good evening and welcome to the April
12th meeting the Planning Policy
Commission
tonight we are going to talk about the
plans for old town but before we do that
we have to approve the minutes from the
last meeting
that's 22nd and I have a motion to
approve a minute I'd like to make a
motion to approve the minutes of March
22nd 2018 second is there any discussion
changes direction all those in favor say
aye
machine carries if you had looked at the
agenda online you would know that we
were going to talk about the strategic
plan this evening but that's been
changed David isn't able to get here so
we're going to move that to may sometime
on a May meeting
so with that we're going to go right
into Old Town and Kristen is going to
give us some updates on some of the
changes that have been made
Oh so why are we here again so you may
remember that we did an update to the
old town plan old town Siberia plan and
you all made a recommendation to PPC I
mean I'm sorry to the City Council back
in April of last year I always feel like
I'm too loud made a recommendation to
PPC back in April 27th of last to City
Council on April 27th last year and
during that they the council saw it
three times in June July and August and
it evolved quite a bit during their
review and it's enough particularly in
formatting and a few other areas that we
thought it was worth and council thought
it was worth a second look and a second
public hearing by PPC so tonight it's
just discussion and to talk in
particular about four points that our
could change that have changed so it's
to see what you all think
so what requires a second look does this
draft capture our previous intent and
I'm assuming that you all have done your
homework and we can talk about that at
the end of this did we learn anything
through the CIP visions that we might
want to apply here keeping in mind that
those visions haven't been adopted yet
but is there something in that process
that we want to apply here as well are
the addition of action items helpful
here hmm and should you may recall that
you all recommendation that old route 10
be removed from the central Issaquah
plan and now it's hanging out there and
so should that be added or at least a
part of it added to Old Town so
primarily what changed is the format
when we looked at the new one and we
looked at the old one and we looked at
the policies they were many more
policies but those policies were still
incorporated we feel into the existing
document and I need you guys at the end
of this to tell me whether you agree
with that or not traffic calming I just
want to bring it up traffic calming was
something that was brought up often by
residents during the public process and
it came up here as well so there's a
policy still in the plan but it's also
being implemented right now there's a
pilot program
going on in Old Town and discussions
have been started with those residents
parking the council has directed us to
find more efficient parking or a
location for a parking site and our
request for proposal is going out very
soon to get a consultant to help us do a
parking study in the old town area
biggest change is probably the addition
of the action items that were not
anywhere there before I sort of mimics
the visions and a potential change like
I said earlier the boundary change so
I'm going to walk through some of the
action items and obviously a date would
probably change we're already into April
of 2018
so maybe 2018 2019 we'll figure it out
but right now I just want to just be
consistent so one is doing new
architectural standards for consistency
and how probably single-family homes and
duplexes look in all town code revisions
to height in the CBD along the mfh
multifamily high along sunset and in
this single-family duplex areas as well
the single-family duplex areas are north
and south of sunset code revisions to
increase impervious surface in the CBD
as well as multi-family high along
sunset as well from and that would go
from 50% to 75% in CBD potentially from
currently 85% to 95% which would match
central is it parts of central Issaquah
code revisions to allow small-scale
retail with something that was discussed
in mfh along sunset the parking analysis
the cut through traffic are being
addressed code revision to adopt the
sidewalk use district which it more
easily enables those businesses in Old
Town to use their sidewalks code
revisions to incent live work studio
opportunities and implement the housing
strategy so those are things that would
be assumed first up is there anything on
this list that should be moved that is
missing it's not on this list we can
come back to it
does the boundary change need to be on
this list since since there's a risk
that old guard 10 might be in a no-man's
zone a moratorium for a brief period if
the boundary changes that'll be part of
the plan update so it would these things
these are things that will happen once
the plan is adopted the barrel yeah
they're in the new word they're in the
new part of the plan
as the action items yeah the boundary
adjustment would happen with the plan
okay
I was curious why the community gardens
is on the kind of the second half the
future plan for implementation rather
than being a sooner action item and if
that was because we didn't have a
location or if it was just we don't have
a location that would be part of the
parks plan too that hasn't been adopted
so I don't know where if that falls in
there and where would that fall where
that would fall in it can always it can
always be moved up but yeah and I think
things like fixing traffic and things
that the task force recommended were a
higher priority than probably the
gardens are a higher priority as far as
the way we function but I think when we
think about everything being so
car-centric it kind of leads away from
the heart of what we think of Old Town
being and so it seems a little
counterintuitive to be constantly
talking about roads and cars parking
while important I don't think that
necessarily means that public gathering
spaces then aren't a priority so that's
why I was curious why the head was put
onto that list of things it was future
postponed kind of you know implemented
in the next phase
and I was wondering for what just cuz we
simply didn't have a location it was
more of a concept or it's really more of
a concept yeah but if that's something
that you all want to move up we can talk
about it I need clarification on number
eight code revision to incent live-work
studio opportunities mm-hmm what's
referred to by studio opportunities all
right it's yeah it's live live work it's
a live work studio so you have studios
where artists live and they work in the
same building they do their art in the
same building okay
anything else yeah it might just I think
this is a good list but just a couple of
general comments one is and I you know
we could move stuff back and forth all
day long I'm not sure that's can
accomplish anything but I liked in the
plan or rather in the goals that we sort
of discussed improving transit options I
mean it was just by it was by accident I
think but we discussed ran improving
transit options before we discussed
providing more parking and then and when
we get to the actions we we focus on the
parking study at least first and 20 in
the first year and we don't start
worrying about better transit options
until later and I know there's this like
back and forth as to whether or not if
you provide more parking more people are
gonna drive and if you know III guess I
would like to see improving transit
along with providing more parking kind
of talking about those at the same time
if we can so if that works out fine it's
not I'm not gonna worry too much about
it but I think that's useful um and then
kind of related to all of that we have
in the second and the right now the 2019
to 2021 where is it something about
regional traffic develop strategies for
minimizing impact from regional traffic
I think that's just something we're
always doing so it might be worth
thinking about mean and if we do you
know later this year or later in the
first year of this implementation have a
you know transportation commission or
whatever I mean it may be something that
