By Tom Odell
Former Mayor and City Council Member

The 2025 Sammamish City Council is considering proposed changes to the Sammamish Town Center project that was originally approved by the 2010 City Council.  

I doubt if very many people got the notice regarding the changes as there is only a requirement that it be distributed to the affected and immediate “neighborhood”.  The current definition of the required notice area is very geographically limited.  Others living outside must request to be notified (I did). 

It is likely that very few Sammamish residents have done so or were notified.

Following below is a chart from the draft 2007 Town Center Environmental Impact Statement outlining density options originally discussed for Town Center by the Planning Commission and City Council in the 2008 – 2010 time period.  

The Current Town Center Plan:

I was a member of the 2010 City Council.  The 2010 Council’s decision was to approve Alternative 3 with a lower maximum housing unit limit of 2,000 living units.    All alternatives were previously evaluated in considerable detail by both the Planning Commission and the City Council.  At that the time there was a concerted push by certain interests for adopting Alternative 1.   This was rejected by the 2010 Council.

 The current City Council is again considering changing to Alternative 1.  Alternative 1 will result in a major change in density and an undesirable impact on current city residents both in terms of quality of life and cost.  It represents a major shift in the project’s originally approved focus and criteria.  

The Proposed Changes:

1. Building height would double to 12 stories – 150 feet from 75 currently. 

2. Approximately 500 additional residential units would be added to the 2,500 – 3,000 permitted under the current plan (Alt. 3).  This means 1500 – 2000 additional new residents in the middle of Sammamish.

3. Commercial retail space would increase by 100% from 200,000 to 400,000 square feet.  Office space would change  from a maximum of 85,000 sf. to 130,000 – up 53%.  This is an added total possible increase of around 240,000 square feet – a combined 85% increase.  

4. Civic use space would drop from a maximum of 200,000 sf. to as low as 90,000 – over 50%.  

5. Retail space will go up 45%.  

6. Public parking (for ALL uses) would increase by a lesser percentage – 30%, from 475-525 spaces to 600 – 700 spaces.  This is for all users, including TC residents.

7. Vehicle movements in the immediate area and throughout much of Sammamish could increase by 5,000 to 10,000 daily trips above today’s volume levels.

1. Vehicular trip generation is generally calculated as 10/day/residential unit.  It includes private cars, ride share vehicles as well as the amount of delivery activities (Amazon, UPS, door dash, delivery trucks, service vehicles, etc. 

The increase in traffic from the proposed changes in Town Center density in Alternative 1 will very negatively affect ALL SAMMAMISH RESIDENTS, not just those who will move here from elsewhere to occupy the new residential space.  Residents in the western 2/3 will be especially impacted.

There are several major concerns with this revised plan.  They need further study and serious discussion by a much broader community audience than has occurred thus far.

These include:

Impact on City Traffic:

The additional traffic from an enlarged Town Center will be largely concentrated mid-Sammamish on 228^th, 212^th, and SE 8^th Streets but would also flow through the city especially on our northern and southern gateway roads which are already significantly congested at peak traffic times.

Before this revised project gets final approval, we need a better understanding of changes in future traffic volumes and flows in both the immediate Town Center vicinity and in the surrounding neighborhoods from Sahalee to Pine Lake.  

Further study is highly suggested.

To my knowledge, no additional trunk road capacity will be provided within Sammamish at any time in the foreseeable future.  228^th Ave SE – the major conduit through the Town Center area – will likely be increasingly jammed.  This road is already very congested in the mid-to-late afternoon on weekdays.  An additional 5,000 to 10,000 daily vehicle trips created by the proposed TC plan changes will significantly extend the congestion period.  This will very negatively affect the quality of life for every resident of the City of Sammamish, particularly those living in the western 2/3 of the city.   

• Any future expansion of 228^th Avenue SE (if even feasible) and any other city roads would be prohibitively expensive and significantly strain city finances.  Traffic during reconstruction would be awful for Sammamish residents and negative for businesses.
  
• The additional traffic volume resulting from increased density will further congest heavily used city access points to the north and south of the city.  Plans for road improvements on these corridors have been on the city’s Traffic Improvement Plan for years but have not been implemented nor are they likely to happen.  They are also likely to continue to be cost prohibitive.
  
