The Island Conundrum

The second definition of conundrum, according to dictionary.com is:

1. A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma: “the conundrum, thus far unanswered, of achieving full employment without inflation” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).

This seems to perfectly describe the county island problem in Gilbert at the moment. I first posted on this topic back in October, and things are heating up, according to this article in The AZ Republic:

The problem of providing county islands with emergency medical and fire services has boiled over in Gilbert, prompting conflict between state legislators and Town Council members faced with county residents who refuse to annex into the town.

It's an issue across Arizona and will only swell as urban sprawl continues, leaving more county islands in its wake, said Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert.

The situation has reached a critical point in Gilbert: Rural/Metro Fire Department has chosen to stop providing service on July 1 to most of the town's county islands, which are unincorporated pieces of land surrounded by a municipality.

You can read the entire article for a sense of the problem, but there does not seem to be an easy, fair solution (just like tax law: you can have simple, or you can have fair - you cannot have both).

I asked The Mister how we ended up with these county islands throughout Gilbert, and his explanation is really quite straightforward. Back in the day, when Gilbert was a postage stamp-sized town, various housing communities were built in the county. When the housing boom began, and the larger homebuilders started developing the land, they wanted to provide their residents with the big four town services: water, sewer, police protection and fire services. So naturally, they annexed into Gilbert. It never occurred to them to annex the land around them; they weren't looking to damage their relationships with their neighbors - many of whom were already unhappy about them moving in next door anyway - even though they had the legal right and ability to do so (this is complicated, but annexation is achieved by having a 51% approval of the property owners, which by dint of sheer size of ownership, most large home builders possess). So, for example, when The Mister and I were young marrieds, we lived in a county-approved neighborhood in Higley. That neighborhood is now surrounded by Shea and Standard Pacific developments, which annexed into the Town, leaving our old neighborhood floating as an island.

It's interesting to note that the Town of Gilbert is being framed as "the bad guy" that won't provide services to these islands. The event that has actually forced the discussion is the pullout of Rural Metro as the provider of fire services. This is not to cast Rural Metro as the culprit, either; as a private company, they deserve to make their decisions based on economic feasibility.

What's the solution? Either annex, or pay for the services. How can that transition be made?

Now, that's the conundrum.