Town Center Potential Impacts - Infrastructure
New buildings in the Town Center will require additional infrastructure, including stormwater management, water and sewer services, and other utilities. Infrastructure improvements will be evaluated and required during permit review stage, so they will occur along with development of the Town Center.
An analysis showed that even with 4,000 housing units, there is no indication that future capacity is an issue. Based on the current rate of growth, it’s expected to take over 50 years to build all of the housing units. Even if Town Center was fully built in half that time, it would still provide a reasonable timeline to plan for, fund, and construct infrastructure.
Water and Sewer Capacity
The Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District plans for service delivery commensurate with growth through their Water and Sewer Comprehensive Plans (RCW 57.16.010) which they update on a periodic basis following adoption of the City’s Comprehensive Plan and associated subarea planning. Water and Sewer service plans are required to account for planned growth in the City.
The District is currently completing capacity improvements to their sanitary sewer system and King County is also in the early phase of design for a new primary connection to the King County Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Facility through a project known as the Sammamish Plateau Diversion.
The City already does and will continue to work closely with Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District and King County to make sure local and regional planning are in alignment and water and sewer wastewater infrastructure is delivered in the Town Center alongside development.
Town Center Development Will Improve Stormwater Conditions
The same stormwater rules and program that were found to be protective and restorative in the recent Town Center third party stormwater study will continue to apply. There is no proposal to change these rules or these components of Town Center.
Who will pay for improvements?
As with all developments within the city, the developer pays for all infrastructure to serve their project. The city may step in to fill off-site gaps in infrastructure where needed. This is paid for by impact fees and is the intended use of impact fees. The Town Center has produced nearly $5 million in street impact fees and over $1 million in park impact fees. In either build-out scenario, the Town Center will continue to collect millions of dollars in impact fees that will help fund developing, expanding, and improving the roads, parks, and schools that support its growth.