In 2016, Issaquah placed a moratorium on development, and the city council finally lifted that measure late last month after it approved a final ordinance related to the moratorium.
The ordinance reworks the vision the city has of how it wants the central part of the city develop in the future.
According to the Economic Development and Development Services director, Keith Niven, the city has been working on six separate items regarding development in central Issaquah since the moratorium went into effect. The plan for the central district was the last of the six issues to be discussed. The others were vertical mixed use, parking, affordable housing, urban design, and architecture.
Niven said the reason this measure took the longest was because it was the vaguest. The council found the language of the original plan too broard, so reworked the entire thing, and created a vision that is substantially different to the original. The previous plan divided Central Issaquah, which covers 800 acres, into 10 districts; the revised plan divides the districts into neighborhoods: Confluence, Eastlake, Gillman, Pickering, and West Newport.
Niven said the neighborhoods will continue to develop their own distinct character, but in such a way that they fit in with the overall vision of the downtown as being a livable and accessible space, particularly as a light rail station will soon be built.
Since this affects much of the city, officials might consider working with a flyer printing company on an update letter for residents.
