Table of contents
(click on headline to go to report)June 9, 1999:
SAMMAMISH HIRES TRAFFIC CONSULTANT
June 5, 1999: SAMMAMISH TO ADOPT KING COUNTY CODES
May 29, 1999: Transportation Committee meeting
May 26, 1999: LAND USE COMMITTEE SCHEDULES ORDINANCE REVIEW
May 19, 1999: SAMMAMISH ENACTS MORATORIUM
May 12, 1999: CITY ATTORNEY HIRED, MORATORIUM PUT OVER TO
MAY 19
May 10, 1999: DYER IS MAYOR, CITY MANAGER APPOINTED,
MORATORIUM SENT TO COMMITTEE |
Reports
June 9, 1999: SAMMAMISH HIRES TRAFFIC CONSULTANT
The Sammamish City Council on June 9 contracted with Earth Tech of Bellevue, a traffic
engineering firm, to prepare the city's level-of-service standards (LOS) on the roadway
system.
LOS is a critical element of growth management under the State Environmental Protection
Authority (SEPA). Developments must pass SEPA standards and if traffic that will be
generated by the project fails the LOS set by the city (or county), and it cannot be
mitigated, the project should be denied.
The traffic planning will also outline what roadway improvements are necessary in the
near- and long-term future. For example, the planning will identify what road improvements
will be necessary for Issaquah-Pine Lake Road when the new Sammamish Plateau Access Road
for the I-90 Sunset interchange opens; demand for 212th, the Sammamish Parkway, the need
for new arterials and neighbor connectors, etc.
Earth Tech is a consultant to Issaquah and one of its principals, Victor Salemann,
lives in Sammamish.
The council table action on hiring on an as-needed basis a consulting firm to examine
King County projects already in the pipeline and vested. Staff recommended retaining a new
engineering firm, Johnson, Davies & Lathrop (JDL) of Seattle. However, after public
comment in which it was pointed out that JDL has no previous experience in examining
county concurrency and that KJS Associates of Bellevue successfully exposed improper
practices by the county on concurrency matters, the council unanimously put the issue over
for two weeks. KJS, Transpo and at least one other firm will be invited to make
presentations for this contract.
KJS represented Sammamish appellants in the Greens/Bordeaux at Beaver Crest and Cedar
Cove appeals. The King County hearing examiners in these cases agreed with the KJS
evidence that the concurrency certificates were issued in error. One of the principals of
KJS is Joe Savage, who also lives inSammamish.
The city plans to conduct a 'concurrency audit' of about a dozen sizable projects in
the pipeline to determine the validity of the concurrency certificate. If any of these
projects are found to have an improperly issued certificate, then the council will decide
what, if any, action it wants to take to challenge these projects through a formal appeal,
negotiations for additional mitigations or alterations to the projects, or completely
reopening the application process under the SEPA authority that will be assumed by the
city after incorporation.
The concurrency contract will be back before the council at the next meeting.
The council approved a series of tax ordinances, all routine actions that will redirect
taxes currently assessed and collected by King County to the city treasury. The council
tabled adoption of a 5% utility tax aimed at replacing the county road tax which will
expire upon incorporation on August 31. Finance committee chair Kathy Huckabay said
analysis indicates the city can afford to forego the road tax income for the immediate
future. This tax is $1.76 per $1,000 assessed valuation of property.
The council also approved a series of contracts with King County to provide services
for animal control, road maintenance, issuance of permits (other than those affected by
the building permit moratorium), etc.
A contest was also approved
for citizens to submit designs for the new city logo. A $500 cash prize will be
offered. All entries must be postmarked by the end of the third week in July. A selection
will be made by August 1, with adoption upon incorporation.
Contact the Sammamish city offices for entry form, which has the rules and entry form.
The offices are temporarily located in the H&R Block tax accounting office in the
Sammamish Highlands shopping center at the far south end of the complex.
June 5, 1999: SAMMAMISH TO ADOPT KING COUNTY CODES
Sammamish will adopt King County Codes to serve as the basis for the new city, its Land
Use and Zoning Committee said June 5.
Although acknowledging that King County was the major reason for voting to incorporate
in November, interim city planner Kelly Robinson said that the codes (KCC), which have
evolved since first adopted in 1948, are fundamentally good codes even if enforcement and
adherence to them by the county staff has not necessarily been good.
Committee chairman Troy Romero said that development projects that are vested are
vested to the existing KCCs and therefore once the city lifts the building permit
moratorium (and for those permits that are exempted from the moratorium), adoption of the
KCCs by the city is necessary.
