Klahanie residents visit Sammamish City Hall for annexation briefing

Klahanie residents voted against annexation to Issaquah in February, opening the door for a chance to join Sammamish. On May 7, Sammamish welcomed Klahanie residents to a special dinner at City Hall to talk about what comes next.

 

Klahanie residents voted against annexation to Issaquah in February, opening the door for a chance to join Sammamish. On May 7, Sammamish welcomed Klahanie residents to a special dinner at City Hall to talk about what comes next.

“We wanted to get everyone together, hear from all sides, and let everyone know what steps Sammamish needed to take toward annexation,” Sammamish City Manager Ben Yazici said. “It was a very congenial dinner. Even though some of the guests had worked very hard on behalf of annexation to Issaquah, everyone seemed to have an open mind about the possibilities of joining Sammamish.”

Sammamish said that providing Klahanie residents with the opportunity to join Sammamish will take a lot of regional cooperation. Among other things, Issaquah will have to transfer Klahanie into Sammamish’s “potential annexation area,” or PAA, requiring the blessing of two or three county entities.

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“In the end, the comprehensive plans for Issaquah, Sammamish and King County will all have to be amended to make this possible,” Yazici said. “We have a few hoops to jump through.”

But the city said signs are good. Issaquah and Sammamish signed an interlocal agreement pledging cooperation and the reaction at the county level, so far, has been positive. If plans continue smoothly, an election for annexation to Sammamish could be held sometime in 2015.

The Klahanie PAA, made up of Klahanie proper and several adjoining neighborhoods, contains almost 4,000 residential units. According to the city, if voters there decide to annex to Sammamish, the PAA’s 10,800 residents would raise Sammamish’s population to about 60,000.

“Based on the feedback we received at the dinner, I’m confident this is going to happen,” Yazici said. “Klahanie residents will pay less in taxes than they are now, receive better services, and become part of a city that really values them.”

Sammamish plans to hold two public meetings in Klahanie and one in Sammamish as part of a broader outreach effort over the coming months. Dates for these meetings have not yet been set.