Inglewood Right of Way
Date of Last Update: 6/27/25 3 PM
The Sammamish City Council extends its sincere appreciation to the Inglewood neighborhood for your engagement with the City. We have heard you through email, at public comment, and in person in your neighborhood. We are committed to working collaboratively to earn back your trust and find a permanent solution for the maintenance of Inglewood’s streets.
This webpage will be updated periodically to provide current information in this evolving process. Please check back frequently. You can also sign up to receive emailed updates by clicking here.
Background and Recent Steps
The City of Sammamish recently discovered that many streets in the Inglewood Plat may have never been formally opened to the public when there was an opportunity to do so in the late 1800’s, which would mean they are actually private streets, not public. Learning this, and in order to comply with law, we sent a letter alerting Inglewood residents in May that these private streets would no longer be maintained by the City as of July 1, 2025.
We heard immediately from Inglewood residents that it is unacceptable for the City to abruptly stop maintaining streets that had been assumed public for decades. We are grateful for the many comments, concerns, and ideas that we received, and sincerely apologize that this situation was not handled better.
Since the original letter was sent, the City has taken the following steps:
-
On June 3, the City Council voted to continue providing services for the streets in Inglewood that the City has historically maintained while work to develop and adopt a long-term plan is underway. This decision allows for continuation of the status quo and creates time for the City and the Inglewood community to work together on a long-term plan.
-
On June 6, a letter of apology was sent to Inglewood residents. The letter notified residents of the City Council decision to continue providing services while work to develop a long-term plan is underway.
-
On June 12, about 200 Inglewood residents participated in a community meeting hosted by the City. Thank you to everyone who attended. To view the presentation from this meeting, click here. This meeting was recorded and can be found on the City's YouTube page.
-
The City identified a possible legislative solution to continue maintaining streets in Inglewood that have been historically maintained by the City. This option was discussed at the June 12 community meeting. Further research is needed regarding the logistics and impacts of this “prescriptive easement” solution.
-
In response to resident suggestions, the City has engaged outside legal counsel to further assess the historical and present legal situation. Thank you to residents who found and submitted historical resolutions to the City. Those resolutions have been shared with legal counsel. We are investigating all available options to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the streets historically served by City crews and are optimistic that we can find a permanent solution.
Next Steps
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and willingness to work with us as we seek more information and investigate options for resolving this situation.
As we conduct further research, we will provide updates about any significant findings and opportunities for discussion. Any City Council legislative action such as a resolution or ordinance will be in the Council agenda for the public to view before the Council takes action. As always, the public can sign up for public comment at a council meeting or provide written feedback. Updates will be posted on this webpage and emailed to those who sign up for email updates.
The City’s Pavement Condition Survey and Management Plan research phase is currently underway for all streets in Sammamish served by the City. As a part of the Council’s direction to continue to provide services in Inglewood on the streets historically served by the City, Inglewood residents will see vehicles in the neighborhood collecting pavement condition information in the next few weeks. This was a previously scheduled activity for the long-range planning of Sammamish’s transportation network, and Inglewood streets traditionally serviced by the City will be incorporated into the citywide plan.
Questions?
We appreciate your time, your questions, and your continued interest in understanding this issue. We are reading all questions and responding to common themes on this webpage. We are receiving a high volume of questions, and we are working to respond as soon as possible. Please submit any additional questions here.
Resources
Letter #1 from City to Inglewood Neighborhood – May 2025
Letter #2 from City Council to Inglewood Neighborhood – June 2025
Historical Sources of Information:
- Street Vacations and Ancient Rights of Way
- Surveys, Subdivisions and Platting, and Boundaries with State and Federal Laws, Administrative Regulations and Judicial Decisions
- Surveys, Subdivision and Platting, and Boundaries - Washington State Laws and Judicial Decisions
Frequently Asked Questions
Through our research, we learned that most of the streets were never formally opened to the public, as they were vacated by operation of an archaic law known as Washington’s Non-User Statute. This law reverts property ownership rights back to abutting property owners if the street was not open to the public within a certain time frame, in this case five years. For the Inglewood Plat, that window was from 1890 to 1895.