For future permits, whether these are those exempted from the moratorium or new ones
once the moratorium is lifted, Sammamish needs its own codes (which Romero characterizes
as "interim" codes) to serve until a full comprehensive plan is written and
adopted, a process that could take up to 18 months.
The moratorium currently expires on August 31 and Romero said it is likely to be
extended for three or six months "or whatever."
Robinson said that of the dozen or so new cities formed since 1991 in King County, all
but two adopted KCCs as the basis for new ordinances and the two that didn't found
problems with inconsistencies and cross-references.
His review on this point was in response to citizen objections over adopting KCCs
because of the history in Sammamish with land use actions.
In the committee meeting on the 5th, minor changes to KCCs were adopted for
recommendation to the full council. The committee consists of Romero and vice chair Kathy
Huckabay, with Robinson as the designated staff member. Changes recommended by Robinson
were minor and in some cases termed "housekeeping" in nature.
KCC Title 19, the Subdivision Code, will see a change in the definition of a
"short plat," from four lots permitted to counties under state law to nine
permitted to cities.
No future development plat will be permitted with private streets, but will require
streets built to public standards (width, curbs, sidewalks). However, any plat vested and
areas currently with private streets will be unaffected.
Other minor changes were also made within the code.
The committee only partly got through Title 21, the Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Code, among them a change that will allow the city at its discretion to require developers
to dedicate open space to the city. The objective is to create a greenbelt if feasible
along developments. These areas will typically be unbuildable areas that might otherwise
be open space but remain as part of a homeowner's association or divided ownerships among
individual homeowners. The city could also opt for either of these but require an easement
to create a hiking trail.
Buffers along Class 1 and 2 streams (there are three classes of streams, with 1 being
the largest and 3 being seasonal) will be increased from 100 feet to 150 feet if salmonid
are present. The city may also add species of special interest (as defined, such as
red-legged frogs) to this list. Buffers on streams without salmonid or species of special
interest may also be increased but action on this recommendation was deferred for now.
The committee will continue reviewing Title 21 at its next meeting. Other Titles to be
reviewed this month and next are Title 25 (Shoreline Management Code), Chapter 16.82
(Clearing and Grading Code), and Chapter 21A.20 (Sign Code).
Although the committee meetings are not formal public hearings, Romero and Huckabay
accept public comment in writing or orally on the staff recommendations and on any
suggestions the public has for changes. Romero prefers written comment with specific
references to the Title, Chapter and section but proved receptive to oral comment as well.
The county's codes may be accessed at http://www.metrokc.gov with the menu of options
listed on the left side of the page. Click the county codes. An Adobe Reader program is
mandatory (and may be downloaded).
See elsewhere on Sammamish.net or the link to Eastsidetrail.com for date, time and
location of the next committee meetings.
May 29, 1999: Transportation Committee meeting
At the Sammamish City Council transportation committee meeting on May 29, it was
announced that the council has decided to do a traffic concurrency audit of development
applications on file with King County. The number and scope of this audit was not
detailed. This is a positive move (from the perspective of citizens). As has been proved
in certain successful appeals, the county's concurrency system was improperly implemented
prior to the fall of 1998.
May 26, 1999: LAND USE COMMITTEE SCHEDULES ORDINANCE
REVIEW
The Sammamish Land Use Committee, chaired by council member Troy Romero, scheduled
committee meetings June 5 from 8am-10am, June 17 from 7:30 p.m. and July 10 from 8 a.m.-10
a.m. to begin a review of King County Ordinances that could be used as models for
Sammamish ordinances.
The meeting locations are to be announced.
The specific King County Ordinances to be review on June 5 will be identified shortly.
This was the principal non-routine action taken by the council at its May 26 meeting.
Council member Don Gerend reported that his Transportation Committee met to begin
organizing for concurrency, level of service and traffic planning reviews; and with King
County to exchange information about Phase 1A of the construction of 228th Ave. SE between
Issaquah-Pine Lake Road and SE 24th Ave. The project is to go to bid shortly with the
first work, cutting down trees in preparation for relocation of utilities, should begin in
August or September. Completion of this phase, a five-lane plan with bike lanes and
sidewalks, is next year.
The council approved a lease, subject to acceptable side-letters with the landlord, to
rent office space at No 482 in the Sammamish Highlands shopping center, at 228th Ave. NE
and NE 8th St. This 2,500 sq ft place is near the Banzai Sushi restaurant.
