Become a Wildlife Habitat Steward

Editorial

Sammamish residents have an opportunity to restore and protect wildlife habitat and the birds, animals and critters who live and depend on these areas.

Wildlife, right down to butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, are critical to the eco-system.

Continue reading “Become a Wildlife Habitat Steward”

A Split City Council Votes to Oppose Sen. Palumbo’s “Minimum Density” Bill

Miki Mullor
Editor

In a 4/3 split vote, Sammamish City Council voted to officially oppose Sen. Palumbo’s bill to mandate upzoning in areas within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).   

Council member Chris Ross said:

“I am very strongly against ceding control over our community… to allow the state to take over our planning and treating an urban rural suburb [Sammamish] the same as core urban city like Seattle is completely irresponsible”.

Continue reading “A Split City Council Votes to Oppose Sen. Palumbo’s “Minimum Density” Bill”

Proposed “Minimum Density” state law would upzone 76% of Sammamish to 6 units per acre and convert 44% of it to high density development

By Miki Mullor
Editor

  • The bill would require high density development within ¼ mile from schools, parks and commercial areas.
  • The bill also limits parking spaces to one space per four high density housing units.
  • Sammamish Council Members Jason Ritchie and Pam Stuart opposes the bill’s mandate to upzone; Ramiro Valderrama is silent.
Continue reading “Proposed “Minimum Density” state law would upzone 76% of Sammamish to 6 units per acre and convert 44% of it to high density development”

Builders-supported Planning Commission Chair is out; Another commissioner resigns

The Sammamish City Council voted 4-3 to not re-appoint Planning Commission chair Shanna Collins to a second term, going against a plea from Master Builders Assoc, the lobby group representing 2,900 builders.

On Tuesday we reported on the planning commission’s vision of densifying Sammamish neighborhoods.

Continue reading “Builders-supported Planning Commission Chair is out; Another commissioner resigns”

Planning Commission’s vision: apartments, townhomes in the neighborhoods

  • Plan envisions high density in single family neighborhoods.
  • 13 growth centers outlined throughout the city.

By Miki Mullor

Should Sammamish neighborhoods be transformed into mini high density “town centers”?

Yes, if you ask the city’s Planning Commission.

In what will likely to become an election issue, a new vision for the city, centred on high density housing and retail centers, has been put forward by two Planning Commissioners and supported by the entire planning commission and two council members.

This is a departure from the current strategy of “absorbing” or “focusing” growth in the Town Center, spreading growth all over the city.

Continue reading “Planning Commission’s vision: apartments, townhomes in the neighborhoods”

Top 10 stories of 2018

The Top 10 stories in Sammamish for 2018 revolved around traffic, the building moratorium and—surprisingly—a state legislative action concerning public records.

The Sammamish Town Center was the focus of controversy in 2018, connected to many of the Top 10 stories for the year.

Here are the stories most viewed on Sammamish Comment for the year. Continue reading “Top 10 stories of 2018”

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”