Tag Archives: Town Center

Opinion: Six years after approving 419 units in the Town Center, Sammamish still hasn’t built Sahalee Way it promised — yet the city pushes to expand Town Center

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By Miki Mullor 

In 2019, Sammamish residents were assured that growth would be responsibly managed. The law was clear: Under Washington’s Growth Management Act, no development can move forward unless infrastructure keeps pace (“concurrent with development”) – aka “concurrency”.

Specifically, any road improvements used to pass a concurrency test must be funded and built within six years.

That safeguard was supposed to protect residents from exactly what Sammamish has been plagued for years: unchecked growth without the adequate infrastructure.

Yet, six years after STCA Phase 1 in the Town Center was approved based on the $54 million Sahalee way improvement project, that project has not been completed, as legally required.  It has not even started.

This is not the first time the city approves development under the concurrency 6 years allowance, as concurrency tests failed over the years – this was just the most egregious example.    

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Opinion: Town Center Upzoning to 4,000 Homes Needs Voter Approval

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By Miki Mullor

Commentary

The Sammamish City Council is facing an extraordinary moment in the life of our city.

On the table is a plan to double the number of housing units in the Town Center—from the current 2,000 to 4,000. This is by far the most consequential decision the city has faced since 2010, when the original Town Center plan was adopted.

Even more extraordinary is the timing: this decision is scheduled to occur just as four City Council seats—enough for a new majority—are up for election this November. If just three of those seats change hands and align with Councilmember Kent Treen, who opposes the Town Center 4000 plan, the plan could be blocked.

In theory, that means voters could decide the fate of Town Center 4000 simply by voting for council candidates. But the council has another option: place an advisory vote on the ballot. That would allow residents to vote directly on the plan and for their preferred candidates—regardless of the candidates’ individual positions on the issue.

It should be an easy decision.

Mayor Karen Howe, in a recent op-ed we published, expressed confidence that the public supports expanding the Town Center. If that’s the case, why is the sitting City Council unwilling to postpone the final vote on Town Center 4000 until January—after the election results are in?

Perhaps the mayor is not so sure that public support exists. And if the support isn’t there, moving forward would risk breaking public trust.

The timing set by the current city council to vote on Town Center 4000 certainly suggests they doubt the purported support is there. They plan to vote on approval of this policy in December–after the November election and before the new city council is seated in January. Therefore, if three current council members who support this policy are defeated in November, they still get to lock in the new project before opponents take office.

The timing appears intended to be a slap in the face to residents and to the taxpayers who must subsidize the growth that comes with Town Center 4000.

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Opinion: Sammamish safe, welcoming, inclusive

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By Karen Howe
Mayor, City of Sammamish

Mayor Karen Howe

Over three years ago, three of us were voted into office on a platform that included support for Town Center, more housing choices, and affordability. The election in 2023 shows three council-members getting 53%, 58%, and 59% of the vote with the same basic platform. 

A consistent theme I’ve read in much of the feedback is that folks are good with the idea of a town center and adding social retail and more housing options – both market rate and more affordable. They struggle with the number 4000 and I understand that. So how do we get to a Town Center plan that people can related to. 

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Opinion: let the residents vote on doubling the Town Center size

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By Tom Odell
Former Mayor and City Council Member

The 2025 Sammamish City Council is considering proposed changes to the Sammamish Town Center project that was originally approved by the 2010 City Council.  

Tom Odell

I doubt if very many people got the notice regarding the changes as there is only a requirement that it be distributed to the affected and immediate “neighborhood”.  The current definition of the required notice area is very geographically limited.  Others living outside must request to be notified (I did). 

It is likely that very few Sammamish residents have done so or were notified.

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BREAKING NEWS: City denies Town Center STCA Phase 1 application for 348 homes

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By Miki Mullor
Editor

The City of Sammamish Friday denied the permit application submitted by STCA LLC, the larget landowner in the Town Center.

The year-long review is a major blow to STCA and development of the central core of the city. The city staff rejected the application for 300 apartments and 48 townhomes over a multitude of issues. The Community Development Department said the application failed to comply with the development code, ignored environmental requirements and key design elements of the Town Center Plan.

The department had communicated with STCA repeatedly to correct deficiencies, extending the review period several times. STCA still failed to meet requirements, the city said in its decision.

A second STCA application, for 44 homes adjacently, also suffers similar deficiencies, however, STCA was granted 60 days to remedy it. 

This is the same project that was the subject of a controversial approval of a concurrency certificate in August 2019. 

The denial is subject to appeal to the Hearing Examiner. It also won’t prevent STCA from submitting a new redesign of the project in the future but it is not clear whether STCA can reuse its 2019 concurrency certificate. 

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