Tag Archives: Sammamish

Metropolitan Market project for Sammamish Town Center breaks ground

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MetroMarket Groundbreaking

Sammamish City Council members participate in the ceremonial ground breaking for the Village at the Town Center, anchored by Metropolitan Market. L-R: Mayor Tom Vance, Council Member Don Gerend, Deputy Mayor Kathy Huckabay and Council Member Bob Keller. Vance and Keller served on two planning commissions that created the Town Center Plan. Scott Hamilton, editor of Sammamish Comment, served with both on the two Commissions, also participating in creating the Town Center Plan. Click on photo to enlarge. Photo by Scott Hamilton.

The first commercial/retail center for the Sammamish Town Center broke ground this morning at the corner of SE 4th St. and 228th Ave. SE.

This is a major milestone in the history of Sammamish.

The Town Center plan was some six years in the making, involving five citizen committees and commissions comprised of about 70 citizens; City Councils spanning 2004-2010; and staff time to this day.

Hundreds of citizens participated in charets and public meetings over the course of this time.

The creation of the Town Center Plan truly began in about 2004. The area, roughly bounded by an area extending to the Mars Hill Church on 228th (the church lies just outside the northern boundary) to Skyline High School and Mary Queen of Peace on the north; and from the Eastside Catholic High School (which is outside the Town Center) on the East to roughly 222nd St. on the West. The Sammamish Commons is part of the Town Center Plan.

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“Go slow, do it right” on Klahanie annexation, but “go fast and go on vacation” to approve revised Comp Plan

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Sammamish City Council members were adamant they wanted to “go slow and do it right” on the annexation of the Klahanie area, but Mayor Tom Vance and a majority of the Council have been pushing to adopt a complete revision to the Comprehensive Plan before the August recess.

Council Member Nancy Whitten  believes flaws remain in the new Comp Plan, which has been a virtual complete rewrite of the detailed plan adopted in 2001 after 18 months of work by the Planning Advisory Board. The new Comp Plan is far more general, she says, reducing environmental protections, particularly potentially for Pine Lake. Pine Lake is one of six “303(d)” lakes in King County. Beaver Lake and Laughing Jacobs Lake or Lake Sammamish (I forget which), also in Sammamish, are two others.

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Second ground breaking for Town Center is Monday

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The second ground breaking for development of the Sammamish Town Center is Monday, July 20, at 10am. This one is for the prime commercial development, at the corner of SE 4th and 228th Av e. SE (the former “Caboose” property).

Groundbreaking for the mixed use development across the street occurred some months ago and excavation is well underway.

The Village, where the Metropolitan Market will be the commercial anchor for the Sammamish Town Center. Click on image to enlarge.

The commercial development is anchored by the Metropolitan Market.  “The 115,000 square foot project will have medical offices, a yet to be announced restaurant and 159 Apartment units and ample parking for 383 vehicles,” the City says in an event notice.        “This project marks the seventh location and first new construction from the ground up for Metropolitan Market, a Seattle-based grocery store known for offering the highest quality products since 1971.”

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“We need King County,” Sammamish says; now we know why

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  • Variety of public works projects need King County cooperation and support.
  • Klahanie annexation a factor.
  • East Lake Sammamish Trail development a factor.
  • City doesn’t know the value of its Staff time devoted to the East Lake Sammamish Trail-King County issues.

During the disputes early this year over King County’s development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail North End (Section 1) and proposed design of the far South End (Section 2A), many urged the City to take a firm hand with the County.

Some, including at one point City Council Member Tom Odell, urged the City to issue a Stop Work Order on the North End while the City reviewed problems that developed as the County destroyed “significant” trees (ie, good quality, mature trees), young trees and scrub trees; damaged sewage lines, while denying responsibility; building a trail that effectively denied access by some homeowners to their own garages; and other issues that came up.

Sammamish Comment detailed these problems last January in an 18-page investigative report.

At the same time, the County was designing Section 2A, that part of the trail from the 7-11 south to the Issaquah City Limits. Residents along the trail, interested parties and the City submitted comments to the County. When the 60% design was issued, these parties were enraged to see that the County had largely ignored the comments. The City was particularly unhappy that none of its comments were addressed.

As the permitting agency, the City held power over the County. Officials threatened to withhold permits for the Southern sections 2A and 2B (which is still to come). Holding up permits would threaten the loss of federal funding.

But the City was reluctant to issue a Stop Work Order on the North End, terminate an interlocal agreement with the County governing the Trail, or take other measures, because “We need King County.”

Officials at the time wouldn’t detail what this meant.

What was meant became clear with the July 7 City Council meeting and subsequent events. Officials were reluctant to take a firmer hand over the Trail because:

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Sammamish transportation fund will be nearly depleted by 2020, forecast shows

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The Sammamish transportation fund will be nearly depleted by 2020, a forecast shown the City Council July 7 indicates.

In a staff presentation outlining the six year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) planning document, a requirement under state law, focus was on the projected budget through 2019. During this period, Staff emphasized the prospect of obtaining grants, revenue from the Klahanie annexation and other fees that will support a variety of road projects.

But little discussion occurred on the declining fund balance projections beginning in 2017 and the dramatic drop offs thereafter to virtually no balance in 2020 or 2021.

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