• The city’s few major efforts at roadway improvements have been significantly over their original cost estimates and budgets.  This has been a major factor in draining the city’s financial reserves.
  
• If current and historical usage rates are any guide to the future, public transit is unlikely to be a significant factor in Sammamish in reducing the number of additional daily vehicle movements.  The presence of light rail in Redmond will still require at least one – and possibly more – connections vs. driving directly in a car.  This is a big disincentive, especially for upper income residents.
  
• King County Metro has historically been reluctant to add or significantly improve our existing bus service.  Significant improvements need to be made to bus stop facilities (e.g. adding shelters and protected crosswalks) to make bus riding more desirable.  There is no current plan for any kind of transit center in the Town Center zone.

Public Safety Considerations:

Both the commercial and residential areas in Town Center will require a different kind of policing and a disproportionate increase in staffing relative to the current city levels.  Different and more costly – police and fire fighting resources will be needed to handle new policing and fire-fighting challenges. 

Emergency response times will go up – even with the use of emergency lights and sirens – due to the increases in TC area traffic congestion, especially after full TC buildout.

• The increased building heights require different firefighting capabilities and much more expensive equipment than we have at Eastside Fire & Rescue today.  Additional training will be needed across EF&R, and at least some crew sizes will have to increase.  EMT personnel and equipment will likewise need to similarly increase.

• Ladder trucks that can reach the top of a 12-story building do not currently exist in the Eastside Fire & Rescue inventory and will have to be procured.  At least two (possibly more) such units will need to be purchased by EF&R notwithstanding mutual aid agreements with other fire agencies.  The capital cost of these fire trucks is several million each.  They also require bigger crews than our current 3-person crew size.

• An additional – or significantly enlarged – fire station may be needed to house these larger trucks and staff as well as to maintain response time standards in view of the increased traffic congestion.

Emergency Evacuations:    

Recent experience in other parts of the US have shown that in the event of earthquakes, severe storms, and wildfires any large scale evacuations will be very difficult if not impossible due to the limited number of and relatively restricted capacities of the exit options from the Sammamish Plateau.  

A major earthquake will likely result in major structural damage and/or loss of one or more of our major access roads.  Fire and heavy wind often result in multiple road closures due to downed trees and utility poles.

Recent wildland fire experiences in Maui, Los Angeles, and other areas of California resulted in massive traffic jams on the highways.  Our own recent windstorms have similarly highlighted the need for well-designed community access with the capability to handle large surges in traffic volume.   Adding 6,000 to 8,000 more residents in a relatively small space in the center of Sammamish – as opposed to spreading them throughout the city – will severely overload the surrounding roads on a normal day and be totally chaotic in a mass evacuation event.  Firefighting and emergency medical services – may be very difficult or impossible to deliver in such conditions.

Schools and Parks:   

An increase in Town Center density will generate significant additional children and further stress one or both of our major school systems.  The same is true for city parks.  The Sammamish Plateau schools already have the largest class sizes in both districts.  Both districts will need to find additional facilities and resources to deal with the increase in students.   Solutions will not be cheap.  The same may be said for our parks.  

• New schools – and additional staff – come with a cost that will largely be borne by current Sammamish residents, not those who chose to move here in the future.  The added tax revenues collected from new arrivals and school and parks impact fees from the developer is unlikely to come close to offsetting the added public cost of schools and parks. 

• Building any additional schools in the Town Center zone will only aggravate what promises to be an already bad traffic problem.  No new schools should be built along 228^th Avenue or almost any other major city arterial roadway. 

• Sammamish sports fields for kids and adults are already overscheduled and facing pressure for additional access by the school districts.  Many of the existing fields have already been converted to all-weather turf so further conversions to increase playing hours are limited.  In addition, existing sports field facilities are under neighborhood pressure to restrict nighttime use.

Water and Sewage:  

Demand for potable water will increase and add to water demands and potential storage needs.  Both water districts indicate there is currently a sufficient supply.  However, the proposed density increase for Town Center will require water supply above what was previously identified in utility plans per water district management. 

Similarly, the additional sewage generated will add to further stress on the local system which has already needed to make local capacity improvements due to the regional system not providing adequate conveyance to our local sewer districts.  The planned diversion line to King County’s Brightwater sewage treatment plant has now been delayed until 2037 by King County. Current Sammamish sewage capacity will need to be evaluated based upon how and where the developer plans to discharge sewage.  Additional capacity may need to be added to accommodate the additional demands from the increase in Town Center housing units.   This may result in another building moratorium.  

