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History

Comprehensive Plan Update Process

Samena and mish, meaning hunter and people.  Lake Sammamish, during the 1800's, was a place where Native Americans settled and navigated the waters.  In 1887, the Compton family of Seattle joined them along the shoreline during the summer months.  Not long after, timber interests spread along the southern and eastern shorelines.  The western shoreline became "a recreational mecca" for Seattle families. Gateway Grove Resort, along with the resorts at Vasa Park and Idylwood Park offered a variety of recreational opportunities and entertainment including swim lessons, polka dancing, the famous boat races, and the only stainless steel slide in the state at 40-feet high/64-feet in length.  West Lake Sammamish Parkway developed in 1910 and connected families such as the Comptons, Jamesons, and LaMontagnes. (reference to Our Town Redmond by Nancy Way, © 1989) Today, the View Point neighborhood is home to Idylwood Park.  In conjunction with a variety of homes, other parks, open space, churches, and Audubon Elementary School grace the shoreline and slopes of the area. 

The Redmond Comprehensive Plan promotes the establishment of neighborhood quality and character. Within the Plan are policies that give direction and intent that support Redmond’s 20-year vision. To ensure that Redmond remains a healthy and dynamic suburban community framed by a rich natural setting, the City turns to its citizens for input in this discipline time and again.

Neighborhood planning is one of the many methods through which long-range visioning is sought. As projected, each of Redmond’s ten neighborhoods is visited at an interval of approximately seven years in order to update the respective Neighborhood Plans and Policy Section of the Comprehensive Plan. The Neighborhoods Element of the Comprehensive Plan contains neighborhood specific policies as developed through the interaction with Citizen Advisory Committees.

The Comprehensive Plan document is intended to:

  • Promote the general health, safety, and welfare of Redmond citizens.
  • Encourage coordination of private development, community goals, and planned facilities.
  • Identify and review City goals and policies as needed to insure appropriateness.
  • Communicate goals and policies with staff and the public in an easily accessible form.

The current Plan is based on extensive community involvement, which began in 1991. Forums, workshops, Citizen Advisory Committees and public review by the Planning Commission are forms of involvement. Additionally, the City offers open houses, City Council hearings, neighborhood meetings, and ad hoc committee meetings to round out the vision that builds the content of the Comprehensive Plan.

While a neighborhood plan is specific to only one of ten areas within the City, an event such as Redmond Design Day 2022 offered community residents and business owners an opportunity to participate in the establishment of a citywide 20-year vision. As listed in the Goals, Vision, and Framework Policy Element of the Comprehensive Plan, citizens of Redmond want to:

  • Conserve agricultural lands and rural areas, and protect and enhance the quality of the natural environment.
  • Retain and enhance Redmond’s distinctive character and high quality of life.
  • Emphasize choices in housing, transportation, stores and services.
  • Support vibrant concentrations of retail, office, service, residential, and recreational activities in Downtown and Overlake.
  • Maintain a strong and diverse economy.
  • Promote a variety of community gathering places and diverse cultural opportunities.
  • Provide convenient, safe, and environmentally friendly transportation connections within Redmond and with other communities.
  • Remain a community of good neighbors.

Neighborhood plans are an opportunity to apply and further develop Citywide visions and goals on a neighborhood specific basis, and to address neighborhood specific opportunities or concerns.

The Overlake Neighborhood Plan Update was completed in 1998/1999 and is currently going through a new update process. The Willows / NE Rose Hill Neighborhood Plan Update followed and was adopted by City Council in 2002. The Grass Lawn Neighborhood Plan Update began after that in February 2003. This plan was approved in early 2005. To learn more about the Grass Lawn process, please refer to the Grass Lawn Neighborhood Pages.  Both the Education Hill and North Redmond neighborhoods undertook a plan update from 2004 to present.  Redmond's City Council adopted the North Redmond plan in November 2006 and is expected to approve adoption of the Education Hill plan in early 2007.

To learn more about Redmond's Comprehensive Plan update procedures.  

To learn more about the individual Neighborhood Plan Update processes that are coming for the View Point neighborhood, please refer to the View Point neighborhood web pages.