As a result of the significant number of comments received by the City of Sammamish regarding the proposed 60% plan for Section 2B of the ELST the City facilitated a public meeting with representatives of King County Parks on Tuesday, April 25. Unfortunately the meeting was yet another King County Parks dog and pony show reiterating once again their vision of the ELST with little if any regard to the interests of the citizens of Sammamish. No public comment was allowed. Kevin Brown, Director of Parks and Recreation Division, gave a 30 minute slide show about how well everything was going and pointing out what will happen in the construction of Section 2B. KC staff members were behind tables with aerial photos of the trail at an “open house” but provided no indication of where the trail would be located on the photos.

During Brown’s presentation there was a little laughter and at one point multiple people called out “untrue” when Brown commented that no homeowner was paying real estate taxes for the trail right-of-way (ROW). Brown also pointed out an example of a homeowners intrusion into King County’s claimed ROW that will have to be removed during construction. Interesting though that the identified intrusion is actually a home constructed under a building permit issued by the City. Otherwise, the overflow crowd that filled council chambers was quiet and disappointed.

The one thing that surprised SHO board members is how hard-line the County apparently intends to be about treating everything within the corridor as subject to County takeover, or at least the requirement to obtain special use permits and pay fees, including even docks and community waterfront. Brown emphasized that it is the County’s obligation to not allow anyone to use County property free of charge. Be prepared for a significant fee to cross the trail to utilize your own property!

This means that lawsuits proving that the County does not have fee interest in the ROW continue to be essential just to keep what we already have. SHO continues to fund the appeal to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals. This appeal may take until the end of 2017 or even later for a decision.

The Sammamish City Council will be hosting a public meeting with King County regarding the East Lake Sammamish Trail – Phase 2B Project. The meeting is scheduled for April 25, 2017 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and will be held in Council Chambers, located at 801 228^th Avenue SE, Sammamish, WA.

Before attending this meeting, SHO recommends that everyone read the letter that the City sent to the County on April 12. Your public comments are not being ignored. The letter is definitely worth reading. The following are a few of the issues discussed:

• Trail centerline location

• Justification for trail width in difficult and sensitive areas

• Resident access to houses and beach

• Access for emergency vehicles during and after construction

• Wetlands and trees

• Ownership

Quoting from the letter: “On April 12, 2017, City Staff transmitted a First Review and Request for Additional Information Letter to King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks along with numerous attachments as referenced in the letter. This letter and all attachments have been added to the City of Sammamish webpage linked below. The County has 90 days to respond to the City’s letter and provide additional information. The project is considered pending awaiting the County’s response.”

Additional information can be found by visiting the City of Sammamish website at this link: https://www.sammamish.us/government/departments/community-development/current-projects/east-lake-sammamish-trail/

The City of Sammamish has posted the public comments based on the 60% plans for Segment 2B of the ELST on the city website. Here’s a link:

https://www.sammamish.us/government/departments/community-development/current-projects/east-lake-sammamish-trail/

Scroll down to the heading, East Lake Sammamish Trail Segment 2B – Public Comments. The comments are in PDF ordered by date received.

There are approximately 965 comments contained in these files. About 720 of these comments are from bicycle enthusiasts who stated that they support approval of the SSDP as submitted. There are multiple comments from some people with concerns, leaving about 175 actual comments about the 60% design.

The list of actual concerns in approximate order of their mention is as follows:

1. Access (both to beach and to homes)

2. Location (not aligned with current interim trail)

3. Environment (trees being removed to save questionable wetlands, etc.)

4. Drainage

5. Ownership

While the public comment was collected by the City of Sammamish, it is the responsibility of King County to address these concerns in its 90% plans. SHO continues to encourage the County to keep the trail aligned with the current interim trail. SHO also contends that the trail width should not exceed 16 feet when not within a critical areas buffer, and 14 feet when within a critical area buffer (wetland or stream).

Finally, it will be the responsibility of the City to ensure that the 90% plans meet the City’s regulations.

The City is working on a summary of these public comments that will be published soon.