we want to just not let people think
we're not worrying about it cuz we're
always worrying about it right okay
all right anything else similar comment
but then for biking is the reason biking
is in nineteen rather than eighteen is
that because of the timing of the
streetscape plan no um because the
streetscape plan actually doesn't
include biking in there so oh there's no
I see that's one and then two oh yeah so
you're asking why it's why it's not in
2018 yeah
part of that is we need to do an
inventory first and that takes some time
but you're suggesting maybe moving the
inventory up yeah that makes sense that
makes sense I think again it would be
nice to put that with the parking and
transit just show them go concurrently
yeah do mean you guys have the bandwidth
to do all of that alright so I noticed
the first item the first item on the
2019 to 2021 implement recommendations
from the downtown streetscape plan so
that plan if I'm not mistaken was
created in 2017 it was it was adopted in
April 2017 okay so is its implementation
waiting on this to be adopted I don't
understand why why the two are
necessarily linked or that there is a
delay on implementing any of those well
part of that some of it only be
implemented this year trees will be
replaced this year but you have to put
it in here as a way to monitor it and
make sure that it really does happen so
it's not just this floating streetscape
plan out there it's somewhere else that
you have action items and say yeah don't
forget to do that plan out there yeah so
because there were a lot of things in
that that I think are amazing for the
Old Town area and so I'm kind of looking
at this going are we pushing all of the
implementation off to 2019 or is it just
kind of
opening as it can and like you said this
is more about monitoring it's happening
as it can okay so I picked the wrong
chair so so the way the city funds
capital projects is through its capital
improvement plan right and so right now
if you look at the capital improvement
plan as Kristen mentioned there's
[Music]
150,000 ish $152,000 to basically put
the street trees in that got taken out
with the section of the sidewalk that
got widened for the stormwater project
but things like alder Street the
festival street right now that that
capital improvement plan has funding for
that out beyond like 2023 so there's not
anything in the next few years to do
that so so that's a that's a council
decision and part of what we can do here
is if you guys feel like
besides kind of working on the plan also
talking about a different maybe speed at
which the streetscape plan gets
implemented you know that is a message
that the council might want to hear if
it's gonna because it you know so
funding those things is always about
what's the highest priority right and
and so if if nobody's kind of knocking
on the old town streetscape plan as
being a high priority then it just kind
of falls into a lower basket and doesn't
get funded so so that's one of those
things that that is gonna need some
lobbyists for it to move into a more
current timeline so again I'm throwing
that out there not trying to lobby you
guys to do anything but if you want to
move the needle there's gonna have to be
some action that comes from groups like
peep
see and from dia and from others to kind
of get the council's ear on that well I
personally think that the streetscape
plan was amazing and I'd like to see it
implemented and so I think linking the
two and kind of including that in the
discussion is probably important okay
and and you know perhaps putting not
just maybe not just the broad to
implement recommendations from the
downtown streetscape plan maybe it's
implement phase two or implement the
alder Festival Street if there's
something specific in there or the
pedestrian Park there are plans in there
some pieces in there for that if there's
something specific to that you all would
want to see earlier rather than later
that could go in here as well I think
that's a great idea I would love the
idea of kind of picking it apart because
it was large and it's gonna require a
lot of funding and I think that some
improvements could happen more quickly
than others and be able to make a big a
big change in the community so I would
rather pick parts of it rather than just
just kind of say all-encompassing and
and on that note breaking it down would
help us also identify if there's other
major projects that are happening in the
transportation side that would affect
work that would be done on the streets
game plan and then maybe torn up and
then have to be redone
yeah if we could do things that maybe
wouldn't be affected by a major project
like that that's a few years down the
road we could avoid having to redo stuff
okay and I think on the first page there
was something about using the sidewalks
as area for the businesses and that was
certainly part of that streetscape plan
so I think going into it and pulling
things out is a great idea okay yeah if
you can identify things that are minimal
so we are going to discuss this again so
the next time around we can kind of
we'll send you a link to the plan as
well and it's broken up a little
differently now than it was in the plan
but we can explain that as well okay all
right can you talk about a number
five and six both I'm in the twenty
twenty nineteen yes yes okay actually
Keith might have to explain both of
these the oh no the community engagement
program is yeah five the community
engagement program is getting the
neighbors together or a group of people
together you know who live in Old Town
reside and work in Old Town on a regular
basis and just having a discussion about
what's going on in the area it's just
informational and getting together we
have a community coordinator getting
together with her or different
departments just to talk about what's
going on what's working what's not
working that kind of thing and then a
plenty of doing that for all
neighborhoods or just old town we're
proposing it for Old Town right now I
think the intent is that eventually it
might happen for all neighborhoods
correct me if I'm wrong so the city's
the city's comprised of neighborhoods
that have functioning some high
functioning homeowners associations and
some don't
and so as we went through Old Town there
was a conversation about how because
there really isn't a homeowner's
association that gets the neighbors
together and gives them opportunities to
talk about points of common interest
that maybe the city could serve that
function by just hosting meetings you
know that happens a lot in Highlands and
Talas and so you know part of the city's
turning our neighborhood engagement
coordinator into a full-time position
was working on kind of evaluating the
neighborhoods in the city and kind of
getting to that answer so it wouldn't be
all but there would definitely be I
think part of it is identifying that
opportunity to neighborhoods and seeing
if there's an interest in Old Town there
was an interest like let's say we go to
kind of like confluence and Gilman when
we start seeing it right what's gonna be
happening in the next decade right I
love the idea and I'm sure you guys love
the idea of me proposing more
allistic work on to your schedule but
even having you know twice a year you
know even if it is something that's more
minimal than something quarterly than
being able to have a venue for more
communities to have that I think is an
amazing idea well and even outside of
its upcoming development it gives the
city and council and the mayor
opportunity to hear from people and
going to them rather than expecting them
coming to especially for areas that are
less well organized you know again I
realized that is putting more pressure
on staff that's a time commitment that
that is a lot but when we think about
how we want to be developing our
community I love this idea of being able
to kind of take the work that we do in
here and being able to push it even
farther out into the community yeah well
and quite honestly that isn't as much on
existing staff as it is on Leeson and
giving her the opportunity to have those
regular commitments can be a good
structure for that new position so I'm
