Officials from the city and Port Blakely Communities met on Monday to talk about how to best to move forward with a recent land swap and preservation proposal through all the necessary city, county and state regulations.
Calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger last week proposed the package to the City Council. Among other things, it would offer:
• 144 acres of protected open space in the city.
• New homes, land and development opportunities in the Highlands.
• $3 million in Highlands park improvements.
• Affordable housing.
• The potential for a Highlands gas station.
• $5 million in transportation improvements to the Highlands.
Under the proposal, Park Pointe property owner Wellington LLC would sell its parcels to Port Blakely. Wellington has requested that the process be fast-tracked.The council referred the issue to the Major Development Ad Hoc Committee made up of Council President Maureen McCarry, Councilman Fred Butler and Councilman John Traeger.
“This is going to be quite an important process to get together,” McCarry said. “What we want to do is get this back to the (Committee of the Whole Council) as a package in November.”
The council members had the chance to ask questions of Keith Niven, program manager for the city’s Major Development Review Team, and of Port Blakely representatives.
Niven briefed the committee about a transportation management plan addressing road network capacity, and council members asked to hear more from the traffic consultant at an upcoming meeting.
They also talked about the need to communicate clearly and well with community members, both inside and outside of the Highlands.
“I think it has to be a very open, robust process,” said Judd Kirk, president of Port Blakely. He noted that Port Blakely has already met with key people in the community about the proposal, and said that in addition to a series of public meetings, Port Blakely and the city will have information available on their Web sites and a hotline for people to call.
If the proposal does continue to move forward, development would require the movement of the Urban Growth Boundary, something that is typically done only every four years. A current amendment to the King County Comprehensive Plan would allow amendments more often, said Thomas Goeltz, an attorney with Davis Wright Tremaine representing Port Blakely. Goeltz suggested designating a “point person” in the King County Executive’s office to help move the request along.
Niven said he expected Port Blakely to submit the checklist for the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) review this week.
To learn more, go to www.ci.issaquah.wa.us/parkpointe or www.ihwebsite.com and look for a link about “Park Pointe.” A public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Blakely Hall. The next meeting of the Major Development Ad Hoc Committee will be at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 7 at City Hall Northwest.
