Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Sammamish Planning Commission reviews draft scaling impact-fee methodology, debates affordability and update cadence
Summary
The commission reviewed a consultant'backed formula and draft Sammamish Municipal Code to move impact fees from a flat per-unit charge to a square-foot scaling method, discussed fee amounts, affordability tiers for 30'80% AMI, indexing versus CIP-based updates, and next steps ahead of a Feb. 3 council briefing.
The Sammamish Planning Commission on Jan. 15 continued its multi-meeting review of proposed changes to the city's impact-fee program, hearing staff and consultant explanations of a scaling methodology and a draft code rewrite that would consolidate impact-fee rules into one Sammamish Municipal Code section.
Staff said the goal of the update is to produce a legally defensible fee structure that scales with building size rather than charging a flat per-unit fee. Staff presented consultant outputs that show a parks scaling rate of $3.13 per square foot and a transportation scaling rate of $7.44 per square foot as reference points for fee bands. Staff emphasized the fee formula uses the capital facilities list, project eligibility percentages and the comprehensive-plan growth estimate of 2,100 new housing units over 20 years (roughly 6,000 people) as core inputs.
Why it matters: the Legislature in 2023 required jurisdictions to move away from a flat per-unit fee toward a scaling method…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
