Hanford to annex 6 county islands, will provide residents with city services

HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) -- In the next several months, the City of Hanford will be expanding by annexing or adding six different county areas into city limits.

City officials say the biggest change will be the services that are being provided to residents.

Those services include waste and recycling management, as well as fire and police calls.

"Faster service, it's more efficient because they are already adjacent to city limits or in city limits, it makes more sense for the city to be providing those services," explained Jason Waters, the Community Development Director with the City of Hanford.

The biggest portion includes several neighborhoods on 10th Avenue near Highway 198.

Other areas include residences along Flint Avenue near 10th and 11th Avenue.

"We are thrilled to bring them in. I think it makes a lot of sense. We know that the city is going to grow, so we see this as a necessary step in the process, so we are excited to move forward with this," mentions Waters.

The county and the city both agree this change is the beginning of more structured services to locals currently living in county islands.

"When you talk about annexing in this instance, it really kinda streamlines and creates more efficiency for the residents and constituency in those areas because you don't have a bunch of different agencies in and out of the area serving similar purposes," said Matthew Boyett, Kings County Deputy County Administrative Officer.

The annexation of these county islands is a state requirement in order for the city to expand its limits. Which is something Hanford is looking to do.

"So that is sort of what initiated this process, is the city is planning on annexing some areas to the south, and LAFCO approached us and indicated, hey, let's take this opportunity to clean up those county islands as well and bring them into the city," mentioned Jason.

The City of Hanford has started the annexation process for five of the six-county islands.

The sixth island will be annexed when it is no longer considered Prime Agricultural Land.

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