Central Issaquah Plan Land Use

[Jeff Youngstrom]

Hi gang,

This Wednesday 16-Nov-2011 at 7pm, join us for the latest in the series of discussions hosted by Cascade Land Conservancy* about the Central Issaquah Plan.

Note that unlike the other meetings in the series, this one will be at the Hailstone Feed Store** on Front Street, not at REI.

This week's conversation will center on land use from housing, commercial space and mixed-use, to recreational space and public amenities.

This may not sound like it's transportation focused, but this is really where "alternative" transportation lives or dies. It's the land use decisions that can control whether there's a grocery store in walking distance from your house or not.

Hope to see you there! Let me know if you think you might come so I can pass along the numbers to Andrea.

Thanks,
Jeff

* If you haven't heard, Cascade Land Conservancy is in the process of changing their name. So if you start hearing about Forterra, rest assured it's the same great folks doing the same great work.

** The Hailstone Feed Store is the historical reenactment of a gas station at 232 Front Street N across the street from the Village Theater mainstage. Ain't irony wonderful?

[Karen Behm]

I think I can be there!

[Skye Schell]

Thanks for sending the note out, Jeff.

A bit more detail about tonight - we'll be looking at the fairly new
LEED-ND standards as a way to benchmark the Central Issaquah Plan.
Tonight we'll see what you think - when the final draft comes out, can
we look at it with an objective lens to measure things like
walkability, bike-friendliness, and green building? It's a new
standard, so hasn't been used in many places - so this should be an
interesting discussion.

Also I want to point out the recent minutes from Planning & Policy
Commission (PPC):

PEREA asked when and where bicycle advocacy groups’ input was used in
the plan
development process. Heinonen gave details. PEREA asked if using that
input was a
directive from the Council. Heinonen explained the public outreach
efforts made at the
beginning of the process and that all public input is important to
this process. SAHAY
explained bicycle enthusiasts’ involvement in the Task Force, noting
that they took the
time to attend meetings, get involved, and provide input. LEVIN said
that given the
percentage of bicyclists in the City, bicycle concerns are over-
represented in this plan, in
his opinion; and that occurred largely because bicyclists are a group
that express
themselves, whereas the public at large isn’t organized into interests
and therefore aren’t
reflected as well in the plan.

Let's keep that energy and get the voice of the cycling community
heard - for once, maybe our concerns will be adequately represented in
this plan.

Hope to see you tonight,
Skye

Forterra - formerly Cascade Land Conservancy

[Kathy Hardy]

I won't be at tonight's meeting, but I sent the following written comments to Trish Heinonen:

 

It is my understanding that recent meeting minutes stated that the opinion of bicyclists is overrepresented in the plan, because bicyclists speak up and others don't.  In my opinion, drivers do not need to speak up because accomodations have been made for them for the past 50 years.  I find that cycling in Issaquah is dangerous at worst and challenging at best due to insufficient bike lanes and shoulders.  I have cycled through downtown Los Angeles and Seattle with much more ease than I cycle in my beautiful City of Issaquah.  I applaud any and all consideration given to bicyclists' needs.  We live in a beautiful community that lends itself to bicycling, and given that much of the City is flat valley floor, it would be easy for more cycling to happen if there were sufficient safe lanes of travel.