On April 30, 1992, the City of Bothell in King County doubles in size with the annexation of 5.3 square miles of Canyon Park in Snohomish County. Bothell becomes the third largest employment center in Snohomish County with a total population of approximately 25,000. Bothell also gains approximately $652 million in property valuations for tax purposes.
The City of Bothell was first incorporated in 1908 and did not receive a reliable road to Seattle until 1914. By the end of the twentieth century, Bothell had grown to more than 12,000. Many residents of the area outside the city limits had a Bothell mailing address.
In 1991, a group of citizens called Neighborhoods for Bothell Annexation circulated a petition for annexation. Petition gatherers sported buttons that read, "Let's Make Bothell Our Hometown." The petition received 1,473 signatures -- equal to 70 percent of the assessed valuation of the area -- and it went to the Boundary Review Board for Snohomish County. A competing group took action to form the city of North Creek, which was much larger and overlapped the proposed annexation area, but the North Creek idea did not receive the requisite signatures.
The Boundary Review Board heard testimony both for and against the annexation and then on February 19, 1992, approved the move. The Bothell City Council approved as well, but some residents fought the action in court. The plaintiffs later withdrew the suits.
Bothell hired eight additional police officers and 17 other new employees to provide services to the new area.