Randy Suko was retained as administrative assistant and Matthew Mathes as planner. Both
are with Waldron Resources, the interim city management team.
A $1 million line of credit was approved with SeaFirst Bank at a floating interest
rate, currently 4.418%, and SeaFirst was approved as the city's official bank depository.
The next city council meeting is June 9. The principal topic will be the building
permit moratorium and how well (or not) it is working. Public
comment is expected. Although the meeting is scheduled at the Sammamish Water and Sewer
District building, it may be moved in anticipation of a large crowd.
Sammamish has been approved for its own US post office and two new zip codes. The post
office is scouting for a location now. In the meantime, residents may begin using the
Sammamish name while retaining use of current zip codes.
The city's interim mailing address is:
City of Sammamish
704 228th Ave. NE, PMB 491
Sammamish, WA 98053
Tel: 206-714-8667
Fax 206-780-5468
email: darlee2@aol.com
May 19, 1999: SAMMAMISH ENACTS MORATORIUM
The Sammamish City Council on May 19 enacted a building permit moratorium through
August 31, the date of incorporation, when the moratorium may be allowed to expire or it
could be renewed.
The city was able to arrange insurance coverage earlier that day, a critical element
before a moratorium could be adopted.
A public hearing will be held Wednesday, June 9, at 7:30 p.m. (rescheduled
to July 28) to take further public comment about the moratorium and to
hear of any problems arising from it. The location is scheduled for the Sammamish Water
and Sewer District on 228th Ave. SE, south of Skyline High School, but it will likely be
moved to accommodate an expected large crowd.
In addition to the building permit moratorium, the council at the request of a citizen,
included a moratorium on Shoreline Substantial Development Permits. This is designed to
block development of the East Lake Sammamish Trail, a controversial project that is being
rushed to completion by King County. The County on May 12 filed the necessary permits to
"vest" the project before enactment of a moratorium.
The moratorium covers and prevents the county from taking action on:
a. Subdivision approvals
b. Short subdivision approvals
c. Site plan approvals
d. Multi-family dwelling unit approvals (apartments, townhouses, condominiums, mobile home
parks, group residences)
e. Rezones
f. Building permits
g. Conditional use or special use permits
h. Communication facilities
i. Commercial construction in business and office zones
j. Shoreline subdivision development permits
Excluded from the moratorium are:
a. Permits and approvals for churches, synagogues, and temples as defined in SIC Code
866; health service uses; educational service uses; and park and recreational uses, all as
defined in KCCTile 21
b. Permits for additions and alterations top existing residential and commercial
structures when such additions or alterations do not result in the creation of new units,
and permits for structures replacing pre-existing structures damaged or destroyed by fire
or other unintentional casualty
c. Single family residences, when a complete application for a building permit was filed
prior to the effective date of the moratorium
d. Residential short subdivisions that create four or fewer lots
e. Government services including but not limited to: streets, utilities, and surface water
improvements
f. Permits for construction of single family residences on lots legally established prior
to the effective date of this moratorium; and
g. Sign permits
What does all this mean? Except for the excluded items, no building permits will be
issued during the moratorium for any project regardless of whether it is
"vested."
"Vested" means any completed application filed with King County before May
19, 1999. There are currently about 1,146 completed applications on file within the
Sammamish city limits representing 3,795 new lots and 5,680 dwelling units. These
represent the so-called "pipeline" units. There are about 12,000 units in the
pipeline for the entire East Sammamish Planning area, which is larger than the city (all
of which must use the so-called traffic "choke points" on and off the Plateau).
The vested projects, by state law, cannot be "unwound" by a moratorium. The
character and nature of these projects are "grandfathered" in, but the
moratorium prevents any building permits to be issued for these projects while the
moratorium is in effect. This affects not only the large developments but also the
short-plat developments (four or fewer homes). During the public comment on May 19,
several short-plat developers remarked that this moratorium will pose severe financial
hardships on them.
The East Lake Sammamish Trail was not included in the moratorium draft, but the
reference to the shoreline permit was added after the public comment. However, King County
rushed to vest this project in anticipation of the moratorium, adding another obstacle to
citizens opposed to the rails-to-trails project.
Between May 12 when the first draft of the moratorium was available and May 19 with the
second draft, incorporation of several citizen comments was made resulting in a tighter
moratorium and clearing up some ambiguities. For example, the provision on communications
facilities (cell towers) was included and ambiguities over commercial zone construction
were clarified.
