25TH YEAR, NO. 50
THE PLATEAU’S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED NEWSPAPER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016
SAMMAMISH
WIN SOME, LOSE SOME
REVIEW
Eastside Catholic boys, girls teams split against Ballard Page 8
Sammamish falls short in county housing plan BY LIZZ GIORDANO
lgiordano@sammamishreview.com
Sammamish is nowhere close to achieving affordable housing goals set by King County’s planning policies. Currently only around 2 percent of housing stock is affordable for families earning up to 50 percent of the county’s median income and 5 percent is affordable for families making 50 to 80 percent of median income. The Growth Management Hearings Board ruled in June the city failed “to make adequate provisions for existing and projected needs for all economic segments of the community,” according to an agenda bill. King County’s countywide goals for affordable housing have established that 16 percent of total housing supply
should be affordable for families making 50 to 80 percent of the area’s median income. Twelve percent of housing stock should be affordable for families earning 30 to 50 percent of the county median income and another 12 percent should also be affordable for families making less that 30 percent of median income. The median income in King County for a family of four is $90,300. City Council members approved revisions to the city’s comprehensive plan in order to bring the city into compliance with the Growth Management Act during their Dec. 6 meeting. According to 3 Square Blocks, a consultant hired the city, “A significant contributing factor to the lack
SEE HOUSING, PAGE 7
Students’ plan would preserve trees for more trails on YMCA land Practice pays off for singer
GREG FARRAR | gfarrar@sammamishreview.com
Eastlake High School junior Heather Keyser will perform with the High School Honors Choir at Carnegie Hall in February.
BY LIZZ GIORDANO
lgiordano@sammamishreview.com
It was during Nehara Rajakaruna’s sixth-grade life science class at Pine Lake Middle School that her appreciation for nature and wildlife was cultivated. Now when hiking with her family she can identify native plants or explain just how much carbon trees absorb. So when Rajakaruna, 12, received an assignment from her teacher to write a letter to the Sammamish City Council with suggestions on how the city could use a 7.25-acre lot of densely forested land right across the street from her school, she knew exactly what to write. “We should make hiking trails,”
Rajakaruna said. “That way they wouldn’t have to destroy any trees,” added her classmate Ryker Ard, 12, who also wants the city to construct trails. The city partnered with the YMCA when the community center was built, and part of that agreement requires the city to submit a development plan by June 2018 for the land near Pine Lake Middle School owned by the YMCA. The YMCA wants the city to construct recreational facilities on the land. Responding to an increasing demand for athletic fields that is exceeding supply, the city put forth a preliminary proposal for the land
SEE YMCA, PAGE 6
to perform at Carnegie Hall BY DAVID HAYES
dhayes@sammamishreview.com
The origins of the joke “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” traces back to the 1950s. Eastlake High School junior Heather Keyser already knows the answer.
“Practice, practice, practice,” she said. The 16-year-old student was one of 750 students from a global pool of 18,00 entrants selected to perform in WorldStride’s Festival at Carnegie Hall in February. SEE SINGER, PAGE 7
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