New taxes, 42nd St barricade removal, road improvements recommended

Feb. 19, 2019: The Sammamish city manager is laying the groundwork to the city council to impose the first utility tax of up to 3%, to begin imposing annual 1% property tax increases and to undertake pinpoint traffic improvements—including the controversial removal of the 42nd St. barricade in Timberline.

These proposals are in the packet for tonight’s city council meeting, beginning at PDF page 65.

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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.

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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.

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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

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.

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