not I wouldn't be surprised if there was
a community person who would like to
take that on and help organize that okay
so we were we were reminding ourselves
of number six but number six has to do
with the cottages we had talked about
different kinds of small housing cottage
housing and other types of housing that
can go in here to add housing without
destroying the character you know
allowing residences without allowing you
big things so anyway this is a toolkit
in working with residents to figure out
and working internally and then with
residents to figure out how to do that
kind of thing to do infill this isn't
like an existing toolkit that some
organization has established that we're
talking about and we're creating this
correct and then adopting it correct
yeah Bellingham has one yeah you know so
when are we creating it this is adopt in
2019
it would be does this is yeah somewhere
between 2019 and 2021
this isn't that kind of tie into action
item number 10 for 2018 implement the
housing strategy I processing code
revisions to maintain the increased
number of residences in the sub sub area
it does that's what I assumed when I
read it was they create what 10 tells me
you're you're making it now baking it
and I got three voices in my head
because it's not actually mentioned in
the housing strategy per se we knew that
they were out there when we did the
housing strategy but we hadn't really
delved into which pieces of the the
toolkit we wanted for our own so that's
why we broke it out as a separate part
because it isn't already encompassed in
the housing strategy plan but we did
like the whole idea that what we just
didn't have time to sift through it
before Housing Strategy was done yeah
yeah understood I liked the part create
yeah I had to create okay anything else
on questionnaire a lot less glamorous
topic number five of 2020 to 2025 make
improvements to the Internet
connectivity to increase the quality and
speed of service we're already having
discussions about small cells what I
mean
20:22 isn't that long with stretch we
could certainly do it but 2025 5 G's
already gonna be here and that's the
whole point of small cell yeah well in
really why is a city involved in that
when that's really provided by private
companies and the city does have an
nevermind
[Laughter]
okay and I'm not that I'm not that
familiar with small cells so I but you
work in the industry so hey I think it
may cover it may be covered by that yes
I think the point is that small cell is
going to be many little towers
throughout the city I think it's going
to be a visual impact to the community
and I think that's where the city partly
needs to address it it's not necessarily
the technology behind it because they
are known it but we don't want telephone
poles throughout the entire city with
little with multiple dozens of boxes on
I think the way that that's the make
improvements is vague enough that that
could end up just accounting for code
changes that cover a private investment
yeah Britain is the outlined it has a
separate bullet number five and twenty
twenty-two so it's actually separate
from that it's small sales call that
separately Internet connectivity is can
I use all can I ask you the question
would this be the old town pilot project
that was trying to do free Wi-Fi in old
town that Trager was working on okay
going anywhere yet okay so so this is
our leftover well so here's so this is
actually could be relevant so I was in
this room last night with a different
group talking about the new proposed
small cell code for the city one of the
things that that code does not allow is
new polls on Front Street and you cannot
put the antennas on the existing post
and globe that are out there so the
carriers are a little concerned that
that you know because the small cells
are about capacity and most of us are
using our phones in our cars and so the
capacity demand is on the streets and
Front Street and Gilman are going to be
the big usage corridor
and so so I like five not because the
city's providing any service because
we're actually taking away what horrible
service were providing now but it's
because I think that there could be an
issue they don't know it yet because
none of them have actually tried to put
facilities along front so the code
allows you to attach antennas to
buildings but if say the village theater
other buildings owners on Front Street
don't want an antenna on their structure
you know it could very well be that the
providers have to come back to the city
and ask for a code amendment because
they can't solve front street without
new poles so five if you leave it and
I'm not suggesting you do or don't if
you leave it would give at least a hinge
point for us to say okay we want to do
this we want to make sure that there is
you know complete service in Old Town
and Front Street is is gonna be kind of
the hardest part of it just because
there's new poles and the reason why the
administration suggested no new poles is
because there is basically a zero
setback from the buildings the whole
sidewalk is your pedestrian zone they're
not overly wide right now
and sticking additional poles in it
seemed kind of contrary to and and we
talked about that at this commission so
so and that was supported by
Infrastructure Committee to not allow
additional poles on front so I don't
know I mean it could be clarified
because I think it is a little bit vague
but I don't know and to your point Ron I
don't know when 5g happens which would
prompt maybe in this time frame I don't
know if any of us know what that even
looks like well the discussion is 2025
jame become alert but I guess the
question I have is
should it be on this list because small
cell has its own some package and would
it make any difference if it's in an old
town vs. central is a quad well I think
what Keith was saying is Old Town
specifically has issues that we didn't
solve with the small cell code changes
because of the inability to put
additional poles there okay so I can see
why that should be there I'm a little
bit not happy with the word make
improvement suggesting that the city is
going to do that but maybe maybe we're
address it's more than rodeo it's a
placeholder to say that we know we have
these issues but maybe what it needs to
do is be sitting on the 20 19 to 21
maybe it's the fact that it's pushed out
so far and it really needs to be a
short-term action item rather than the
long-term action item but didn't change
it to be more review II yeah makey
supporting and reviewing or yeah permit
if we got requests for permits a year or
two from now well we have to review it
yeah
already we have address to that with the
small stuff right right but some of that
may be saying sorry you're gonna have to
go to the building owners if the
building owners say no then they're
gonna come back and we'll have to
address that when it comes up mm-hmm so
if we change it to support and review or
something like that do you want to keep
it in there but move it up to 2019 I
think so yeah okay and and even at a
higher level than this just
infrastructure in general I'm wondering
if there's ongoing studies that always
are looking at our area's infrastructure
and how its handling our current
capacity and forecasted yes and yes okay
so that's always happening
that's citywide that's always happening
so I guess this is really just saying
specifically for Old Town we want
make sure that that area is staying
connected as well as every other
neighborhood because you could phrase
something like ensure in an activity and
cell service is adequate along in the
Front Street corridor has adequate
quality and speed or something like that
because if if we were visited in two
years and cell service is great
everything's great check that box okay
anything else in that twenty twenty two
to twenty twenty five okay you know
since we're talking about number four I
really I understand why it's in our
long-term as far as priorities go but I
think it actually does to have an lead
to an interesting discussion about how
to solve some parking issues in Old Town
I know that council has put it to staff
to say hey let's find us some some
parking but part of mitigating that I
think could really be actually putting a
