Sammamish OKs Town Center plan

The Sammamish City Council has approved a preliminary plan for the city's long-awaited Town Center that calls for a mix of retail and residential, plus a variety of civic and community facilities, such as a library, community center or aquatic center.

The council voted 6-0 last week — Councilwoman Michele Petitti was absent — to move forward with analyzing the "preferred alternative," which combines elements from three other plans that had been up for public review.

Now, the plan will undergo a final environmental-impact review, which is due in September, said Kamuron Gurol, the city's community-development director.

The plan includes 200,000 to 400,000 square feet of retail and office space, and 1,300 to 2,000 residential units. Ten to 20 percent of the new units would be designated affordable housing.

"We tried to listen to the community. There are a wide variety of perspectives on what the Town Center should be," Gurol said.

"We tried to come up with a hybrid that has a mix of the best features from each of the other alternatives."

City officials and residents have been working for years to create a central core for this bedroom community, which incorporated in 1999.

The idea is to bring anchors such as mixed-use development, retail and gathering places to draw more pedestrians to the 243-acre parcel downtown.

Sammamish Commons, a civic complex with a new City Hall completed last summer, also makes up part of this vision.

The preliminary plan also calls for retail to be used primarily to "serve Sammamish residents and not act as a regional destination."

For instance, the plan states, a midsize grocery store and a theater are acceptable, but "big-box" retailers are not.

Gurol emphasized that the plan is subject to change. After the final environmental-impact statement is issued, the planning commission will examine it.

Final adoption won't happen until next spring, he said.

"This doesn't lock the city into a decision," he said. "It's a point of direction."

Some residents say they're happy the city is moving forward, after its previous schedule was revised and delayed by several months.

"The council is back on track," said resident Richard Birgh, who lives in the downtown area and is waiting for the plans to be finished so he can sell his property.

"Now we just have to get it done."

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com