August 31, 2011 Locally owned Founded 1992 50 cents
Greg Barton pulls neighbor from burning home By Caleb Heeringa
A Sammamish man may very well have saved his elderly neighbor’s life by rushing into the man’s burning home and carrying him out over his shoulder Aug. 24. Firefighters are calling Sahalee resident Greg Barton a hero for rushing to his neighbor’s rescue as flames rapidly spread throughout the home, located on the 2000 block of 208th Place Northeast. The 87-year-old resident was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he was treated for second-degree burns to his head and smoke inhalation. He was listed in serious condition Aug. 26, though a hospital spokeswoman said he was improving. Barton, who was watering his lawn when he saw flames reaching up into the sky across the street, downplayed the heroism and said he didn’t have any second thoughts about heading in to find his neighbor. “Anybody who was capable would have done the same thing,” Barton said. “All I could
think of was, ‘What if I didn’t go?’” Barton and his wife Michele were among the dozens of neighbors who gathered in the cul-desac as the home went up in flames, just after 6:15 p.m. The man’s wife came out and told Barton that her husband was still inside. The distraught wife wanted to run back into the home and had to be held back by Michele Barton. Greg Barton, with help from neighbor Hal Goren, ran around the side of the home and entered through a sliding glass door. “I couldn’t see anything – just black smoke,” Barton recalled. Barton was quickly overcome by the smoke and heat and had to retreat back outside. But he then covered his face with his shirt and began crawling through the home, calling out for his neighbor. Barton then heard his neighbor let out a moan. Blinded by smoke, Barton followed the sound and found the man collapsed on the ground. Barton, a fit man in his 30s, See FIRE, Page 2
Photo by Caleb Heeringa
Sahalee resident Greg Barton recounts seeing flames coming out of his neighbor’s roof Aug. 24. Firefighters are crediting Barton with saving his neighbor’s life by carrying him out of the burning home.
County agrees to program to Shoreline master plan shift density into Town Center gets state approval City Councilman John James wants to reduce city’s impact on program By Caleb Heeringa
King County has officially signed off on a program that could ensure that more than 700 acres of land just outside city limits is preserved as forest and
open space. That is if there’s enough room in Sammamish’s Town Center to fit the extra development rights that those rural landowners would sell to developers. The county’s “transfer of development rights” program, which County Executive Dow Constantine signed at the end of July, allows up 75 development rights just north of city limits to be sold to developers in Town Center.
The program could preserve much of the open space along Highway 202 and around Soaring Eagle Park and Evans Creek Preserve. But with the city aiming to cash in on 240 development rights it owns in the area and some Sammamish citizens also eligible to sell the rights to their land into Town Center, Councilman John James said he’s concerned that there’s a bit See DENSITY, Page 5
By Caleb Heeringa
After hundreds of hours of public meetings dating back to 2006, Sammamish has a new set of regulations on development around the shorelines of Pine and Beaver lakes and Lake Sammamish. Washington State Department of Ecology officials approved the city’s Shoreline Master Plan Aug. 17, following a few last-minute City Council tweaks to a compromise hammered out by city and
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Ecology staff. Ecology shoreline planner Geoff Tallent said the law goes into effect Aug. 31 and can be appealed in the following 60 days. Ecology and city staff expressed relief at seeing the arduous, sometimes contentious process come to an end and praised the final product as a good compromise between the health of lake ecosystems and the property rights of those living
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