May 12, 1999: CITY ATTORNEY HIRED,
MORATORIUM PUT OVER TO MAY 19
The new Sammamish City Council met Wednesday, May 12, in what proved to be a largely
procedural meeting. Several routine resolutions were adopted. The significant action was
the hiring of the Kenyon Law Firm of Issaquah to provide city legal services. Kenyon,
which specializes in only municipal law, has represented several other newly incorporated
cities, including Kenmore. The firm currently provides services to Shoreline.
Action on a building moratorium was tabled to May 19, when a special session of the
council will be held. Adoption was tabled because city liability insurance had not been
arranged yet, but is hoped to be by the 19th. Public comment may be made then and in the
interim to Council Members Troy Romero and Kathy Huckabay. Romero is chairman and Huckabay
vice chairman of the Land Use and Zoning Committee.
Romero's email is TROYROM@aol.com and Huckabay's
is HUCKKATHY@aol.com.
The proposed moratorium is only until August 31, when the city is to be officially
incorporated. Maximum permissible is six months (and renewable for up to six months
thereafter). Therefore, if the moratorium is adopted on May 19, it could be in place to
November 19. Some members of the public urged the council at the May 12 meeting to adopt a
six month moratorium rather than a 3 1/2 month moratorium.
As currently drafted, exempt will be churches, and community facilities providing
health, education or recreational facilities; permits for alterations to existing
residential homes providing no new residential units are created; single family residences
provided a completed application was filed with King County before adoption of the
moratorium; residential "short plats," which means four or fewer lots; public
facilities such as streets, utilities and surface water improvements; and construction in
commercial zones, which is undefined.
Several citizens remarked that these exemptions provide loopholes for certain types of
development, such as golf courses. Two citizens suggested that language be included to
stop King County's development of the East Lake Sammamish rails-to-trails.
Also to be discussed and perhaps decided at the May 19 meeting are temporary offices
for the new city staff.
May 10, 1999: DYER IS MAYOR, CITY
MANAGER APPOINTED, MORATORIUM SENT TO COMMITTEE
The first City of Sammamish City Council meeting was held Monday, May 10, and the
second will be held Wednesday, May 12 at 7:30 pm at the Sammamish Water and Sewer District
building on 228th Ave. SE, south of the Skyline High School.
At the first meeting:
* Phil Dyer was elected mayor and Jack Barry was elected Deputy Mayor.
* Waldron Resources of Seattle, a firm which provides experienced city executives for
new cities such as Sammamish, was selected in a 4-2 vote to provide the interim city
manager, finance director and other professional staff. Voting against their appointment
were Donald Gerand and Kathy Huckabay. In response to a citizen question, Huckabay said
the votes against Waldron were subjective since there were three finalists from six
candidates interviewed for the job. Council member Troy Romero missed the meeting for
reasons unexplained.
Waldron provided the interim city management for Kenmore upon its incorporation last
year. Dyer said the interim city management is typically for 3-5 months.
* The interim city manager, from Waldron, is (Mr.) Lee Walton.
* Seven permanent council committees were formed. These are:
1. Land Use and Zoning; Romero chairman, Huckabay vice-chairman. Environmental and
water quality will be under this committee.
2. Finance. Huckabay, chairman, Kenneth Kilroy, vice chairman.
3. Administration. Ron Haworth chairman, Dyer vice chairman. Public utilities will fall
under this committee.
4. Intergovernmental relations: Dyer chairman, Gerand vice chairman.
5. Public Safety: Kilroy chairman, Ron Haworth vice chairman.
6. Transportation: Gerand chairman, Barry vice chairman.
7. Human Services & Judiciary: Barry chairman, Romero vice chairman. Parks and
Recreation will fall under this committee.
Citizens will be appointed by the chairmen to these committees.
* The Eastside Journal was appointed the city’s newspaper of record for the next
three months. The reasoning for this was that there will be many meetings for which 24
hours notice will be required as the city ramps up.
* The selection for a city attorney may be made as early as the May 12 meeting.
* The controversy over the East Lake Sammamish Trail has been assigned to the
Intergovernmental Relations committee.
* The building moratorium has been assigned to the Land Use and Zoning Committee.
Although some discussion may come up at the May 12 meeting, Dyer said a moratorium may not
be presented for a vote for a few weeks. (Note: other new cities frequently imposed a
moratorium as one of their first orders of business.)
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