By Miki Mullor
Editor

The City of Sammamish is moving toward a plan that could more than double the size of its Town Center — from roughly 2,000 units to as many as 4,000 — but the path to that decision is raising questions of transparency and integrity.

Under Washington’s Growth Management Act, Sammamish is required to adopt growth targets for future housing. After initially setting a modest 700-unit target in 2021, the number was abruptly removed by the regional Growth Management Planning Council under disputed circumstances. The City Council later was forced to adopt a higher target of 2,007 units, of which only 560 were earmarked for the Town Center.

Despite this, city leaders are now advancing a proposal that would double the Town Center’s density, to 4,000 units.

Records obtained via Public Records Requests filed with Sammamish and King County show councilmembers held private meetings with the project’s developer, while a final vote was quietly scheduled for December 2025 — after local elections but before the new council takes office. Following public outcry, that vote date was quietly deleted from the city’s schedule without explanation. There is nothing to prevent the council from reestablishing a December vote, however.

The lack of transparency, coupled with inconsistent justifications, has left critics arguing that the Town Center expansion is less about meeting legal housing obligations and more about a tainted process.