The Ridgefield City Council held a first reading Thursday night for an ordinance that would annex 5.8 acres of land near Northwest Meuller Road into city limits.
No action was taken, as the council will vote on the matter in a future meeting following a second reading.
The annexation request, submitted by landowners Teresita and Steven Mukensnabl, seeks to bring their property into city limits. The land is within Ridgefield’s Urban Growth Area and adjacent to the southern phases of the Clover Hill planned unit development. The Clark County Assessor’s Office certified the petition’s sufficiency on Jan. 15, confirming it met the requirement of signatures representing at least 60% of the land value.
“They have signed the petition to annex, achieving 100%, so that threshold is exceeded,” Community Development Director Claire Lust explained.
Council members asked about the property’s access points and future infrastructure improvements. Meuller Road is the only current access point, but it is a private road.
“What is the plan for accessing this in the future?” Mayor Matt Cole asked. “Is it gonna be ... built because they have to build our services? There’s gonna be an urban hole until the services are built out, so where would access points be?”
Lust clarified that annexation alone wouldn’t lift the urban holding designation, which remains until infrastructure is in place.
Urban holding is a zoning restriction that prevents immediate development until key infrastructure, such as roads, sewer, and water services, are available. This ensures that newly annexed areas can support growth without straining existing city resources. The Mukensnabl property, like other recently annexed parcels in the area, will remain under this restriction until a coordinated infrastructure plan is completed and approved.
“Annexation of this property would not lift urban holding,” she explained. “It would stop the urban holding overlay on it. To be lifted, infrastructure that would support urban development has to be available to the property.”
Council members also brought up an email received earlier in the day about a contested property line.
“How would that impact this decision?” council member Rian Davis asked.
“I haven’t had time to fully research that issue, but we’ll make sure the council has the information it needs before any vote,” Lust said.
A public hearing followed, but no one in the room or viewing online spoke.
The council will hold a second reading and vote on the annexation at its March 27 meeting.