parking structure that's really more
closer to Gillman and it's down and out
of Old Town but investing in our trolley
structure and actually having it go late
night and actually having it be
something that parking is actually more
off-site from Old Town and is more in
central I think is a really interesting
idea I think it's something that
actually does connect through to our
more urgent action plan items and I
think it actually talks about putting
Issaquah a little bit different from our
fellow communities and put this a little
bit more on the map so I I wish that
this wasn't on the long term I get why
it is but I think it's something that
could be visited a little bit sooner and
help do things okay
everybody else on that topic I mean I
think it's going to be addressed when
you're looking at parking I think if the
consultant comes in and doesn't address
and options such as moving part parking
a little bit further away and including
some kind of a blessing trolley system
then
that consultants not considering all
options I think if we moved it up it
would be a little bit more specific form
us saying yes this needs to be included
yeah I think if you look anything's in a
near-term jory they've gotten a parking
study right up there at the beginning
and that's the first domino so moving it
or mentioning the considering the
trolley in the parking study or well I
mean it aligns with my original comment
which was earlier comment which was I
think I think doing the parking study is
the important thing but even just for
optics like knowing that we're also
thinking about how to relieve congestion
in other ways okay not providing parking
your alternate you know some parking
alternates and then a few years down the
road maybe then thinking of another
solution so it's just doing in parallel
I think okay and it will be probably
part of the parking study but having it
on the list is good I so what kind of
rework if you're getting flashed so he's
saying to add out of the parking area um
do number four area parking added unbe
ond the shoppings
yes yeah add another potential mobility
option yes what is the trolley oh really
whoa whoa I'm still kind of new here
okay so we have a trolley a really old
trolley so you know the rail that goes
right behind here okay so that's the
that's the trolley rail and if you walk
up there past behind some of the stores
behind Jack's
there's a Depot Christmas yeah there's a
depot so the idea would be like to run
there's a and there's a building right
there too that stores the trolley that
runs
that runs it's in the summertime I think
and Christmastime and yeah he wants out
to be an extension of st3 it's really
cool yeah I don't think you can use it
as a actual but if you connect it up to
st 3 and then people get off and they
get into the quaint trolley yeah I
accepted Christ is over front street
which you have to close out your traffic
okay so what we we goodness we will
rework some of the parking and transit
and mobility options in the parking
study and move some of that up and make
sure it continues throughout how about
that okay all right oh I have one last
question during the public access some
views of this kook week and it's to cook
Creek is Fork is that not in the parks
plan I'm just curious like why that's
called out separately I don't know if
it's in the parks plan it's I haven't
seen it yet did you
I'm just I'm just wondering why no
whiteheads call that separately rather
than the other I think we brought it it
was brought up so often it's it's always
brought up when we go to neighborhood
meetings here it's brought up a lot so
once you just it's the highlight we need
to highlight it okay yeah yeah okay so
the boundary so this part that's hatched
in red is currently zoned destination
retail and until adopted is located in
central Issaquah if it comes out of
central Issaquah it needs a place to
live potentially i guess it could hang
out there but it would be nice if it had
a place to live an option is old town
but then if you all decide that that's
something you want to recommend you also
have to consider what the zoning would
be so it could stay destination retail
it used to be professional
this it could be CBD so that's a
discussion that you all need to have
before this goes to a public hearing
again can we can we talk boundary before
we talk to Tony
absolutely and can I add something I in
my discussions many with the attorney
because this is such a big topic of
possible rezoning he said that because
through the central plan we are removing
it if council goes with your
recommendation and he said we could
still leave it as destination retail
still have it go with the central
standards until we actually get to have
a thoughtful discussion of what happens
to it so it's not one of those you know
short discussion okay so we can it can
not be in the CIP plan but it can have
the CIP standards applied to it yes
until until until and if you all decide
because the IC properties intensive
commercial that you recommended to move
out there actually is an icy zone that's
not in central standards so we weren't
worried about those parcels because they
have something to fall back on but
destination retail didn't so we wanted
to be sure there was a safety net for
those parcels until we got around to
figuring that out make sense so yeah
let's talk let's talk boundary just the
boundary so my first question is east of
Front Street mm-hmm is there anything
not in covered in the hash line or is
there is that literally everything up to
the right-of-way everything north and
west of that is in central oh yeah what
I meant east of front I was just asking
to make sure I'm following the line the
boundary line correctly okay there's
we've covered everything in to you yes
very right away yes okay I was wish to
clarify a question okay so on that idea
there's kind of a little pocket down at
the end of that can you and the which
end on the East and East End yep that is
you mean I use the mass where's the
mouse
right here yes that is right away that's
washed out right away okay so that's the
discussion that happened the other day
that goes down to that business yeah I
can't there we go there's a mouse is
that right he's right like that little
that little fringe
where's third Street yeah third Avenue
so yeah this is it in here I know
so that's office space that's not that's
a there's an office building there yes
or two wanted to and so if that's not
included
it's just basically a little pocket of
no man's land so okay correct yeah so it
doesn't have the same feeling as the
rest of Gilman that continue
that's over there but it does have the
same feeling as the areas around third
and birch and dogwood and all of that so
if if council approves it to drop out of
centroids to kua and we don't add it is
it just I mean we'd create zoning Fortin
it would just be a it could keep the
same stoning it would just be a really
small sub area right there I mean my I
just asked a question because I go what
and what if we done doing yeah but um
because I see no problem with adding it
Oh town yeah because the difference is
then we added all the sub area like
design standards applied to it right
whereas if not the zoning wouldn't
change but you have different design
standards so if it stays right yeah if
he stays destination retail yeah they
wouldn't have the design state they
would just have the zoning you know you
could build the same building types but
the look and feel the buildings would be
it would be different too it would stay
as it is in destination retail so I
think the max height is 65 feet I don't
have to double check should I pull that
up the old town
welcome I'm in support of this boundary
I think it makes sense to have that I
mean we even call it old route 10 it
feels like I mean it definitely if that
if that that Street met its vision it
would feel like part of old town I think
okay I think I remember talking about a
vision of that street that was like kind
of diners and that kind of feeling and
embracing that I think we already have
some you know the the Grange is there
xxx is there it gets a lot got a lot of
old town type stuff going for it already
bombs is there as well yeah absolutely I
