14.08.020 Alteration of service area boundaries.
A. The Assembly may alter the boundaries of a service area in accordance with AS 29.35. The Borough shall establish an administrative process to annually collect property owners’ requests for removal of parcels authorized in this section. This process shall include deadlines that provide time to update maps, GIS data, and enable and ensure removal of the parcels by the Assembly on an annual basis prior to December 31st of each year. If for any reason removal of a parcel conflicts with or creates an impediment to removal of another parcel, requests for removal will be prioritized by date of application. For purposes of this section “adjacent” means an adjoining parcel sharing a common boundary line in excess of 10 feet or parcels whose boundaries would share a common boundary line in excess of 10 feet except for a dedicated right-of-way.
B. A service area that provides road, fire protection, or parks and recreation services in which voters reside may not be altered unless the proposal is approved, separately, by a majority of voters who vote on the question residing in the existing service area and by a majority of the voters who vote on the question residing in the area outside of the service area affected by the proposal. This subsection does not apply to:
1. A proposed change to a service area that provides fire protection services that would result in:
a. Increasing the number of parcels of land in the service area if the increase is no more than six percent and would add no more than 1,000 residents;
b. Decreasing the number of parcels of land in the service area or successor service area if:
i. The owner of the property to be removed requests removal;
ii. The parcel is adjacent to any lot that is outside or concurrently being removed from a fire service area; and
iii. The parcel has either no Borough-assessed structure or is located either more than five miles away from a fire station via an existing, constructed road or is located less than five miles away but cannot be accessed by fire apparatus;
c. Increasing or decreasing the number of parcels in the service area or successor service area if the parcel is transferred to a service area that provides more accessible fire protection services to the transferred parcel.
2. Consolidations of two or more road service areas if:
a. Taxes have not been levied in the service area for road maintenance or construction during the last 12 months and there is no balance in any account available to pay for these road services for the service area;
b. During the last 12 months the service area commission has not legally met with a quorum present;
c. There are no road maintenance contracts in effect for the service area; or
d. Existing road maintenance contracts fail to provide for minimum road standards required by law that are necessary to protect the Borough from civil liability.
3. A change in the boundaries of a road service area to add a subdivision or parcel that relies on roads maintained by the service area for its only access or for access that is required by the subdivision plat or by other regulation or ordinance, if that change is approved by a majority of the voters residing in the service area.
4. A change in the boundaries of a road service area to exclude a subdivision or parcel that does not rely on the use of roads maintained by the service area for the subdivision’s or parcel’s only access or for access that is required by the subdivision plat or by other regulation or ordinance.
5. A change in the boundaries of a road service area to include or exclude a parcel that is located in more than one service area so that the parcel is only located in one road service area.
6. A change in the boundaries of a road service area to include a parcel that is partially located in the road service area if roads maintained by the service area provide the only access to the parcel.
C. No new service area shall be formed if the new area can be served by annexation to an existing service area.
D. In an election for annexation of an area into an existing service area which is subject to an indebtedness to the road service revolving loan fund or other indebtedness pursuant to FNSBC 7.04.050, the ballot question shall indicate that the annexed area shall be subject to the repayment of the remainder of the indebtedness and the amount of that indebtedness. (Ord. 2016-48 § 2, 2016; Ord. 2014-39 § 2, 2014; Ord. 2008-39 § 2, 2008; Ord. 2006-07 § 2, 2006; Ord. 2004-64 § 2, 2004; Ord. 2003-55 § 6, 2003; Ord. 2001-65 § 7, 2001; Ord. 86-043 § 34, 1986. 2004 Code § 14.01.081.)