The future of Ace Hardware in Sammamish grew significantly dimmer Tuesday night.
Under the advice of city staff, the City Council unanimously voted to deny a proposal made by development group KinderAce to build a new 11,200-square-foot hardware store on a piece of property between Northeast Second and Northeast Fourth streets.
“The KinderAce proposal, as was cited by our legal council, raises a substantial number of significant legal and public policy issues and creates the possible perception of favoritism while working under a time frame that is, at best, severely constrained and insufficient,” said Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama, who brought the motion to the table.
Valderrama also motioned to direct City Manager Ben Yazici to continue to work with Ace Hardware on finding a new location within Sammamish. But with the store’s current lease in the Sammamish Highlands Shopping Center set to expire in August and limited building sites, the chances of keeping the hardware store in Sammamish grow slimmer by the day.
“I think we looked under every rock, we looked in every corner, we looked at every option possible,” said councilmember John James.
KinderAce first brought its proposal for land development to the council Dec. 4. Roughly 100 citizens were on hand, with half of those speaking on behalf of the local hardware store. Within the last month, city staff and KinderAce met several times discussing areas of concern on the potential site.
Proximity to George Davis Creek and a Category 1 bog wetland proved to be a major environmental concern as both required a 215-foot buffer and an additional 15-foot setback.
KinderAce countered with another option at Tuesday’s meeting that they believed would relieve many of the concerns. Land owner Elliot Severson proposed no longer using any of the city’s land, preventing a land transfer. He also suggested a parking garage under the hardware store and raising the store itself 6 to 8 feet off the ground, noting it would eliminate stormwater concerns.
“It is a smaller total footprint because you have parking underneath the building, but unfortunately the footprint is closer to George Davis Creek,” said Director of Community Development Kamuron Gurol, noting the new plan also didn’t address how delivery trucks would access the store.
KinderAce also argued that other cities have used Development Agreements to expedite processes and navigate constraints within city codes. They believed Sammamish could do the same.
City attorney Bruce Disend said that none of the cities identified by KinderAce, including Tacoma and Tukwila, had ever used a Development Agreement for any of the purposes they were requesting. Disend said Sammamish would be making law and that could be dangerous in the event of a challenge from an environmentalist, another landowner or anyone else pursuing litigation.
“We love Ace, I think that’s been made clear by everybody here, but we have the responsibility to the public policies as well as the fiscal issues,” Valderrama said.
As the August deadline approaches, store owner Tim Koch realizes he will have to shut his doors if a deal cannot be reached, and that’s a hard pill to swallow.
“I believe that there will be a lot of harm done to this town without Ace Hardware and that harm’s permanent, it can’t get undone,” he said.
