Time for fresh approaches

By Scott Hamilton
Founder, Sammamish Comment

The Sammamish City Council held its last meeting of 2018 yesterday, ending the most contentious and divisive year I’ve seen since the incorporation vote in 1998.

As 2019 prepares to arrive, it’s time for a fresh approach to how this city is governed.

The city council, administration and staff has been consumed by traffic concurrency, the resulting building moratorium and related development regulations all year—really, since October 2017, when the moratorium was adopted to give the government time to sort out the concurrency issues.

These issues consumed the city nearly to the exclusion of all else.

Continue reading “Time for fresh approaches”

Hey, Sammamish, Let’s Celebrate Our 20th Birthday

OP-ED
By Don Gerend

Background

Don Gerend

Sammamish is the youngest city in Western Washington, just 20 years old next summer.

Only about a third of our current citizens were here for the City’s birth, beginning with a vote to incorporate in November 1998, followed by a tempestuous campaign by more than  40 candidates for the first city council.

Continue reading “Hey, Sammamish, Let’s Celebrate Our 20th Birthday”

BREAKING NEWS: New concurrency passes 4:3; new development now in question

A split Sammamish City Council tonight passed the new traffic concurrency rules.

The “M4,” Mayor Christie Malchow, Deputy Mayor Karen Moran and Council Members Tom Hornish and Chris Ross, voted for the new volume/capacity (V/C) rule that brings some measurement of reality on the roads into Sammamish concurrency rules.

The “V3,” Council Members Ramiro Valderrama, Pam Stuart and Jason Ritchie, voted against.

Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: New concurrency passes 4:3; new development now in question”

In a historic vote, Sammamish City Council takes a stand on over-development

By Miki Mullor

Analysis

On Tuesday night, the Sammamish City Council drew a line in the sand on over-development, forcing a potential pause on development until a much needed public infrastructure is built.  

A split council voted on an esoteric traffic engineering parameter that decides what is the accepted level of traffic congestion the city is willing to tolerate.  

In doing so, the council have possibly made Sammamish the first jurisdiction in the Puget Sound to be implementing the Growth Management Act (GMA) the way it was originally intended to – to protect the citizens’ quality of life.

Continue reading “In a historic vote, Sammamish City Council takes a stand on over-development”

Second Sammamish council member says focus growth in Town Center, dodges property rights issues

By Scott Hamilton

A second Sammamish city council member went on record, declaring that

Jason Ritchie
Jason Ritchie

future growth should “focus” on the Town Center.

Jason Ritchie Tuesday joined Member Pam Stuart in calling for future growth to go to the Town Center.

As Sanmamsih Comment wrote Oct. 22, suggesting that future development be directed to the Town Center raises a host of questions.

The Comment posed these to Ritchie. He wrote back, “I’m happy with my statement as is. Nothing more to add at this point. I’ll be working with my fellow council members and their positions to find compromise and a path forward.” Continue reading “Second Sammamish council member says focus growth in Town Center, dodges property rights issues”

BREAKING NEWS:Moratorium effectively lifted off Town Center; development regulations watered down

  • In a 4-3 vote, the Sammamish city council voted to water down the interim development regulation adopted two months ago and to exempt 65 lots that were in the pipeline
  • Deputy Mayor Karen Moran joined Council Members Ramiro Valderrama, Pam Stuart and Jason Ritchie to vote in favor.
  •  City council also voted 6-1 to accept an “MOU” (Memorandum of Understanding) with STCA, the Town Center developer.  The effect of accepting the MOU is that STCA can apply for permits for at least 500 units before the work on V/C concurrency is done, likely allowing development of the Town Center under the old method of concurrency.
  • Council Member Tom Hornish voted against the motion.

More analysis to come.

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Election night results for races including Sammamish

Kim Schrier, Democrat running for US Congress in the 8th Congressional

Republican Dino Rossi is losing badly on election night in his bid for US Congressman.

District, which includes Sammamish, jumped to a commanding lead over Republican Dino Rossi.

Schrier received 55% of the election night vote over Rossi, who lives in Sammamish. As expected, Schrier’s base lies in Democratic King County. The 8th includes portions of Pierce County and all of Kittitas and Chelan counties.

A loss by Rossi would be his fourth in a row. He lost twice for governor and once for US Senator.

Democrats appear to be sweeping State Senate and State Representative seats in the 5th, 41st and 45th Legislative districts.

The 5th includes the greater Klahanie area. The 41st is roughly the southern half of Sammamish and the 45th the norther half, roughly along a line of SE 8th St.

Election night results are below the jump.

Historically, election night results vary only a point or two from the final results, which won’t be tallied until after Thanksgiving.

Continue reading “Election night results for races including Sammamish”