Leaders adopt King County growth blueprint
December 7, 2012
NEW — 10 a.m. Dec. 7, 2012
The growth blueprint approved by King County Council members Monday is meant to strengthen protections for open space and farmland, officials said after the council adopted the latest update to the King County Comprehensive Plan.
The document guides growth in unincorporated communities, including Preston, Four Creeks and other areas just outside Issaquah city limits.
The plan sets policy on such major issues as annexations, transportation and the environment. Under the State Growth Management Act, passed in 1990, state law directs the most-populous and fastest-growing counties to prepare comprehensive land use plans for a 20-year span.
King County officials to answer rural residents’ questions
December 4, 2012
Residents in unincorporated areas can meet leaders and discuss plans for upcoming projects at a King County open house soon.
The event is for residents in the Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain Community Service Area — a rural stretch bordered by Issaquah and Interstate 90 on the north and Renton to the west.
The open house offers the public a chance to offer feedback on the community service area program — or dividing unincorporated areas into districts for administrative purposes — and proposed work plans for next year. Participants can discuss community priorities, speak with program staff members, and learn about county programs and services.
King County officials to answer rural residents’ questions
November 29, 2012
NEW — 6 a.m. Nov. 29, 2012
Residents in unincorporated areas can meet leaders and discuss plans for upcoming projects at a King County open house soon.
The event is for residents in Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain Community Service Area — a rural stretch bordered by Issaquah and Interstate 90 on the north and Renton to the west.
The open house offers the public a chance to offer feedback on the community service program and proposed work plans for next year. Participants can discuss community priorities, speak with program staff members, and learn about county programs and services.
Deputy County Executive Fred Jarrett and County Councilman Reagan Dunn plan to attend.
Residents receive grants for mapping, National Night Out
November 20, 2012
Dow Constantine
Issaquah-area residents received more than $3,700 in King County grants to host a National Night Out event and map rural areas between Issaquah and Renton, leaders announced Nov. 14.
Officials awarded $60,000 in grants for disaster preparedness, neighborhood cleanup, tourism promotion and other activities in unincorporated communities countywide. Overall, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced 24 Community Engagement Grants.
The grants amount to less than $5,000 apiece, and each community must match at least 25 percent of total project cost. Officials said the grants offer residents in unincorporated areas a chance to participate more in community activities.
The county awarded a $1,254.50 grant to residents in the Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain area to produce a National Night Out program, plus a $2,500 grant to create maps and conduct spatial analysis for community planning.
Communities receive grants for National Night Out, mapping projects
November 15, 2012
NEW — 11:45 a.m. Nov. 15, 2012
Issaquah-area residents received more than $3,700 in King County grants to host a National Night Out event and map rural areas between Issaquah and Renton, leaders announced Wednesday.
Officials awarded $60,000 in grants for disaster preparedness, neighborhood cleanup, tourism promotion and other activities in unincorporated communities countywide.
Overall, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced 24 Community Engagement Grants. Officials said the grants offer residents in unincorporated areas a chance to participate more in community activities.
The county awarded $1,254.50 to residents in the Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain area to produce a National Night Out program.
Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain residents also received a $2,500 grant to create maps and conduct spatial analysis for community planning.
Unincorporated King County residents can receive grants for community projects
August 7, 2012
King County leaders announced the latest step in the effort to remake outreach from county government to unincorporated-area residents — $60,000 in grants to accomplish community projects.
The program is meant to encourage more people in rural and unincorporated areas to become more engaged in the surrounding community. The county made the grants available for projects such as concerts, festivals, newsletters, training, signage and more.
King County carves up rural communities into service areas
July 24, 2012
King County could carve unincorporated neighborhoods — including Four Creeks and Klahanie just outside Issaquah — into community service areas, if a plan proposed July 19 is put into action.
The proposal is the latest in a yearslong effort to change the way county government and unincorporated communities interact. King County Executive Dow Constantine characterized the effort as a reform measure to ease access to government for residents in rural and unincorporated areas.
King County unincorporated area councils vary by geography, population
July 24, 2012
The county and the unincorporated area councils formalized a relationship after then-County Executive Gary Locke enacted the Citizen Participation Initiative in December 1994.
Then, about one-third of the county population — 500,000 people — resided in unincorporated areas. The number has since declined to fewer than 300,000 due to annexations and incorporations.
King County carves unincorporated communities into service areas
July 20, 2012
NEW — 9 a.m. July 20, 2012
King County could carve unincorporated neighborhoods — including Four Creeks and Klahanie just outside Issaquah — into community service areas, if a plan proposed Thursday is put into action.
The proposal is the latest in a yearslong effort to change the way county government and unincorporated communities interact. King County Executive Dow Constantine characterized the effort as a reform measure to ease access to government for residents in rural and unincorporated areas.
“These new community service areas will provide a vehicle and a point of contact for residents to talk to county staff about the things they care about, like public health and public safety,” he said in a statement.
In a companion proposal, Constantine also introduced legislation to change the relationship among the county and the unincorporated area councils, a group of citizen-led boards responsible for relations between unincorporated area residents and the county government based in Seattle.
King County executive appoints rural outreach adviser
May 8, 2012
The latest King County strategy to engage rural residents — including more than 16,000 people near Issaquah — earned early praise from a community leader in the unincorporated tract between Issaquah and Renton.
County Executive Dow Constantine appointed a top adviser April 4 to lead the outreach effort from county government to residents in rural and unincorporated areas. The announcement marked the latest step in a long-running effort to change how leaders and residents interact.
Alan Painter — Constantine’s former adviser on human services, health and housing policy — is the manager for the community service areas program. In the past 18 months, county officials carved unincorporated land into designated areas to coordinate on issues, such as crime prevention or potential development.
