Sammamish Planning Commission reviews Title 24A changes, staff recommends longer application window

The Sammamish Planning Commission on April 16 reviewed proposed updates to Title 24A that would clarify the city's amendment process for the comprehensive plan and development regulations and recommended extending the amendment-application deadline to 60 days.

Staff presented background on Title 24A, explaining that it implements the Growth Management Act-mandated annual docket process and distinguishes between two phases: the initial request and the more detailed amendment application. Jackie Bol, a management analyst with Community Development, outlined the changes staff is proposing and why the city adopted the 'A' designation in 2019: "If you want to make changes to Title 21, you must follow the process in Title 24A," she said while introducing the agenda.

The primary terminology proposal would rename the first phase from "docket request" to "preliminary review" and the second from "amendment process" to "final review." Staff also suggested changing "site-specific land use map amendment" to "future land use map amendment" to reflect that the comprehensive plan now uses broader future-land-use categories rather than parcel-level zoning. Miriam (staff) emphasized that these are 'terminology changes and rewordings' and said they would not alter the underlying process: "These are only terminology changes and rewordings. They're not affecting any process change."

Commissioners pressed staff for clarifications. Several commissioners worried that swapping terms could confuse applicants who are used to the existing docket/amendment vocabulary, and they discussed adding modifiers such as "proposed" or combining old and new phrasing to reduce ambiguity. Staff explained the typical timeline: docket requests are gathered by the first Monday in August, staff review follows in the fall, Planning Commission hearings occur around October, and City Council reviews and sets the docket in late November or early December.

On the question of application timing, staff recommended keeping the overall calendar but extending the amendment-application submittal window from 30 to 60 days to give applicants most of January to assemble required materials and to allow staff time to obtain consultant budget estimates for possible work-plan or budget requests. Commissioners debated 60 versus 90 days, noting trade-offs with holiday schedules, the council's budget process and summer hearing availability. Staff said 60 days was intended to balance those needs but acknowledged 90 days could be feasible in some cases.

Staff also proposed codifying decision criteria for future land use map amendments (conformance with surrounding areas and suitability for development) to promote consistency across staff transitions. Commissioners discussed whether "conformance" should be judged against existing uses or against existing and planned/future/allowed uses described in the comprehensive plan, and asked staff to refine the language.

No formal ordinance or vote on Title 24A occurred; staff will incorporate the Commission's feedback into a redline and review matrix and circulate materials ahead of a May 7 workshop where major changes will be highlighted and a public hearing may be scheduled.

What happens next: staff will return with a redlined code and a review matrix; the May 7 meeting will include highlights of the redline and a legislative update, and the Commission will decide whether to open a public hearing or hold an additional work session.