The long process of reviewing the 2035 Comprehensive Plan and a tree retention ordinance is taking a toll on the Sammamish City Council.
After council voted 4-2 to continue Tuesday’s regular meeting past 10 p.m., Councilmember Nancy Whitten openly shared her contempt with the process of recent meetings.
“I am appalled at the scheduling that we’ve been going through for the last three weeks,” Whitten said.
She thinks the several special sessions that have added to already late nights in city hall are a result of improper judgement for how long it would take to undergo major rewrites to the comprehensive plan.
The council has been reviewing the comprehensive plan since March; it was due to the state June 30.
Since then, council and staff have gone through a tedious process sifting through collected amendments, from major policy revisions to simple wordsmithing, and discussing, approving or denying them point-by-point.
After every discussion, staff would compile the amendments into a “clean” version of the plan. Come July 21, the last council meeting before the August recess, the council was given the 250-page document, complete with all sub sections and added revisions.
Sammamish Mayor Tom Vance asked for a motion to approve the plan at its second reading July 21. It was not seconded and the review was continued to Sept. 1.
During that July meeting, Whitten expressed her disappoint with the rushed process to approve “a document that is as critically important as the comp plan.”
Whitten said there was “very little hope” for council members to take a thorough, conscientious look at the document during the day they were given for review.
“I was extremely concerned when I understood that the leadership in particular, backed by staff, were hoping that we pass it today,” she said July 21. “I think that’s shortsighted and that we would not be doing the job we’re elected to do.”
To this point, Whitten made similar comments Tuesday regarding the tree retention ordinance timeline.
“You’re in a hurry to get this ordinance passed and I have to ask why? Wouldn’t you rather get it right than not?” she asked City Manager Ben Yazici Tuesday evening.
Whitten had just requested council and staff review a Pine Lake study in conjunction with the tree retention ordinance, when she received some push back.
“We can get the study, but we’re trying to get everything done by the Oct. 6 meeting,” Yazici said.
Bringing in this study, Yazici said, would be beneficial, but it would take more time.
“We’ve been at this since last year September,” he said. “We owe it to the citizens of Sammamish. We need to get this thing done. It’s not going to be perfect, but we can always amend it as we go forward.”
Council will review the tree ordinance again Oct. 6. The public hearing also has been continued to that date.
The Oct. 6 meeting likely will be another special session, beginning at 3 or 3:30 p.m., instead of the normal 6:30 p.m. start time.
“When we’re fresh, we’re at our best,” Yazici said. “When it gets to be 10:30, 11 o’clock, we’re all agitated, angry and tired.”
The council will review and likely vote on the comprehensive plan Oct. 13. The public hearing for the plan is continued to Oct. 13, also.