Updated 6/23/25
The City maintains public roads throughout Sammamish. These services include snow and ice removal, vegetation management, street sweeping, ditch maintenance, parking enforcement, and neighborhood streetlights. By law, the City is not allowed to conduct these maintenance services on private roads. The City’s goal is to find a thoughtful and legal solution that allows us to continue to maintain the Inglewood streets it has historically maintained.
Added 6/23/25
It appears that King County maintained these roads for many years, likely without realizing that they were never formally opened to the public. When the City of Sammamish incorporated in 1999, we continued this practice in good faith, believing the roads were public.
This issue came to light during a recent Right of Way permit review, when staff uncovered that the streets appear to be privately owned due to an obscure law known as Washington’s Non-User Statute, which is now codified at RCW 36.87.090. Of significant concern is the City’s legal ability to regulate the rights of way in Inglewood if the roads are private. While the City still maintains the right to regulate things such the building code on a private street, it does not have the same regulation authority over the right of way in private streets. This lack of authority, and corresponding liability, is why the City felt the need to act.
Additionally, due to state law prohibiting the gifting of public funds, we are unable to legally maintain private infrastructure. We believed we needed to present this information as soon as possible in order to notify the community. We recognize this is a complex situation, and we do not have access to the decisions or rationale of prior administrations, which makes it even more challenging.
Updated 6/23/25
The City previously provided a map indicating streets that may be impacted. Since then, additional information has come to light and more research is needed to confirm which streets are impacted.
Updated 6/23/25
King County took action to formally open Inglewood Hill Road in 1964, which transitioned it from a privately owned road to a public one. This means the road was already public when Sammamish incorporated in 1999.
The City identified a possible legislative solution to continue maintaining streets in Inglewood that have been historically maintained by the City. This option was discussed at the June 12 community meeting. Further research is needed regarding the logistics and impacts of this “prescriptive easement” solution.
In response to resident suggestions, the City has engaged outside legal counsel to further assess the historical and present legal situation. We are investigating all available options to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the streets historically served by City crews, and we are optimistic that we can find a permanent solution.
Any City Council legislative action such as a resolution or ordinance will be in the Council agenda for the public to view before the Council takes action. As always, the public can sign up for public comment at a council meeting or provide written feedback. Updates will be posted on this webpage and emailed to those who sign up for email updates.
Updated 6/23/25
The City’s proposed solution of a prescriptive easement is only allowed by law on the streets that the City has maintained for ten years or more. There are streets in Inglewood that have historically been considered private and that the City has never maintained, meaning that a prescriptive easement is not a legal option for those streets. This includes streets that have quiet titles and were never opened to the public.
Approximately 14% of property taxes paid by Sammamish homeowners go toward City services which include police and fire services, parks maintenance, recreation programs, emergency management, communications, administration, street maintenance, and much more. Street and right-of-way maintenance is funded through the Street Fund, General Fund and the Surface Water Fund. These funds support services throughout Sammamish and are not tied to any specific neighborhoods. By law, the City’s tax rate must be the same for all properties and cannot be adjusted on a property-by-property basis.
Updated 6/23/25
The City is seeking a permanent solution to serve the streets it has previously maintained, which includes continuing to respond to emergency situations.
Updated 6/23/25
No. The discovery that these old roads were not formally opened to the public in the 1890’s has nothing to do with last year’s storm. Moving forward, the City is seeking a permanent solution so that storm response will continue to be handled as it always has.
Updated 6/23/25
The City is working to identify a permanent solution that would cover the entire right of way, including the infrastructure underneath the roads such as water pipes, as well as infrastructure above the roads such as street lights.
Updated 6/23/25
We expect the City Council may take legislative action in the coming weeks which would provide more clarity and establish a permanent solution to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the streets historically served by City crews. As we work on this, we continue to do research regarding some of these very specific questions that do not have easy answers at this point in time.
Updated 6/23/25
Eminent domain is a legal tool that allows governments to acquire private property for public use, provided that fair compensation is given to the property owners. However, pursuing this option would come at a very high cost, making it financially infeasible for the City at this time. Given current budget constraints, we’re unable to consider this approach, and we are working hard to explore more practical and collaborative solutions.
In response to resident suggestions, the City has engaged outside legal counsel to further assess the historical and present legal situation. We are investigating all available options to ensure the ongoing maintenance of the streets historically served by City crews.
Added 6/27/25