Tag: Jason Ritchie

Town Center Phase I details revealed: 424 homes on 13.5 Acres; blocked by concurrency

By Miki Mullor
Editor

  • STCA LLC, the largest landowner in the Town Center, files its first permit application
  • The development site is between SE 4th and the Lower Commons park
  • City Manager recently said the development will likely fail the current concurrency
  • Valderrama advocates for STCA to relax concurrency
Continue reading “Town Center Phase I details revealed: 424 homes on 13.5 Acres; blocked by concurrency”

Ritchie accuses the council majority of denying a debate on plastic bags ban; Malchow denies

Miki Mullor
Editor

  • Ritchie and Ross trade heated text messages
  • The legislative committee failed to get the required three votes for a proclamation
  • Discussion on the plastic bag ban postponed

The dysfunction of Sammamish City Council reached new levels over a proclamation in support of Senate Bill 5323 that calls for a state-wide plastic bag ban and a 5 cents tax for paper bags.

Continue reading “Ritchie accuses the council majority of denying a debate on plastic bags ban; Malchow denies”

BREAKING NEWS: City Manager finalist withdraws over Council Member’s comments on Facebook

Miki Mullor
Editor

Regan Bolli

Two days before a public reception at City Hall, City Manager finalist Regan Bolli withdrew his candidacy over comments made by a Sammamish city council member on Facebook with the last week.

An email to Interim City Manager Larry Patterson from the City’s recruiter reads:

Continue reading “BREAKING NEWS: City Manager finalist withdraws over Council Member’s comments on Facebook”

Sammamish fire station hours reduced, fire engine removed

By Scott Hamilton

Staffed hours at Sammamish Fire Station 81 on 212th Ave. near SE 20th St. were reduced by half and the fire engine removed Jan. 1.

In what appears to be a series of communications failures, there was no notice to city residents in the service area.

Station 81’s service area is the light green color with 284 incidents. All but 80 occurred during the 8:30am-8:30pm period. The fire engine has been retired and an aid car (ambulance) now is staffed only during this 12 hour period instead of 24 hours. Source: Eastside Fire & Rescue.

Station 81’s service are is the western part of Sammamish from roughly just west of 228th Ave. SE to Thompson Hill Road on the north and Snake Hill Road on the south. The Station is located on 212th Ave. SE a half a block south of SE 20th St.

Continue reading “Sammamish fire station hours reduced, fire engine removed”

A Split City Council Votes to Oppose Sen. Palumbo’s “Minimum Density” Bill

Miki Mullor
Editor

In a 4/3 split vote, Sammamish City Council voted to officially oppose Sen. Palumbo’s bill to mandate upzoning in areas within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).   

Council member Chris Ross said:

“I am very strongly against ceding control over our community… to allow the state to take over our planning and treating an urban rural suburb [Sammamish] the same as core urban city like Seattle is completely irresponsible”.

Continue reading “A Split City Council Votes to Oppose Sen. Palumbo’s “Minimum Density” Bill”

Proposed “Minimum Density” state law would upzone 76% of Sammamish to 6 units per acre and convert 44% of it to high density development

By Miki Mullor
Editor

  • The bill would require high density development within ¼ mile from schools, parks and commercial areas.
  • The bill also limits parking spaces to one space per four high density housing units.
  • Sammamish Council Members Jason Ritchie and Pam Stuart opposes the bill’s mandate to upzone; Ramiro Valderrama is silent.
Continue reading “Proposed “Minimum Density” state law would upzone 76% of Sammamish to 6 units per acre and convert 44% of it to high density development”

In a historic vote, Sammamish City Council takes a stand on over-development

By Miki Mullor

Analysis

On Tuesday night, the Sammamish City Council drew a line in the sand on over-development, forcing a potential pause on development until a much needed public infrastructure is built.  

A split council voted on an esoteric traffic engineering parameter that decides what is the accepted level of traffic congestion the city is willing to tolerate.  

In doing so, the council have possibly made Sammamish the first jurisdiction in the Puget Sound to be implementing the Growth Management Act (GMA) the way it was originally intended to – to protect the citizens’ quality of life.

Continue reading “In a historic vote, Sammamish City Council takes a stand on over-development”