By Miki Mullor 

In 2019, Sammamish residents were assured that growth would be responsibly managed. The law was clear: Under Washington’s Growth Management Act, no development can move forward unless infrastructure keeps pace (“concurrent with development”) – aka “concurrency”.

Specifically, any road improvements used to pass a concurrency test must be funded and built within six years.

That safeguard was supposed to protect residents from exactly what Sammamish has been plagued for years: unchecked growth without the adequate infrastructure.

Yet, six years after STCA Phase 1 in the Town Center was approved based on the $54 million Sahalee way improvement project, that project has not been completed, as legally required.  It has not even started.

This is not the first time the city approves development under the concurrency 6 years allowance, as concurrency tests failed over the years – this was just the most egregious example.    

How STCA Phase I was approved

When the STCA Town Center Phase I project came forward, it repeatedly failed unofficial concurrency tests because Sahalee Way was over capacity. Interim City Manager Larry Patterson even told the council in early 2019 that no development could move forward without improvements on Sahalee Way.

But then, in August 2019, something remarkable happened. After nine months of failures, the project suddenly passed concurrency — without a single shovel in the ground. How?

City staff convinced city council to insert a $54 million Sahalee Way widening project into the Transportation Improvement Plan (“TIP”), promising it is just done just for “planning”.

Sahalee Road proposal draws criticism from public, heat between Council Members

But even though it had no funding, no schedule and no realistic path forward, city staff included it in the traffic model used to test for concurrency. This “paper project” instantly flipped the results of the concurrency model.

How the STCA 419 homes development passed concurrency – after failing it for 9 months

Council members were blindsided. A special meeting was called to question staff. Residents demanded answers. Yet staff insisted that because the Sahalee Way project appeared in the TIP, it could be counted toward concurrency, despite the fact that it was nothing more than an unfunded placeholder.

In this video from 2019, City Attorney Mike Kenyon explains that concurrency projects, referencing the Sahalee Way $54 million project, must be built within 6 years. Former Acting Director of Public Works, Cheryl Paston, explained to council member Pam Stuart the word “funded” meant to her “the city will find funding”:

Stuart:	What projects get included in the modeling for concurrency?
Paston:	The projects in the model are in the latest adopted TIP.
Stuart:	Do they have to be funded or just be listed?
Paston:	They have to be funded because the model assuming the improvement is in place so they have to be completely funded.
Stuart:	As of right now, we wouldn’t be solving the concurrency problem because Sahalee isn’t funded.
Paston:	Sahalee is funded.
Stuart:	But they are not funded.  There are dollar figures next to them but we have a $88m shortfall, this is a $53 million project.   It’s not funded.
Paston:	When you say “funded,” I guess I am using a different terminology. For the model, it takes the six year TIP and assumes the city will find the funding to complete those projects, that’s how I was using the term.  The way I understand you’re using it is, do we have the money, the revenues, from various sources in hand, or will have by the end of the six years, and that is what you are all are discussing.

In effect, staff manipulated the concurrency system to give STCA its approval, leaving the city to deal with the consequences later.

Six years later: Nothing has changed

Fast forward to 2025. The Growth Management Act’s six-year clock has run out. The Sahalee Way improvements — used as the very justification for approving Town Center Phase I — were never funded, never designed and never started.

This means STCA’s original concurrency approval was built on a hollow promise. Legally and ethically, that’s a serious breach of public trust. The Growth Management Act was written precisely to prevent this situation: growth without infrastructure. Sammamish not only ignored the spirit of the law but may now be out of compliance with its letter.

And now, doubling down

Instead of reckoning with this failure, the city is preparing to make it worse. The council is advancing a plan to double the size of the Town Center to 4,000 units. 

This isn’t smart growth. It’s a bait and switch. The city already approved one massive project by leaning on phantom infrastructure. Now it wants to expand that project without ever delivering the first round of promised improvements.

The pattern is clear

What happened in 2019 was not just a one-off mistake. It was a deliberate choice to manipulate the concurrency system, override clear legal safeguards and put developer interests ahead of residents’ quality of life.

Today, the city is following the same playbook: approve more density now, worry about traffic and schools later. Except residents are no longer fooled. Traffic is already worse. Schools are already full. And the Sahalee Way “solution” that was supposed to fix this mess doesn’t exist.

A call to action

The Growth Management Act is clear: Infrastructure must keep pace with development. Sammamish ignored this once. Doing so again — on an even bigger scale — would not just be reckless; it would be unlawful.

If the city insists on pursuing a Town Center expansion, it must first deliver the improvements it promised six years ago. Sahalee Way was the test then, and it is the test now. Until that road expansion is funded and built per the 2019 plan, no further approvals should be granted.

Residents should demand accountability — and, if necessary, insist on putting Town Center expansion to a public vote, where the people who live with the consequences can finally have the final say.

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