Issaquah ponders Klahanie handoff

The city of Issaquah is looking into transferring the master-planned community of Klahanie, a potential annexation area, into Sammamish's hands, Issaquah officials said Friday.

City administrators are reviewing the change, and a discussion with Sammamish officials is expected early next year "to solicit their thoughts on the matter," said David Kappler, Issaquah City Council president.

But it's unclear whether Sammamish leaders will support the move. Some say they aren't sure the benefits — namely, a population jump that would boost the city's profile — would outweigh the added costs of delivering services.

"The financial impacts are big and complex," said Sammamish Mayor Mark Cross. "I don't know if we could [approve] such a large expansion unless we really knew that it was a break-even operation."

Klahanie, home to more than 11,000 residents, sits on the Sammamish Plateau, but is part of unincorporated King County.

The county, in its drive to implement the state Growth Management Act (GMA), has been trying to unburden itself of providing local services for thousands of residents in urban unincorporated areas. The GMA, passed in 1990, says counties should focus on delivering regional and rural services.

A "potential annexation area" is land adjacent to a city and mapped out in its comprehensive plan — a blueprint for growth — as land that could become part of the city in the future. However, there is no obligation for a city to annex the area, under state law.

The question of what to do with the Klahanie neighborhood has been on the minds of Issaquah city officials since November 2005, when Klahanie voters, in two ballot measures, agreed to annex to Issaquah, but opposed taking on a share of the city's debt to do so. The vote might have guaranteed the annexation, but city leaders balked at the refusal of Klahanie residents to share in the city's debt.

Now, after more than two years, "we don't see that the city of Issaquah can financially make [annexation] work," Kappler said. "It's time to get some options going and help the residents there who do deserve to be in a city and have a local government."

Part of the issue is transportation. Among the major problems, Issaquah officials say, is the millions it would cost to widen Issaquah-Fall City Road, a main artery on the Sammamish Plateau that is clogged with traffic during the morning and evening commutes.

King County had offered Issaquah a one-time incentive of $850,000 in 2005 to help offset the costs of absorbing Klahanie, whose residents live in single-family homes, apartments and condominiums. That money has since been taken off the table.

Cross said the Sammamish City Council recently commissioned staff to run new numbers on a financial analysis that was done in 2001, to see what the current-day costs would be to annex Klahanie. Those figures are expected early next year, he said.

It would be a lengthy process for Klahanie to join Sammamish, though. Both the Issaquah and Sammamish city councils would have to approve amendments to their comprehensive plans if the change were to take place. The transfer also would require authorization from the King County Growth Management Planning Council and the Metropolitan King County Council.

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