Snafu in Fire District withdrawal plan

A group of residents working to withdraw their neighborhood from Fire District 13 so they can annex to Fire District 2 hit a snag.

The petition they submitted to the county bearing signatures from more than 90 registered voters to set their plan in motion had some technical problems in the way it was worded, so it’s back to the drawing board.

Dave Buchan, one of the people spearheading the effort, said they’ll fix the wording and go back out and get more signatures. “We’re into this thing,” he said. “It’s going to happen. We will not let it rest.”

Residents in the Channel Drive neighborhood north of La Conner would like the county to remove a portion of Fire District 13 east of the Swinomish Channel between McLean road and Highway 20 and stretching east to the boundary of Fire District 2.

Part of the problem with the original petition, submitted to the county on March 4, is that it asked to detach from Fire District 13 and annex to Fire District 2.

A letter signed by Skagit County Elections Supervisor David Cunningham and Skagit County Auditor Jeanne Youngquist explained that since withdrawal and annexation are separate processes governed by state law, the petition can’t list both purposes.

Channel Drive is the most populous neighborhood in the swath of land the residents hope to pull away from Fire District 13, which is headquartered at the fire station on Snee Oosh Road on the opposite side of the Swinomish Channel.

The residents say that since Fire District 2’s McClean Road station is closer to their neighborhood, it makes sense to be included in District 2’s territory for quicker emergency response times.

So far this year, according to 911 dispatch logs, Fire District 13 has had one call on Channel Drive. The vast majority of the agency’s calls are on the west side of the channel.