Neighbors within an unincorporated area called the Duthie Hill “Notch” are not of one mind on the question of whether they should be included in the potential annexation area for Sammamish.
The City Council Tuesday night opened a public hearing on the subject, and continued the hearing until a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall; after finishing the public hearing, the council will vote on the issue. Council members said they wanted to be sure all residents had a chance to express their opinion because the timing of the vote was accelerated to match up with a parallel process in the King County system. The vote had originally been slated for June.
The Notch is a group of 20 parcels totaling just over 46 acres, which sits north of Southeast Duthie Hill Road, nestled between the High County and Troassachs neighborhoods of Sammamish.
Four residents who spoke Tuesday representing several other families, asked the council to vote to add the Notch to the city’s potential annexation area.
They said that their children attend local schools, they participate in Sammamish events, they use local resources and services and would like to officially become part of the city. The residents cited a variety of personal reasons for wanting the change, including the desire to build additional homes on their property for family members to live in, the desire to build smaller homes in order to downsize and the desire to subdivide unused property.
Paul Brenna told councilmembers that he and his wife purchased their property to keep horses on, but when adjacent neighborhoods were developed kids began harassing their horses. They subsequently moved the horses elsewhere.
“We can no longer use this property as rural,” Brenna said.
Aysel Sanderson said the group also wants to become part of Sammamish in order to start working with city officials to make some of the changes they dream of for their properties.
“We truly do not understand why we are being excluded,” Sanderson said. “We don’t want to move out.”
On the other side of the issue, resident Peggy Braeutigam said that she and other neighbors feel just as strongly that the Notch should not be part of the city’s potential annexation area, noting that she feels the neighborhood is still rural and should be classified that way. They do not want the existing parcels developed into new homes, she said.
The Planning Commission considered both sides of the issue and recommended that the council take no action on the Notch at this time; the issue can be reconsidered in four years according to the county’s schedule.
Even if the council votes Monday to make the Notch part of the potential annexation area, it would not be a done deal but rather the beginning of a more in-depth process to study the area and determine whether it should be part of the city.
Deputy City Manager Pete Butkus said, “These people are clearly a part of the Sammamish community as far as the services they receive. … We still believe that the Duthie Hill notch should be part of the potential annexation area.”
The Planning Commission memo to the council with their recommendations addressed several other areas:
•Mystic Lake, recommended for a contingent potential annexation area and R-4 zoning.
•Aldarra/Montaine, recommended for a contingent potential annexation area and R-1 zoning.
•Soaring Eagle Park, recommended for a contingent potential annexation area.
•Kaschko, recommended for rezoning from R-1 to R-4; conditions to include a master plan process and construction of a connector road from Southeast Eighth Street to Southeast Fourth Street extension.
•Contingent potential annexation area designation for: Rosemont at Timberline (R-4), the Outlook (R-4), 244th Avenue (two areas; R-1 and R-4), Trails at Camden Park (R-4), Camden Park Estates (R-1), Ravenhill subdivision (R-4).
The council will accept written public comment through Monday and verbal comment at the meeting. For more information or how to contact the city, visit www.ci.sammamish.wa.us.