think it has the potential to kind of be
this really awesome blend of this high
density that we foresee along gilman and
then the feeling of old town to really
complement our sitting in a way that we
don't have have it and this lets us take
old town all the way to a 90 pretty much
that's what I was gonna say that I think
having it and being able to have an
entry point where you have the signage
there rather than further back where it
kind of is now is really important to be
able to brand that area and bring people
into that feeling it becomes more of a
corridor rather than right now once you
hit the dairy you kind of get that feel
okay if we have to take the e off of Old
Town when you add an e to old route 10
will take that under consideration
technical thing else that sounds like
you guys are in favor of adding the
whole piece to Old Town okay then I've
got a question about the southern
boundary mm-hmm
why the little divot at the very bottom
of it because that's all there's like
two houses there and the rest looks like
it's green you know so
that's cool the green spaces the school
smell
yeah by the difficut it comes through
yeah the divot at the bottom we actually
somebody brought that up the other day
and since I've been that way since day
one and I Trish was it annexed at that
time was it not a part of the city it
was part of the city I was probably sure
I know part of the parts of the south is
not seward was not did not have sewers
back then I don't know actually if they
ever did good sewers so I think that
might have been it but I can't that was
a long time ago I'd have to look to see
it why it has a tooth like that so what
would be the value of adding it or
leaving it out well if you it's like
Troy said if you take it out of some sub
area it has to go into another sub area
right now I realize that but what would
be because right now it's on the inside
of the rain air trail so it's actually I
mean if you want to use a reindeer trail
as kind of a boundary marker you could
but what would be the advantages to
having that part of the old town or
leave it out of Old Town I mean it's
it's the zoning won't change and I don't
even know what it's owned right now
you're right I mean I need the zone with
the zoning and sub area is for
everything that's kind of self and
dealth west of here I think here a lot
of it is sycamore sycamores to the west
yeah sycamores to the west and it's
single-family suburban and single family
estate some of it is multi-family what's
coke ari high or medium high high yeah
okay and a little bit of it is
multifamily high to the primarily - and
that's around to the south and the west
is what those are and those those three
or five Lots right there I don't know
what the zoning is off hand but I would
guess is one of those single-family
zones
Trish suggested another band to her yes
she did all right yes Somers Somers good
it's light would anyone be weak for that
I am always only if it's dark and rainy
it's authentic honest an understanding
gallons you can buy okay we can we can
schedule a tour mm-hmm
going up to Cherry why is it not just
follow a street cheering where are we
great left hand side it does I think are
you talking and I gotta remember to do
this is this cherry yeah so you're
talking right here yes it follows the
creek does yes yeah yeah that's the
creek which I think makes sense is the
creek even though even though the grid
looks continuous think the creek is a
pretty natural buffer it makes a net you
transition yes you can't tell that's the
creek when you have the red line there
so I'll put it on there next right okay
so I'm gonna go back to the south end
okay so does it make sense to have the
big school property and any of the areas
that are on the west of that in Old Town
and all the apartments well they have a
very different character I think I think
when I hear people talk about Old Town
what they generally think of is kind of
where we are now north and south of
Sunset just east and west of front it's
a different feel there's a big school
you know that's that's a discussion for
you all to have though so my perspective
is that the South End doesn't
necessarily make sense in that kind of
Old Town area but I'm not exactly sure
what
the property to the west on first place
is that's where Clark is
and there's some houses along front okay
so that's the elementary school and
that's the high school oh that is I was
okay
I'm oriented different yeah so I think
you do need to keep the community center
mm-hmm and but not necessarily stuff
that's south of it yeah I think you
could cut it off south of the community
center and then take it up north of the
school so used our store Evans wasn't
important yeah probably Evans and I'm
taking it down why was yeah why was the
whole school property included or ridden
I'm sorry pardon me why was the Squires
of school originally scoped in because
there were so many community facilities
already in Old Town that it just seemed
to make sense because the school is
considered a community facility so we
put that in as well we gain anything by
taking it out I don't think so really
really I'm going to change one or the
other schools already built schools no I
doing it one the thing for me is it just
doesn't feel like as compact of an area
like a continued contiguous area with
that bottom portion but I would agree
with joy I don't think it necessarily
improves anything to take it out it was
just consideration oh we leave itself
well it sounds like we're in agreement
about adding got the proposed old route
10 as strong well something else we can
do at our next meeting is just do what
we did with central and bring a big map
bring three maps that have the zoning
and the land use you know the area
landing matter you guys don't fully with
that drawing okay all right tentatively
we're looking at this and leaving it as
is we're following the recommend yeah
yeah yeah I think that's the general
feel we just want to pick at it a little
bit some of those properties down at the
bottom yes you can include that in the
notes
I think you yeah cuz we can we can kind
of Fudd's around with the bottom but if
it's not really gonna impact anything I
don't really want to change the boundary
and confuse the public with a line
that's been drawn for several years in a
room okay
well we'll bring it and you guys can
look at it we'll see what happens okay
all right so I just wanted to step back
real quick weird there were four things
that we were gonna address one was does
this draft capture our previous intent
and assuming that you all have read it
do you think that the draft that's in
your packet does what you want it to do
still yeah yeah okay did we learn
anything for CIP visions and that may be
a question that has to wait to be
answered but is there anything you can
think of right now that could still be
applied I think that we learn on that I
learned I can speak for myself
that we because these these
neighborhoods are so close to each other
I kind of feel more justified giving
these more stringent guidelines
Stonetown and really keeping it as as
true to our intent as we want with our
codes and not feeling ashamed about that
being able to say no these are our
height limits and they're really
sticking true to our guns in Old Town
because right you know our neighborhood
just you just down the road can
accommodate you in another fashion if
that's what you need so I felt a little
more I feel more justified in saying
let's go hardcore with what we really
want to see all don't look like okay and
just as a side note to kind of along
those lines right after this gets
approved we start with the design
standards and the regulations so it'll
be fresh on your brain and you can
measure that's all I can say are not
better April I think this is an
improvement but I like the direction
we're going good I was gonna say I
really like the format of this my only
concern is that the format of this is so
different from the CIP and so I don't
know how to mesh the two of those
without going back to the CIPM saying
change it to this
you know no but I think is that kind of
goes back to this whole thing of Old
Town being in town and it's just sewing
