is enclaved by the City or the City chooses to hold an election, a majority of the land owners and/or electors have consented in writing to the annexation per ORS 222.125 or ORS 222.170.
(d) For lands added to the Urban Growth Boundary from the Urban Reserve, all of the applicable conditions in Section 2.1.7 of the Urbanization Element of the Comprehensive Plan have been met.
(5) Zoning of Annexed Property. At the time of annexation, the City shall apply a City zoning designation comparable to the previous County zoning designation. Where no comparable City zoning designation exists, the SFR-00 (Single-Family Residential – one dwelling unit per existing lot) zone or the I-OO (Limited Industrial Overlay) shall be applied.
(6) Annexation Application Form. An application for annexation shall contain the following information:
(a) Vicinity Map drawn at a scale of 1" = 1,000' identifying the proposed area of annexation and existing city limits.
(b) Assessor's Maps of the proposed annexation area. The assessor's maps shall have identified those parcels for which consents to annex have been acquired and adjacent right-of-way to be annexed.
(c) Consent to annex forms completed and signed by all consenting property owners within the proposed annexation area.
(d) Restrictive Covenant forms waiving Measure 37 claims for combined annexation and zone change, completed and signed by all consenting property owners within the proposed annexation area.
(e) Legal metes and bounds or lot and block description of the annexation area. Prior to submittal of the Annexation application, the applicant shall consult with the Public Works Department on the extent of any adjacent right-of-way that is to be included in the legal description. All legal descriptions shall be reviewed and approved by the Public Works Department prior to submittal of the Annexation application.
(f) Specific information on each parcel within the proposed annexation area:
(i) Current assessed valuation shown on County Assessor's tax rolls.
(ii) Acreage of both public and private property, and public right-of-way to be annexed.
(iii) Map and tax lot number.
(g) Addresses of all dwelling units and businesses located within the annexation area and names of all residents and whether they are registered voters.
(h) The following additional information shall also be supplied by the applicant:
(i) Existing land uses within annexation area.
(ii) Existing zoning within the annexation area.
(iii) Existing improvements such as:
(A) water system
(B) streets
(C) sanitary sewer
(D) storm drainage
(iv) Special Districts within the area (such as:
(A) water district
(B) irrigation district
(C) fire district
(D) school district
(E) Rogue Valley Sewer Services
(F) other
(v) A completed Confidential Census Information Sheet for each housing unit within the proposed area.
(vi) Written findings indicating compliance with all of the criteria contained in Section 10.216(4).
(i) Property owners' names, addresses and map and tax lot numbers within 200 feet of the subject site, typed on mailing labels.
(j) Payment of the application fee(s).
(7) Annexation of Territory Surrounded by the City.
(a) As authorized in ORS 222.750, the City Council may, by ordinance, annex territory surrounded by the corporate boundaries of Medford with or without the consent of any owner of property within the territory or resident of the territory.
(b) Such annexation may be initiated at the request of the Planning Department or City Council and shall not be subject to the requirements of Sections 10.106, 10.110(4), 10.112, 10.124, 10.214, and 10.216.
(c) A public hearing shall be held prior to the Council’s adoption of an ordinance for annexation.
(d) No later than 21 days prior to the public hearing, notification shall be mailed to all owners of property within the area proposed for annexation.
(e) For property that is zoned for, and in, residential use when annexation is initiated by the City, the City shall specify an effective date for the annexation that is at least three years and not more than 10 years after the date the City proclaims the annexation approved.
(f) The City shall notify the Jackson County Clerk of the territory subject to delayed annexation not sooner than 120 days and not later than 90 days before the annexation takes effect.