Category Archives: Town Center

History of Sammamish: Building moratorium ends in 2005

Posted on by
Reply

The period 2004-2005 saw little controversy in Sammamish. Rather, this was a period of developing projects that had direct benefit for the residents.

City_of_Sammamish

History of Sammamish

A moratorium on building development, adopted when the City incorporated in 1999, remained in place. It would be lifted by the end of 2005 after developers sued, alleging the length of the moratorium was excessive. Fighting the lawsuit, and potentially losing it, could have bankrupted Sammamish. So, it was agreed the moratorium would be lifted.

But the moratorium didn’t stop the City from developing and upgrading parks and roads. The fight over development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail—of which the City was not a part—continued.

Two civic events were launched that have become popular draws: Nightmare at Beaver Lake and Summer Nights in the Park.

Highlights in 2004-2005

Continue reading →

Sammamish’s trek to court over Land Use Appeals, other issues; cost to taxpayers stonewalled

Posted on by
2

The City of Sammamish has gone to court 28 times in the last 10 years on matters other than routine operational reasons. Half were for Land Use Petition (development) (LUP) appeals from Hearing Examiner decisions, a review of court records reveals.

In addition, the City wound up in Court over development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail for what’s called an Administrative Law Review, three times over Public Records and twice by parties seeking injunctions against the City.

The City also is a defendant in a damages lawsuit by developer William Buchan, which is also the plaintiff in one of the LUPs. Both are for the proposed development of Chestnut Estates West, west of 212th Ave. SE and SE 8th St.

The review of records in King County Superior Court this week revealed numerous other court actions relating to City requests to condemn land (usually for road rights of way) and Quit Claim deeds. These are routine cases related to the normal operation of the City.

The court cases do not include recent actions before the state Shorelines Hearing Board on appeals by King County and the Sammamish Homeowners group over a Hearing Examiner’s decision regarding development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail.

Continue reading →

Lawsuit questions legitimacy of Sammamish Town Center Plan

Posted on by
1

A lawsuit challenges the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan following adoption of the 2015 Comprehensive Plan revisions in the state-required 10-year

Paul Stickney filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court questioning the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan.

Paul Stickney filed a lawsuit in King County Superior Court questioning the legitimacy of the Sammamish Town Center Plan.

update.

Paul Stickney and Richard Birgh, two residents of the Town Center who have commercial development aspirations, filed the lawsuit Aug. 12 after the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board rejected a challenge on procedural grounds.

Sammamish Comment discovered the lawsuit while reviewing the number of lawsuits filed against the City, or that the City has filed against others, regarding land use actions.

Continue reading →

Market-driven building moratorium is over; pent-up demand is building now

Posted on by
1

City_of_SammamishEditor’s note: There has been a spirited discussion on Facebook under Save Sammamish (a closed group) about the current level of development and the topic of a building moratorium. Here is what I posted this morning.

When the Comp Plan was written in 2001-2003 (of which I was a part), we did everything possible to meet the minimum requirements of the Growth Management Act (GMA) in order to have the minimum growth for our city. However, development of the Town Center was set aside from this process for a separate process.

Except for some very selected areas for GMA compliance purposes, no up-zoning was approved by the City Council.

As has been discussed, growth and job targets are set in negotiation with the county and other cities. Sammamish considers itself an island, so we always argued for minimum growth targets.

Then we did the Town Center plan. There were proposals for up to 1.7 million SF of commercial/retail/office (larger than Redmond Town Center) and (if I recall correctly) at least 3,500 residential units.

These were non-starter proposals. The committees and Planning Commission (of which I was also a part) settled on recommending to Council 500,000 sf of commercial and 2,000 units. The Council upped this to 600,000 and 2,500. The Environmental Impact Statement studied up to 700,000 sf and 3,000 units before another EIS would be required with dramatically higher road improvements also required.

Continue reading →

Town Center Moratorium dead, but growth issues heading toward Retreat

Posted on by
3
Valderrama

Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama unleashed a firestorm of opposition to a building moratorium when he suggested one for the Sammamish Town Center.

The Sammamish City Council decided Tuesday to not pursue a proposal by Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama to undertake a 60-day study that could have led to a building moratorium for the Town Center.

The TC is already under construction, but there remains about 40 acres for which a building permit application has yet to be filed.

The Council considered Valderrama’s suggestion after nearly two hours of public comment, nearly all of it opposing a moratorium

But the issue isn’t dead. Continue reading →