Residents raise tree‑removal rules and housing targets during public comment after storm damage

During the public‑comment portion of the Jan. 21 Sammamish City Council meeting several residents described widespread tree damage from the November bomb cyclone and urged changes to the city’s tree‑retention and permitting rules; another speaker urged the council to adopt citywide market‑rate housing shortage targets in the 2025–2044 comprehensive plan.

Barbara Rabe, who identified her address on Northeast Sixth Place, told council she lost about 20 significant trees on her property in the storm and said the city should distinguish between property owners and developers in its tree‑retention policy. "We cannot afford a certified arborist to prove a leaning or diseased tree is dangerous," Rabe said, and suggested the city allow more flexibility for individual homeowners to remove hazardous trees and experiment with drought‑tolerant species.

Lisa Gilbert described laminated root rot affecting Douglas firs on her 1.5‑acre wooded lot on Northeast Sixth Place and recounted a Jan. 2021 tree fall that caused more than $15,000 in property damage and prompted insurance restrictions. Gilbert said she and her family ultimately obtained a permit only after paying for an arborist, which she said cost more than $5,000; she asked the city to create an exemption from the certified‑arborist requirement for hazardous‑tree permits in circumstances where laminated root rot is suspected, noting that the disease can be difficult to diagnose visually and can make trees hazardous before above‑ground symptoms appear. "Removal of these unhealthy trees will reduce the spread of the root rot and promote a healthier forest canopy," Gilbert said, citing Washington State University research she provided to staff.

Both speakers argued that the city’s replacement requirement — two to three eight‑foot native trees per removed tree in sensitive areas, as described in public comment — may be infeasible in some circumstances and that permitting rules should reflect wildfire and drought stress, the cost burden on homeowners, and forest health realities.

Separately, Paul Stickney urged the council to “legislatively set genuine internal citywide shortage market‑rate housing target numbers” based on quantified need and to add those targets to the 2025–2044 comprehensive plan and the Town Center plan amendment, arguing the city lacks sufficient market‑rate units in price ranges he cited.

City staff did not take immediate policy action during the public‑comment period; council members acknowledged the comments and asked staff to review the issues raised. Council members and staff thanked speakers for detailed materials they submitted to the record.

No formal vote or ordinance change was taken at the meeting; speakers asked staff and council to consider amendments to tree retention and permitting rules and to the comp plan docket.