Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, September 21, 2012
www.issaquahreporter.com
Mosque gets OK
Right, living on a tight budget already, George and Susan Cameron are afraid they’ll lose their 1920s farmhome if the city passes a new district tax.
Building awaits final approval BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
CELESTE GRACEY, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
Below, a map shows key areas where the city plans to spend money from a district tax. Cameron’s neighborhood is marked in red. Contributed
Stuck in the Middle Proposed tax has neighbors worried about losing their homes
BY CELESTE GRACEY
“I could not imagine a city forcing someone out of their home”
CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
A
drift in a sea of office buildings and box stores, Susan Cameron’s 1920s farmhouse has become an island of sorts in the Issaquah valley. She was raised in the home as the last direct descendent of the Bush family – which settled in Issaquah during the Civil War – and it’s her hope to someday die there.
However, a proposed tax has her and husband, George, fearing the worst, that they’ll lose their home to taxes. Many of their eight neighbors, who are mostly in their 70s and 80s, feel much the same way, George said. “We’re all sitting on pins and cushions, waiting for the axe to fall.” The city is planning a Local Improvement District, which would relieve traffic by building a major arterial from East Lake Sammamish Parkway to the Costco headquarters. Warehouse shoppers could also take the
– Sheldon Lynne, PWE director road to bypass the overburdened Northwest Sammamish Road. The multi-million dollar project would benefit local businesses, which is why the city is asking them to pay for it, but the Cameron’s neighborhood is stuck in the middle. State law forbids the city from cutting donut-hole exemptions in the district. When George first approached Issaquah
City Council, many of the members didn’t even realize there was a neighborhood there, he said dismayed. “What do you mean? We live in the middle of it.” Although the city has been planning the LID for a couple years, they still haven’t had an appraiser determine how the tax would SEE LID, 3
After nearly two years of waiting, the Sammamish Muslim Association received approval from the City of Sammamish to go ahead with the conversion of a 2,900-foot home into a prayer center with 44 parking spaces just north of Pine Lake. The transformation of the single-family home, located in the 22000 block of Southeast 20th Street, has been a hotly debated topic among neighbors, many of whom are a part of the group, “Friends of SE 20th.” Among concerns, neighbors cited issues with overflow parking, pedestrian needs, the outfall of a stormwater retention pond and wildlife. More than 500 letters of concern were received by the city. “We believe the city made the right decision taking all the neighbors’ concerns and comments into consideration,” said Wassim Fayed, a member of the mosque’s board of trustees. “Give us a chance and you will see we are indeed good neighbors.” In its approval, the city tried to ease community concerns, noting the facility is not much different than other religious institutions in similar neighborhoods throughout Sammamish. Fayed noted the conversion would allow members to practice Friday noon and Ramadan prayers on site. Currently, the major challenge is that they are unable to perform those prayers on site, instead being forced to larger locations. It would also open up community events, like weddings. “We are no longer bound by the maximum eight cars allowed on site,” Fayed said. “If one day we have 12 cars, we no longer feel we have to ask folks SEE MOSQUE, 3