like I kind of like it we're loading as
its own lofty kind of concept I think
there's anything in here that needs to
mention the CIP or connect the two of
them hmm I like being its own world
almost you know I think I think a shout
out to confluence as the transition
neighborhood okay
would be helpful because in the kind of
confluence we shout out old town mm-hm
then they could be good to reflect that
I think I think there should be a place
to talk about each of the entrances to
Old Town and the primary spots of
injuries kind of the gate yeah the
gateways if you will on the south end
from sunset from I nineteen pretty much
in every direction
not every street that comes into it but
the major yeah we did talk about that
we're talking about downtown plan right
it was in the old one
I think the April version okay I I have
a question so if we incorporate old
route 10 it'll be in the old town sub
area but are we going to brand it as old
town or what is it gonna be branded as
old route 10 I don't expect you answer
that question right now but I think I
think that's I think that's a really
interesting discussion for us have is do
we have two brands both of which are old
old-timey and vibrant or do we have one
or do we have one brand essentially then
it becomes like central Issaquah where
you have your two neighborhoods yep
where you have your old route 10
neighborhood in an old town in your Old
Town neighborhood but you don't it but
you don't necessarily need to do like in
this is Jessica will you have like
different design standards for him it
could still be one cohesive design
standard but you would perhaps do
branding in a wayfinding differently I
think brand itself yeah yeah but I
actually if the community thinks that
right old route 10 is something
different
Ryan Old Town and I think the branding
and sign
needs to reflect that even if from like
a planning document we just treat him as
one cohesive area okay I think that's a
good point so we need to figure out how
we address that in at this document
without separating them entirely but
mentioning the inclusion and what I
don't know whether you even go to the
point of saying what the vision is for
that area or whether that delineate sit
too much hmm
and that might be something that I'm
thinking out loud here we might that
might be something to add to the
short-term medium-term action plan is to
engage with the community particularly
the business owners along all around
10:00 and say do they want to be branded
along with Front Street where they want
to be branded distinctly well and right
now because old town or old route 10 is
not a part of this there are no policies
regarding old route 10 so that is
something that we would need to add
before this comes back to a public
hearing if you guys want to see that and
if we do then you mention it and you all
say you know there's a vision for for
old rotten and the existing central
Issaquah plan that talks about having
that I don't know what kind of feel it
is but that they mentions it whatever
feel it is and it can be a policy to
maintain that feel and then build on
that in the standards well I wonder if a
section about kind of the unique places
or kind of treasures within
mm-hmm Old Town as a whole could talk
about specific properties that are
really really key or areas so you know
it could be as large as in urban areas
old route 10 or it could be something as
important as the community center I'm
just talking about we want to make sure
we preserve these so you're talking
about the treasures list that we have
because that one's about to be updated
is why I'm asking their treasures list
that's specific to its in town it's in
the comprehensive plan and most at least
2/3 of those things are in Old Town okay
but that's gonna be revisited to okay I
guess I'm hungry I want to make sure
that the Old Town treasures are
all that in the old town okay my aunt I
guess I realized that once you duplicate
you have to make sure they align so
who's that to fight too but well I think
going back to the original idea of Olga
route 10 you know versus old town and
how do you reconcile I mean it could
just be as simple as treating it all as
one and then within this structure where
we talk about placemaking and you know
traditional billion whatever we can just
sprinkle it throughout right but I know
but I think what I'm saying is I think
there needs to be a little bit longer
conversation after whole doctrine gets
brought in to say do we want to treat
old about ten just as a part of old town
an old town is just kind of grown or
have we brought in a slightly unique
neighborhood that has its own sense of
place mm-hmm that's sharing a sub area
but still is its own and that's part of
your zoning discussion too once it gets
adopted in there but I think I just
wanna make the point that even after
we've decided on zoning and we after
we've decided on this iteration of the
severer plan I think that the city needs
to help drive a conversation between old
old town and
new old town just to figure out about
what what's the right way to speak about
an end to brand that I knew that new
space agreed so thinking through the
treasures we might think through which
one of those should be included in
pictures because there's a lot of great
pictures through here and I do notice
that the Front Street Market is there
maybe we have a place that with
something else that's you know maybe
still here before and after okay so did
you find the addition of the action
items helpful yes yes yeah okay yeah you
had a good discussion and then we just
talked about the boundary so we will
bring this back for just probably for
discussion another time I'm looking at
Trish we've been going back and forth on
our schedule
this has been a wild one we're hoping to
bring this back on the 26th of April
which is your next official meeting we
also have a public hearing that night on
TDRs in the highlands but considering we
still need to fit in a tour now right
I'm gonna go that fits in in this
discussion if we have the public here
yeah and I need to find out Keith's
schedule for the tour cuz he would be
the driver and so I'll make sure the
Vans available too right we have to get
that van with no gas in it and then are
we gonna end up adding back in the
conversation about the strategic plan in
the beginning head up that's me ma
that's our vase okay I think I don't
know when exactly the tour would be a
lot of it's on peace schedule but we had
public hearings well we could have at
the 24th and the other piece would you
want to wait for new members the new
members or would you want to do this
before June but other piece pardon you
said the other piece
what other piece oh the other question
is would you want to have the tour
before we have new members or overweight
or you mean I mean the public hearing in
the tour the tour okay yeah because the
tour could be as early as the 24th of
May yeah early as the tour could be and
we could just bump maybe the TI P okay
back and forth I do think it's a good
idea to have new members on the tour
it's a great way to immerse them into
this is what we do this is the you know
to really see this connection between
the abstract and reality so that's a
month out though it is I would rather
have us do the tour before based on our
schedule but maybe what we do is we do
the tour ahead of that and we think
about doing something in like September
before weather gets too gnarly and you
can think about because maybe that is
actually something to say thinks about
doing I know that's weird I think about
every year of a way of integrating new
members into and saying hey this is this
is how we interact in our community this
is what we why cuz it's really important
I I had a huge knowledge gained from
that being able to see this is where we
want to go this is because it's easy to
look at what it is now rather than our
my job is to see what what is it that we
want it to be and how is it that we're
planning for the future because Keith
would love to do another tour when the
new members come because he's always
driving right yeah yeah he's the MC well
I will shoot for might be a beautiful
thing if we want to get this done to be
able to fit with our agenda items and
