City closes sidewalk due to landslide risk
April 12, 2011
Groundwater seeps through the timber retaining wall, and a pedestrian sidewalk is closed along Southeast Black Nugget Road at Southeast 62nd Street. By Greg Farrar
The chain-link fence erected along the Southeast Black Nugget Road behind Fred Meyer and The Home Depot raised questions among motorists concerned about possible landslides.
City Public Works Engineering Director Bob Brock said municipal crews added the fence late last month as a precaution amid the risk for small landslides. The city is also addressing long-term issues related to the retaining wall along the same stretch.
“We’re trying to investigate what we can do to stop the earth movement above the wall, which is a separate issue from the wall itself,” Brock said. “The wall is in no danger of coming down, it’s just that it’s got a reduced lifespan because of some of things that were not done per plan.”
Instability on the slope is common after soaking rains, but city officials said the slippage does not pose a risk to the residences perched above Southeast Black Nugget Road. Way Back Inn, a Renton nonprofit organization, owns the land on the slope.
“It seems like this year, we’ve had a lot more water. It’s moving a little bit more and it’s got some fluidity to it that it didn’t have before,” Brock said. “So, as a precautionary measure, we closed the sidewalk just on the off chance that something might fall over the top of the wall there.”
Crews also planted stakes in the hillside to track shifts in the slope. The fence and the stakes attracted attention from Klahanie resident Sandi Dong.
Census: Issaquah is home to more than 30,000 people
March 1, 2011
City is more diverse and 170 percent larger than a decade ago
Issaquah is 170 percent larger and more diverse than a decade ago.
The city ballooned to 30,434 people — the result of a population boom fueled by annexations and housing construction. Information from the 2010 Census released Feb. 23 ranks Issaquah as No. 6 on the list of fastest-growing cities in the state during the past decade.
Furniture and belongings are unloaded from a moving truck Feb. 26 for a new resident of Estates on Cougar Mountain at Talus. By Greg Farrar
The population data also depicts Issaquah as a more diverse place than a decade ago.
The city claimed 11,212 residents after the 2000 Census. In the decade since the last decennial count, housing construction boomed in the hillside Issaquah Highlands and Talus neighborhoods. Issaquah also absorbed unincorporated King County communities in large annexations.
The population remains overwhelmingly Caucasian — 75 percent, although the percentage dipped from the 88 percent recorded in the 2000 Census — as more Asian and Latino residents settled in the city.
Census: Issaquah’s population crests 30,000 people
February 24, 2011
NEW — 2 p.m. Feb. 24, 2011
Issaquah’s population ballooned by more than 170 percent in the last decade to 30,434 people — the result of a population boom fueled by annexations and housing construction.
Information from the 2010 Census released Wednesday also depicts Issaquah as a more diverse city than a decade ago.
The city claimed 11,212 residents after the 2000 Census. In the decade since the last decennial count, housing construction boomed in the hillside Issaquah Highlands and Talus neighborhoods. Issaquah also encroached on unincorporated King County communities through annexations.
Issaquah’s population remains overwhelmingly Caucasian — 77 percent — although the percentage dipped from the 2000 Census — 89 percent — as more and more Asian residents settled in the city.
County transfers 1.07-acre parcel to Issaquah
February 15, 2011
King County leaders adopted a measure Feb. 7 to transfer a small parcel of land to Issaquah.
The wedge-shaped parcel consists of 1.07 acres along the 23600 block of Southeast Black Nugget Road between Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road and Highlands Drive Northeast. The property includes a storm water pond.
The ordinance adopted by the council authorizes King County Executive Dow Constantine to execute the land-transfer agreement.
The storm water pond on the land provides important drainage for sections of Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road and Southeast Black Nugget Road inside Issaquah city limits. Issaquah has agreed to take on the parcel and to maintain the storm water pond.
The county acquired the land more than a decade ago for a road-improvement project. Issaquah then absorbed the area as part of the North Issaquah annexation.
Through the annexation, the city also took ownership of the road right of way, but the county did not transfer the parcel to the city as part of the shift.
King County aims to transfer land to city
February 1, 2011
King County intends to unload a small parcel to Issaquah soon through a routine land transfer.
County Council members intend to shift the land to Issaquah more than a decade after the city annexed the surrounding area.
The wedge-shaped parcel consists of 1.07 acres along the 23600 block of Southeast Black Nugget Road between Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road and Highlands Drive Northeast. The property includes a storm water pond.
The council has scheduled a Feb. 7 public hearing on the deal as part of the procedure for land transfers.
Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger described the hearing as routine, and said she expects the transfer to be completed.
The storm water pond on the land provides important drainage for sections of Southeast Issaquah-Fall City Road and Southeast Black Nugget Road inside Issaquah city limits. Issaquah has agreed to take on the parcel and to maintain the storm water pond.
City rolls over dog ban at Timberlake Park
January 11, 2011
By Greg Farrar New signs at Timberlake Park outline updated pet rules for the park in the South Cove neighborhood.
The city has lifted the dog ban at popular Timberlake Park along Lake Sammamish after 17 months.
City Parks & Recreation Director Anne McGill said the city decided to rescind the ban, because the regional animal services agency has promised to be more responsive to dog incidents at the 24-acre park. Read more
City lifts dog ban at lakefront Timberlake Park
January 5, 2011
NEW — 6 p.m. Jan. 5, 2011
The city has lifted the dog ban at popular Timberlake Park along Lake Sammamish after 17 months.
City Parks & Recreation Director Anne McGill said the city decided to rescind the ban, because the regional animal services agency has promised to be more responsive to dog incidents at the 24-acre park.
City crews removed the “No Dogs Allowed” signs at Timberlake just before Christmas. The city has added signs listing a contact number for Regional Animal Services of King County in order to report issues.
Though the city allows dogs in the park again, canines must be leashed and cannot be on the beach or go into the water.
McGill said the real test should come in the summer, as crowds thicken at the park and parkgoers start to use the tree-shaded beach.
Press Editorial
January 4, 2011
2011 goals: Building on success of 2010
Issaquah reached numerous milestones in 2010.
In the steps to preserve Park Pointe on Tiger Mountain, the city inched closer to a lasting environmental legacy. The bevy of road upgrades offered real transportation solutions and quality-of-life improvements for Issaquah residents.
Though many of the main city issues attracted attention in 2010, the ramifications should continue to be felt in 2011.
Here, then, is our list of our goals — some significant and some small — for the year ahead: Read more
Issaquah tragedies, triumphs define a tumultuous year
December 28, 2010
Traffic lines up on state Route 900 at Northwest Talus Drive in February. State Department of Transportation crews completed the long-running project in 2010. By Greg Farrar
The economy lurched from the recession, population growth all but stalled and Issaquah — after cutbacks and setbacks in 2009 — defied the odds to reach major milestones throughout 2010.
Momentum returned in 2010 after a year spent in a holding pattern. Set against the backdrop of a fragile recovery, leaders cut the ribbon on businesses and roads, laid the foundation for preservation and construction, and marked tragedies and successes. Read more
Park Pointe preservation reaches ‘historic’ milestone
December 21, 2010
NEW — 8 a.m. Dec. 21, 2010
In a series of decisions a councilman described as a “historic moment,” City Council members assembled the framework Monday to preserve more than 100 Tiger Mountain acres and attract a Bellevue College campus to Issaquah.
The council OK’d agreements related to the long-running effort to preserve 102 forested acres on Tiger Mountain and, through a complicated transfer of development rights, open land in the Issaquah Highlands to Bellevue College and homebuilders for construction.
“This is really a historic moment for the city,” Council President John Traeger said before the unanimous decisions.
