A Tale of Three Cities:
How Snoqualmie and Carnation lowered their housing units growth targets while Sammamish’s targets may double.
The idea for this article came to me when I stumbled across this news flash from the City of Snoqualmie: City’s Request to Reduce Housing Growth Target Number Unanimously Approved. In my research, I also learned that the City of Carnation had its housing targets lowered. As journalists do, I started digging into how these nearby cities achieved this.
Let’s first understand the role of the Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC), the body that Snoqualmie and Carnation made their requests to.
The GMPC is a regional planning and growth management body comprised of elected officials in King County. The GMPC recommends the allocation of housing and job growth targets1 to cities in King County. It is responsible for coordinating the implementation of Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) by creating consistent standards for planning issues such as transportation, housing, and environmental protection. It is expected that all cities absorb a share of King County’s regional population growth.
How Snoqualmie and Carnation Got Their Housing Targets Reduced
The GMPC unanimously approved requests from the cities of Snoqualmie and Carnation to significantly reduce their housing growth targets at its March 26, 2025 meeting.
Snoqualmie's target was reduced from 1,500 to 719 housing units.
Carnation's target was reduced from 799 to 350 housing units.
Snoqualmie's reduction came after a comprehensive 2023 study revealed that the city's original target significantly exceeded its actual land capacity beyond a level that it could realistically support. The study demonstrated to the GMPC that most of Snoqualmie's buildable land is already developed, environmentally constrained, or located within steep slopes and floodplains.
Mayor Katherine Ross formally submitted the request to the GMPC to reduce Snoqualmie’s growth target a year ago, in March of 2024. The City of Snoqualmie submitted a detailed land capacity analysis to the GMPC staff, arguing that actual developable land was far less than estimated. Mayor Ross led the engagement with GMPC, speaking at meetings and planning sessions. She also led GMPC board members on a tour of Snoqualmie to highlight the land constraints and the need to protect open spaces.
After the decision, Mayor Ross expressed her appreciation to the GMPC and stated, “Despite buildable land constraints, Snoqualmie will continue to support affordable and missing middle housing with tools like the Multi-Family Tax Exemption and the multiple zoning code update to meet new state housing laws.”
Similarly, Carnation's request focused on aligning growth targets with realistic development capacity. It’s housing units target of 799 would have doubled the number of houses in the city. Carnation’s city officials cited limited infrastructure capacity, particularly in water and sewer services. It also cited its rural context and environmental constraints, which would limit further development.
Carnation announced on its Instagram page that in August of 2024, it formally requested a reconciliation of its housing growth target to the GMPC. The Instagram post revealed that “Deputy Mayor Ribail and City Manager Ender embarked on a lengthy and challenging process with the City Council’s support. Between August 2024 and March 2025, countless meetings, planning sessions, and presentations were made to support the City’s request.” The post ended with thanks to the GMPC, etc., “and to YOU, the community, who expressed your concerns about the future of Carnation to your elected officials.”
In the reconciliation process, both cities' housing needs were adjusted following the Department of Commerce's minimum standards for allocating projected housing needs and the allocation equity principles identified by the Affordable Housing Committee.
The next steps for the cities of Snoqualmie and Carnation are to go before the King County Council for consideration and potential adoption of the motions and Countywide Planning Policy amendments. If approved, the amendments will be sent to cities and towns in King County for ratification.
Sammamish Residents Testify at the GMPC
Three Sammamish residents, including a candidate for city council, gave testimony to the GMPC at the same March 26 meeting where Snoqualmie and Carnation received their growth target reduction approvals.
In their testimony, they questioned the Sammamish City Council’s decision to conduct a SEIS (Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement - more on this later) to pursue amendments to the Town Center plan that would double the housing units from 2,000 to 4,000 and increase building heights to 150 feet. The FEIS (Final Environmental Impact Statement) is the governing study used by the City for its Town Center planning, which capped housing units at 2,000. The residents stated that “the scope of the SEIS was narrowly defined and may not address all the potential impacts of an additional 2,000 units.” They argued that the City Council is using the SEIS process in an attempt to double the Town Center’s housing density rather than formally requesting approval for modified growth targets through established GMPC protocols.
Their testimony also underscored that Sammamish faces significant infrastructure challenges that haven't been adequately addressed in planning for such increased density. They cited the plateau's lack of highway access, an estimated infrastructure backlog exceeding $500 million, intersections projected to fail concurrency tests, and existing sewer capacity limitations.
The residents concluded their testimony by urging the GMPC to compel the City of Sammamish to follow formal processes for modifying its growth targets. That process included approval of the updated Comprehensive Plan submitted in December 2024, which specified the housing unit growth target for Sammamish as 2,100. The residents stated that “the proposed changes from the SEIS would result in Sammamish exceeding its 2,100 growth target without adequate planning for its impacts.” They also characterized the use of a SEIS as a backdoor approach to legislating density increases, which may be in violation of the GMA.
It takes political will and community engagement
Council members in all three cities are balancing the pursuit of growth with the safety, infrastructure, environmental protection, and quality of life demands of its residents. Our world is rapidly changing, creating supply chain, market demand, and financial uncertainties. There is no going back in time — there is no undoing of the Council's votes once trees are clear-cut and ground is broken. My role as a journalist is to scrutinize the actions of the Sammamish City Council and how our tax dollars are being spent. It is the residents who must hold them accountable.
What we learned from Snoqualmie and Carnation is that it took political will and community engagement to work together, rather than at odds, to achieve the best outcomes for their cities.
In other news, several Sammamish council members at its April 1, 2025, regular meeting said they did not favor 150 feet high buildings. This is a positive sign that residents' public comments are being considered.
My next articles will focus on what’s behind the push for growth – the creation of more affordable housing. I’ll report on the regulatory relief, financial incentives, and density bonus units offered to the Sammamish Town Center developer to integrate more affordable units. I’ll also dive into the SEIS as it studies the impact of doubling the Town Center housing units from 2,000 to 4,000.
Sammamish Local News is committed to providing balanced, fact-based news coverage for Sammamish residents, focusing on transparency and accountability in our local government. All articles are developed with the assistance of AI technology for research and transcription purposes
A housing unit is a living quarter for one household. Housing units are measured by the physical structure itself, not by the number of people living in them, and can range from a studio apartment to a single-family home. Growth targets are set to be reached by 2044, reflecting a 25-year planning horizon that aligns with the requirements of the GMA.