something that we don't consider saying
hey this's right now maybe it's a bigger
kind of tour F in after June the April
26 do you think that's gonna be along
the TDRs um no actually because this is
from the end of development agreements
it's quite islands that you all did and
councils approved the end of the
development agreements but the TDR piece
they talk about it in the adopted
regulations but they didn't actually
make a map and so that's what this is
bringing forward to sort of clean up
what was just adapted so there's
a lot to change fix man with that
understanding why can't we bring back
the old town and do both of them the
same night we're yes we're going to we
didn't find out about that until this
morning so we can do again the 26th we
can't do the public hearing then though
because we didn't advertise old town in
time but we could certainly then do the
tour the first open real meeting that I
have that would be open for the tour
would be May 24th but I don't know if
the driver is available on May 24th he
looks available nothing but free time
right nothing but net okay we can do
that offline okay so are there any more
comments questions on whole town for
right now oh thank you you know a good
discussion thinking so I am gonna open
up the for public comments sure anybody
would like to come in and this is
specifically on Old Town
David Kepler 255 southeast Andrew Street
so old town very close to here parking
as far as I'm concerned the city has no
parking enforcement unless you have
parked on a red curb you know for the
fire zone or something like that and
maybe sometimes if you park in a
handicapped zone how much money do we
want to spend on creating parking
garages in the city so that people that
don't even pay for Sound Transit can
come to downtown Issaquah and catch the
554 to go to Seattle or whatever so I
think parkings got to be figured out it
needs to be improved but we did not want
to become in this in this area or the
central Issaquah just a bunch of parking
garages for light rail in the future
engagement we've had actually some good
engagements locally one was very
negative originally and that had to do
with the Teen Center and the
inappropriate placement of it it's
second and bush and we filled to over
capacity the trail house there with
people that were outraged about that but
then after through a process it got
moved to a more appropriate place by the
community center between the pool and
the community center and the community
is very happy with that and there's no
issue the other one is the parking
dealing with rather not parking but the
the pasture traffic and the traffic
calming and overall most well forty
people are more showed up on a Saturday
morning at the at the trail house to
view the city's proposal for common
traffic calming on Andrews Bush some of
the side the north north south avenues
and alders Street was a great crowd
people very positive and except for
chicanes people are very positive about
the temporary traffic humming a
devices if we have a purpose you can get
people out but just say we want to talk
about the century the old town you're
not going to get anywhere you got to
have something that grabs people either
positively or negatively I missed last
night's meeting
but thirteen cubic feet is what's going
to be allowed in these communication
posts or whatever on these pot on these
piles on posts 13 cubic feet up in the
air and then power supply and other
things can be on the ground 13 cubic
feet by my calculation is the same as 21
five-gallon buckets
it's a lot of it's a lot of stuff
hanging up in the air and as I was
watching this on my phone last night
looking at mounts up mount or
swag Mountain on my phone and I was
looking at squawk Mountain watching the
the the meeting last night and I
realized that power pool there could
have one of these monsters in my alley
and I think we have to think about view
impacts and impacts in general about
these things thank you
hi I'm Kerry McGill with rally
properties 1595 Northwest Gilman
Boulevard and I just had four points I'm
looking through the old town plan it
looks pretty good to me but there is a
lot of mention about preserving views
but it doesn't say which views views of
the creek if you are their signature
views all views so the little bit more
work there needs to probably happen to
identify priority eights of views I was
really glad to hear you guys talking
about starting to talk about connections
to other areas because that was really
important in the district visions it was
emphasized in so many areas and this one
doesn't really have how it ties into
Issaquah Highlands and talus and makes
those connections and so that's another
piece that you might want to look at
consolidation of services is another
thing since ground is so scarce on Front
Street particularly around like garbage
for example maybe a common garbage
facility that could be utilized by many
people would reduce the number of
dumpsters in the backs of buildings and
create more optional uses for that
property instead and then the last ones
kind of minor but you might want to
define what cut through traffic is I
think what you mean is that it's for
people from other cities going through
Issaquah not stopping but we don't want
it maybe to mean if you're from the
Highlands and you need to go to Tallis
are you cutting through so maybe just
well thought around that so thank you
thank you
hi I'm John mavet and I run the Grange
at 145 Gilman Boulevard we've been there
since 1943 moved from Renton in was
started in rent in 1934 and moved to is
a call in 1943 I don't have that much to
say because I think I've said it at some
meetings before I'd really like us to be
considered part of old town I think when
you consider a couple of things branding
there there's any anyone who will tell
you there's one brand you don't go we're
gonna call one old town and one old
route 10
everybody knows what a town in is but
nobody who's lived here you know ten
years or less knows what route 10 is and
I think that with a hundred and nearly
one hundred and fifty years of business
between us and Boehm's you would have to
consider us part of Old Town the other
thing I think is really worth
considering in terms of that section of
Issaquah being considered Old Town is in
these last I've been managing the Grange
for about a year and a half and we've
really done a lot of outreach into the
highlands and both with Highlands day
and then I did stem night at claw Hannie
and the diversity of those events has
been astonishing to me I grew up in
shoreline and then lived in ballard for
a million years and and yet as those
events and and as i go back and work in
my store i see those faces back in in
the grange because they picked up our
information and they come in they want
to see the baby chicks and they want to
see the the the gardening thing the
things that we do and they come in buy
the pet foods and in the Scout gear and
and so it really is quite a gateway I
think between one of the fastest growing
communities in Issaquah and Old Town and
then secondly the Grange going forward
and as long as my team is there and as
long as I'm there our budget for
marketing is in community sponsorship
and community giving this spring we will
be holding a symposium on cashier
harassment that we're going
to try to work with the chamber and get
cashiers and those folks from all over
and really come up with sort of the
hashtag me to here's what do you do when
that customer gets a little fresh and
give people those sorts of tools
secondly we're working with Audra Greene
Gaines Mulkern who is a documentarian
who is doing a documentary about women
farmers throughout history it's a it's
one of those things working backwards
she already has the distribution she
just needs the money to make the film
PBS has already said they'll run it and
so the Grange is really taking an active
role in finding and giving the money to
to make that that documentary The Grange
is also going through a remodel we're
just getting to the beginning of it and
realizing that we don't want people from
San Diego and Eugene telling us what the
grain should look like
we want people in Issaquah telling us
