 Kenmore residents considered incorporation many times since the town's founding; one such incorporation vote failed in 1954.The idea gained popular support through the 1990s, however, partly in response to the passage of the Washington State Growth Management Act of 1990.Formation of an exploration committee in 1995 led to a successful public vote shortly thereafter, and the city formally incorporated on August 31, 1998, 97 years after its original founding.