City Council approves path forward for housing strategy in City Centers

The Sammamish City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 15 to confirm a new approach for developing the Centers Housing Strategy. Council directed staff to develop a multi-center path rather than concentrating remaining work only in Town Center or applying one uniform density to all four centers, which include Town Center, Inglewood, Pine Lake, and Klahanie. 

The direction follows more than a year of work updating the city's 2024 Comprehensive Plan, which originally counted on the Town Center to absorb most of the city's future low- and mid-rise housing, including many of the deeply affordable units the state requires Sammamish to plan for. After hearing community concerns about the scale of growth concentrated in one area, the council shifted direction, asking staff to find a different way to redistribute that capacity across all four centers. 

Staff and the Planning Commission studied two options. One would have kept the Town Center's role close to its current size but would have required much steeper density increases in the other three centers to make up the difference. The approach the council endorsed instead applies a more modest, distributed density increase across all four centers, keeping growth more proportionate and predictable citywide while still allowing for some added density in the Town Center. City Council said this path better matches areas that already have roads, utilities, and transit in place to support new housing, and reduces the risk of concentrating high-density development next to existing single-family neighborhoods. 

With direction provided, city staff will now prepare draft edits to the Comprehensive Plan, Town Center Plan, and zoning options for each center and return those drafts to Council. Those changes will need to pass review by the Washington State Department of Commerce and the Puget Sound Regional Council before the City’s council can formally adopt them–should they choose to do so–with the full process expected to wrap up by next summer. 

Public input will continue throughout the process. There will be multiple updates to Council along the way, seeking direction and ideas. Residents can follow updates and attend upcoming public meetings. Staff emphasized a goal of keeping the process straightforward and avoiding an extended planning cycle, given community feedback that the city should move efficiently while still balancing state mandates with residents' vision for their neighborhoods.