Adding significant additional sewage capacity will be very costly. Depending upon where King County chooses to locate the Sammamish Plateau Diversion, this work may require digging up and then replacing a good deal the East Lake Sammamish Parkway or East Lake Sammamish Trail, further increasing total project cost.  Is all of this affordable?  Unlikely.

Storm Water Runoff Effects on Lake Sammamish:   

The Town Center is at the headwaters of both Ebright and Zaccuse Creeks, the two best remaining spawning streams for the Kokanee Salmon, a threatened subspecies unique to Lake Sammamish.  They also host a significant year-round resident trout population.

The city – through its membership in the Kokanee Work Group – a collaboration between the County, state, and local communities – has spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars in efforts to sustain the Kokanee salmon in our watershed.  This should not be further endangered

Large variations in runoff are very negative for salmon and trout and will threaten the future of the endangered Lake Sammamish Kokanee and our regions financial investment in its sustainability.  The potential for increased stream “flashiness” will rise in direct proportion to the amount and frequency of runoff from hard surfaces in this area.  Dry season normal stream flow rates may also decline, perhaps substantially, due to more limited ground water recharge.  Also, large hard surface areas increase typical stream temperatures – not a good thing for salmon and trout.

Furthermore, the additional traffic created by the growth in vehicle trips will increase the pollutants dropped onto city roads.  Some of these – such as brake lining materials and 6PPDQ from tire dust – are fatal to native salmon and trout specie – and increase stream and lake pollution.  This is already a significant ecological issue.   An increase in the scope of the Town Center will only aggravate the problems for the fish.

Limitations on Future Sammamish Growth:   

It has been suggested in the past by certain people who favor the higher Town Center densities that this is a way the city can handle ALL of its future growth requirements arising from King County growth objectives.  

This is false.  

Future city growth cannot legally be restricted to just the Town Center area.  Courts regularly side with the property owner in allowing this infill development in contested situations.  We will not stop normally organic development and higher density redevelopment from occurring elsewhere in the City of Sammamish by increasing the Town Center densities from that approved in 2010.  That theory is wishful thinking and unrealistic.

Many lots in the city already have higher density underlying zoning with lower as-built densities.  These are subject to redevelopment pressure by both current owners and developers.  Other owners will seek to have their properties rezoned to allow higher densities, again for personal financial reasons.

The Impact on City Finances:

The Town Center, contrary to what some believe or say, will not be revenue positive for the city.  It is NOT the answer to the city’s current financial challenges. The added – and different – policing and firefighting requirements will be major future increased cost drivers.  THE TOWN CENTER PROJECT IS and WILL REMAIN FINANCIALLY NEGATIVE FOR SAMMAMISH!  The Council – and the current residents of Sammamish – should not approve this proposed revised plan. 

We need a much more inclusive and robust city-wide review and discussion of these many significant issues and any possible alternatives.   Remaining with the current plan limits and conditions is the best option. 

Who Really Benefits?

This project will financially benefit a very small number of people who may or may not be city residents.  The people who will really gain from the proposed changes to the Town Center Project are the Town Center developers.  

It will NOT be the vast majority of the current Sammamish population!

An expanded Town Center will to a large degree likely serve people who do not live here today.  The proposed increase in population will significantly stress current city transportation, public safety, school, and water district resources.  It will not prevent or limit future building and development activity elsewhere in the city.  It will just further increase our density and add to future city ongoing expenses.  This is a real cost to those of us who live here now.

Concurrency – the standard for provision of services to the public – by their government does not just apply to traffic.  It relates to the adequacy of the provision of all aspects of civic services and infrastructure to the public.  It is doubtful that Sammamish will meet those standards given these proposed Town Center changes. 

The result will also be a very significantly different – and degraded – quality of life in Sammamish from that currently enjoyed by our current residents – and voters.  

Perhaps any decision to revise the current Sammamish Town Center plan should best be put to a vote by the current residents of the City of Sammamish so they can have their say in the matter.  After all, Sammamish is their community.

Our quality of life – today and in the future – is the real issue here.

This proposed change should not go forward.

Tom Odell

Former Mayor and City Council Member

City of Sammamish

Sammamish resident since 1989