A trove of green along 228th Avenue Southeast in Sammamish has disappeared as contractors prepare to build the city’s newest housing subdivision.

Crews are grading and preparing streets and infrastructure for the Kampp subdivision, located near the intersection of 228th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 18th Street, said Sammamish Senior Planner Evan Maxim. When completed, the subdivision will feature 121 5,000-to-6,000 square-foot plots on 30 acres, he said.

Since construction began, Sammamish city officials had received a few concerned callers regarding the removal of so many trees, along with an old barn that was demolished. In a statement to the Reporter, officials are working to ensure that all regulations are followed with all new developments.

“Since the economy’s picked up, we’ve started to hear more expressions of concern about clearing and building in Sammamish,” Tim Larson, Sammamish communications director, said. “We’ve responded by letting people know that we’re making sure everybody follows the rules as they develop their property.”

In the Kampp subdivision, developers Polygon Homes Northwest of Bellevue has retained 25 percent of trees on site while meeting all other city requirements, Larson said. The demolished barn was never brought up in public hearings for the project, and was never listed on King County’s historic resource inventory.

The subdivision is one part of an uptick in housing development brought on by an increase of large landowners selling their property part and parcel for home development.

“People who have lived in Sammamish a long time…are now selling their family homesteads to developers and creating new neighborhoods,” said John Jergens, a Sammamish-area realtor with John L. Scott real estate. “There simply is not enough land in Sammamish to build a 130-home plat without an owner selling off a large, old parcel.”

Over the past two years, Jergens estimates new home construction in Sammamish has increased between 15 and 20 percent. He attributes the growth to area schools and Sammamish’s proximity to Microsoft’s main campus in Redmond.

“The only sad thing I’d say is that any new home being built, the minimum price tag is going to be $700,000,” Jergens said.