As Rob Young drives his Prius along Klahanie Boulevard, squares of fresh concrete mark the sidewalk like a hopscotch. Developers planted the trees too close, and their roots tore up the original pathway.

Typically a city would make the repairs, but Young lives in Klahanie, an unincorporated pocket of King County, which doesn’t have the money.

As a result, the Klahanie Homeowners’s Association had to shell out $566,000 to fix the mess, and expects to spend thousands more in the coming year.

The sidewalk problem is just one of a many reasons why Young is pushing to have Klahanie to annex to Issaquah. His group, Club Annex, wants to get the issue on the ballot in 2013.

Klahanie residents pay higher taxes than their neighbors in Issaquah and Sammamish, yet the services they receive are limited.It once took six months for the county to fill a large pothole on Klahanie Boulevard.

The county’s police presence is so scarce that the homeowners’ association pays off-duty deputies to patrol the neighborhoods. The extra 65 hours per week of protection has dropped the crime rate significantly, said Marta McKie, the association’s community manager.

There’s also the issue of Klahanie Park, the community’s only stretch of green with sports field, including baseball diamonds. A few years ago, the county threatened to close the park because it couldn’t afford to mow the grass and pick up garbage. While the county later backed off, the discussion over the park shocked Young.

“It’d be a disaster if they let this go.”

The road to annexation starts with his neighbors, Young says. If he can get 10 percent of the residents to sign a petition favoring annexation, it would prompt serious discussions with Issaquah. If he can do this by his self-imposed June deadline, Young feels the issue could become part of the Issaquah City Council’s goals for 2013 and improve chances of the issue being on the ballot next year.

Overcoming the past

This isn’t the first time Klahanie has sought to annex to Issaquah. Seven years ago, residents heartily approved annexation, but refused to assume the city’s debt. What they didn’t understand is that the City Council required both in order to accept Klahanie’s 13,000 residents. Klahanie begged for a revote, but it was too late.

One reason for the misunderstanding was information spread a couple weeks before the vote by a small group of residents that wanted to annex to Sammamish.

“It was this total smear campaign and the residents fell for it,” said Trish Heinonen, an Issaquah city planner. “We were flabbergasted.”

Residents also believed they had a choice between Issaquah and Sammamish, when in reality the area is in Issaquah’s Potential Annexation Area. A PAA has only been changed once in the county’s history, and only because three cities claimed one area.

Issaquah is a good fit for Klahanie. Many resident use the city’s pool and community center. They participate in service clubs and on boards and commissions, said councilmember Fred Butler.

For Issaquah the annexation would be revenue neutral. It would pay for itself, but little more. However, a special offer from the state could mean the city would get a tax credit of several million dollars, which likely would get poured into repairing Klahanie’s infrastructure.

Like Butler, councilmember Mark Mullet would have Klahanie, if it wants to be had. But, if the community prefers Sammamish, he’s OK with supporting a transfer of the PAA to Sammamish.

So far, Sammamish has resolved to hold its tongue on the issue until Issaquah makes up its mind. There is a significant financial advantage for Sammamish, which relies much more heavily on property taxes than Issaquah.

If the vote were to make it to Issaquah’s ballot, the indebtedness would likely be included with the annexation to make it clear that they’re both necessary, Mullet said.

In the meantime, Young is trying to get the issue moving, before too many faces change in the political realm.

“We were told we should do this while the stars, moon and Klahanie still align.”