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August 6, 2015
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County blasts city’s conditional trail permit, files appeal
In full bloom
By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com
By Greg Farrar
Above, Chanz Flores discovers a half-dollar coin in a youngster’s ear while performing magic tricks for children at the Sammamish Pediatric Dentistry information table July 29 during the weekly farmers market, held every Wednesday this summer at the Sammamish Commons. At left, flowers arranged in a bouquet are ready to be purchased by a customer at a vendor tent. See more photos at www.sammamishreview.com.
Brush fires come close to homes, but no one is injured By Tom Corrigan tcorrigan@isspress.com A brush fire July 29 came within 100 feet of a home on the lake side of East Lake Sammamish Parkway Northeast while a fire the day before in a residential Klahanie neighborhood may smolder for months, said Greg Tryon, deputy chief of Eastside Fire & Rescue. No one was injured and no homes were damaged during either incident, Tryon said. The first fire sprung up in a bog or swamp in the 24000 block of Southeast 34th Place
Piano prodigy in the making, page 6
and was reported at about 7 p.m. July 28, according to Tryon. The fire burned about two acres, he added, and took firefighters just under an hour to bring under control. “It was very difficult to get to,” Tryon said. Crews stayed on site throughout the night of July 28 just to make sure the fire, which had come within about 100 yards of the nearest home, did not flare up again. The following day, a special crew from the state Department of Natural Resources arrived
on the scene. With about 10 crewmembers on hand, they flipped and broke up the peat moss that had been feeding the fire. Nevertheless, Tryon said he would not be surprised if the moss continues to smolder until fall rains hit the area. He added that there is no doubt the fire was caused by human actions. Officials found what he said could best be described as a “hangout area,” complete with a cooler, some chairs and, perhaps most noticeably, a campfire area. See FIRES, Page 2
Claiming the city overstepped its bounds and that its demands are, among other legal complaints, “onerous and burdensome,” King County on July 28 filed an appeal of the city’s conditional development permit for the southern segment of the East Lake Sammamish Trail. “Simply put, many of the 19 conditions in the city’s permit preclude us from building a safe trail with good sightlines and enough width to meet regional trail standards,” Christie True, director of the King County Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release. “The public has had access to recently completed portions of the trail and it has proven to be very popular,” True added. “These conditions would result in a lesser trail for the residents of Sammamish and King County.” “We’re still reviewing the appeals at this point,” Jeff Thomas, city community development director, said when asked for comment. In addition to the appeal from King County, two private homeowner groups beat the deadline to file an appeal, Thomas said. While he added that there are several aspects to all of the appeals, property owner appeals are in part aimed at the county and claim the county is attempting to use property alongside the trail it does not legally control. The hearing venue will be the Shoreline Hearings Board, Thomas said. “We’re disappointed,” City Manager Ben Yazici said in a news release. “We worked very closely with county officials and residents to arrive at these permit conditions. From our point of view, they’re quite reasonable.” The county is looking to pave what is officially known as South Sammamish, Segment A of the trail. According to the city, in two sections of the trail
totaling about 550 feet, the conditional permit required the county narrow the width of the trail so that 63 significant trees and other vegetation could be saved. The standard width of the trail is 18 feet with 12 feet of pavement and three feet of unpaved buffer zone on either side. There were several other conditions placed on county officials, including a call for them to incorporate drainage improvements due to any increased runoff from the impervious surface of the paved trail. According to the county, several of the conditions included in the Sammamish development permit would result in a trail unacceptable in terms of width, sightline, soft-surface shoulders and other safety factors, and would make it a trail that did not meet national standards. King County and Sammamish have been sparring over the southern section of the trail for months. Initial county trail plans released earlier this year came under almost immediate fire from residents and city officials, many of whom complained that King County engineers had ignored Sammamish residents’ and officials’ suggestions regarding the project. Eventually, county leaders, including King County Executive Dow Constantine, admitted that Sammamish suggestions had been inadvertently left out of the plan and in May released a new plan, dubbed a 95 percent plan, that was supposed to include those local suggestions. City officials said they were pleased the county took some Sammamish ideas to heart, but clearly wanted more. Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
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