what the grain should look like and so
that remodel including a barn in which
will have barn dances where old town can
get down will be will be forthcoming
along with electronic vehicle charging
stations because we are a fuel stop and
we want to be a fuel stop for the next
hundred years
we love our involvement in downtown
Issaquah I mean it's been the for me
it's the shiniest thing I've done since
I've taken over and and we really really
want that to continue so I would just
you know when the subject comes up of of
calling our part of the woods I'm old
route 10 I really would would strongly
advocate and ask you to to fight to make
it part of Old Town because that's how
we feel and that's who we support and I
think it's an easier I think it's an
easier thing to brand so call us Gateway
and calls the Gateway to Old Town I
think that's fine but I would just I'd
assume the Grange and I'm sure I mean
Julius Boehm you know is he would but he
got here from Ravenna in 52 and there's
a guy who ran the torch for the Berlin
Olympics in 1936 I mean this is some
history that you just
have here without without that story and
without it being part of us so I don't
know keep us as part of Old Town and
thank you so much for for hearing me out
one thing I would like to see is a more
some connectivity between all route 10
and downtown if there was some
connection where you could just walk
where you didn't have to walk around
that would be great I'm not either
bringing a road honey so I'm I'm way up
high compared to most when I look at the
building blocks of the city and how
we're going to plan and organize it
I want the forms for all the sub areas
to be the same so that every time
somebody has to use the tool they don't
have to relearn the tool that they're
using in the organizational structure so
I want this to be organized like the
central Issaquah plan is organized using
the same component parts because when
the planners have to use the tool it is
way easier for them to just use the same
tool but with different language in the
tool than having to learn the construct
and same with the community and so I
resist that because it's a different
part of town it should have a different
looking tool it should have different
language different descriptions and
different focal points but have this
structure so then given that I want that
to happen I'm going to describe what
that would look like you'd get the maps
you already talked about it and you cut
off the areas that make sense to have a
specialized character within Old Town
and each of those areas gets their own
design standards you already have the
start of that within your old town they
do have these mapped areas where the
rules are slightly different in some
areas rather than others and that is how
you can deal with the southern area it
should have a different set of standards
than the Gilman area and the Gilman area
potentially should have a different set
of standards than the central Main
Street area and the Cherry Street same
thing that's just me theorizing now what
do you do when you start talking about
the connections and you say where are
the parks and you say well you know what
we actually need our parks map just like
we have the green necklace for the CIP
to overlay into our Old Town area so
that we can understand that our parks
are appropriately placed and that we
have the pathways and corridors that
link them all at the same time we need
to understand our traffic and and roads
standards and how they will be used for
example Gilman on that and has an
enormous right-of-way and that is
currently unplanned and my understanding
is it's going in the CIP for a potential
planning effort for that end of Gilman I
don't think that was on this list but I
think that would need to be added to the
list and then when I imagine what that
street could be I want that to be the
festival street because it doesn't go
through you don't have to shut down
traffic but it could be the streets you
closed down you use the Grange you use
the big parking lots and you have your
your weekend dues and then that festival
street in the middle of Old Town I don't
think is as important it might be a
smaller thing I think you need to
rethink the Old Town
plan now that you have a whole new area
that needs to fit in and can augment it
so I wouldn't want to lose sight of that
Tour's absolutely every time because you
don't know unless you've gone through so
I'm gonna reiterate really fast
structure the same for the CIP mapping
same the CIP parks the same as the CIP
and then let your imagination go forth
so that you can describe the special
areas that you want to highlight and
create within the whole of Old Town
thanks and seeing nobody else I'm going
to close the audience comments anything
else that you guys would like to kind of
touch upon to be added to our next
meeting I do want to say one thing that
in the original central plan that part
of highway 10 old route 10 was going to
be set up as a completely different kind
of a 50s look in there and so it was
going to be really you know unique part
of the city so that I don't think that's
gonna happen now but that's what it was
gonna be AJ I think I would just echo
the comment about views I think that got
brought up in the CIP that we a lot of
references to views but we did
everything specific I think that's
something that still needs to be
tightened up but I think old old town
will have the same issues that we can't
we can't protect we can't protect our
views until we've gotten more specific
about what that actually means I think
it also being wise to discuss what
through traffic is define that as
whether it's out of the community pass
through traffic or internal past
traffic and actually to Connie's point
having the the two documents the same
like to bring that up as a discussion
feedback from my commissioners that's
it's actually I think it's a worthy
Justin I think we need to think about
how to do it without necessarily tearing
apart both of the different documents
because they are very different I think
there's a lot of value to this
particular document but I think Connie
brought up some very important points
about making sure that the information
is there for things like parks and
mobility to make sure that they are
called out appropriately rather than
glossed over in this area I don't know
if that deals with structure as much as
content I agree I think it's more of a
content of a double check rather than
necessarily restructuring the document
to be the same okay so you have homework
now go back and and just kind of put the
two together and see if you can come up
with anything that either the language
or just some specific that might have
been forgotten I don't think we at this
point in time we should go back and
although I'd love to have them exactly
the same I think we need to get on get
this approved so that we can get on to
looking at the codes and making sure
that this stuff is done if it's just a
matter of all the stuff in it is great
it just doesn't look the same you know
maybe at some point in time when there's
nothing else to do you can go back and
and change it but I'm hoping to get
through this so that we can actually do
all those codes that Kristin put up on
the and the screen so though ideas for
next meeting if you have time to kind of
put them together you don't have to look
through everything but if there's
something that really stands
oh we got to look at traffic well maybe
we this is the language that we should
use too and I think that's what city
council wanted us to do was to compare
and make sure it was similar in most
instances so with that there's nothing
else um we're still trying to find a
date for training I've heard back from
some of you all and and maybe we can
adjourn it and then talk about different
dates because it'll just sort of be a
scheduling thing so do you want to
adjourn the meeting and then we can talk
about training
okay I'm gonna adjourn the meeting at
7:15 eyes close enough and with that
we're done for this evening thank you
for the comments it's awful awful nice
to have people come and continue the
conversation because you always come up
with some ideas that we haven't thought
about
you