Locally owned 50 cents
October 1, 2014
Review sammamish
Plan to ban marijuana businesses gets no public comment
Scenic stroll
By Peter Clark pclark@isspress.com
passed bans. And legal challenges have already followed suit and remain in process or on appeal. No residents spoke at the Cezar said though the legal outSammamish City Council’s first comes might affect Sammamish, public hearing Sept. 16 regarding a the council currently had a clear proposed prohibition of recreationpath to approve prohibition. al marijuana. “Some of those legal challenges After almost a year under a are still ongoing,” she said. “But for moratorium against recreational now it looks pretty good.” marijuana business practices, the The City Council made it clear council is now considering an ordithat such an ordinance would nance that would ban any producnot affect the recreational use of ers, processors or retailers from marijuana, only business practices setting up shop in the city. within city limits. “When you renewed that moraAfter the presentation, council torium, you gave the Planning members returned to the question Commission some direction to con- of whether Sammamish would sider a prohibireceive any fundtion,” Susan Cezar, ing from recreGet involved Community ational marijuana Development depSammamish City Council business taxation uty director, said meeting that state officials at the meeting. 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 plan to distribute “And the Planning City Hall at Sammamish to municipalities. Commission held Commons “There has 801 228th Ave. S.E. a meeting in July been a discussion and voted 6-0 to at Association recommend that of Washington to you.” Cities and I understand that legisHer initial presentation by staff lation may say that if we ban reclaid out how the consideration fell reational marijuana [businesses], in line with other municipalities. we would not be allocated any “Other jurisdictions have either of the additional taxes,” Deputy done interim zoning or moratoria,” Mayor Kathleen Huckabay said. Cezar said. “The list of moratoria “But yet, we would have to deal have kind of grown. Currently, with the fallout of recreational there are 32 cities that have passed marijuana use in our city.” permanent prohibitions on mariStaff said legislative inaction juana.” should not stop the council’s conCouncil members unanimously sideration of the ordinance. approved an initial moratorium “There was some attempts against recreational marijuana in the last legislation session business practices in December to make some progress on that 2013 and extended it again in and unfortunately it did not,” June. The ordinance would Community Development replace the moratorium, which Director Jeffery Thomas said. ends Jan. 11. “From the staff perspective, we So far, there exists no definitive would recommend to go ahead statewide decision on whether and give speculation to the ordimunicipalities can legally prohibit nance.” recreational marijuana businesses. When Mayor Tom Vance asked The Office of the State Attorney for public comment on the ordiGeneral released an opinion nance, no one approached the in January saying that while council to speak. Initiative 502 legalized marijuana Initiative 502 legalized recreational marijuana statewide business practices, “it includes no in 2012, and 55 percent of clear indication that it was intendSammamish voters approved the ed to pre-empt local authority to initiative. regulate such businesses.” A second public hearing is Other cities and counties, like scheduled for Oct. 21. SeaTac and Pierce County, have
By Stephen Kwo
Joan Kwo, of Sammamish, takes her daughter Claire, 23 months old at the time, out for a casual stroll with husband Stephen Kwo last summer on Southeast 42nd Street. The Kwos had recently moved to the city, and Stephen said the plateau is ‘a beautiful and welcoming area.’
School board holds study session about Tiger Mountain’s future By Neil Pierson npierson@sammamishreview.com
After months of discussion, questions and public criticism, the Issaquah School Board is still trying to decide the long-term fate of Tiger Mountain Community High School. The board met with several district administrators Sept. 24 in a roundtable-format study session. Much of the two-hour meeting was spent addressing concerns about what happens to students if the district’s plan to close the alternative school next year is approved. The board held two public hearings on the matter earlier in September, but a timeline for making a decision hasn’t been announced. Tiger Mountain, which has served as the Issaquah School District’s alternative high school since 1991, has fewer than 100 students enrolled this fall. Most live inside the district’s boundaries and would otherwise attend Issaquah,
Get involved Sign a petition to keep Tiger Mountain Community High School open at www. gopetition.com/petitions/savetiger-mountain-communityhigh-school-initiative.html. Liberty or Skyline high schools, but a few come from neighboring districts. District Superintendent Ron Thiele has proposed closing Tiger Mountain for the 2015-16 school year, and then opening a new alternative school under a different educational model in 2016-17. That plan has drawn the ire of the Tiger Mountain community, which has started an online petition to keep the school open. Dennis Wright, the district’s director of career and counseling services, said about a dozen Tiger Mountain students are currently using a 504 Plan, which allows them to receive in-school accommodations to deal with a physical
or mental disability. Other students have individualized education plans, or IEPs, that require schools to give them specialized instruction and support services because of their disability. Around the district, about 2,200 students, or about 12 percent of the population, use IEPs or 504s. Tiger Mountain parents and students have said those plans weren’t followed during their time at comprehensive schools. Officials indicate they take those plans seriously. “If you’re out of compliance with an IEP or 504, there’s possible discipline that goes with it,” said Andrea McCormick, principal See SCHOOL, Page 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
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