Scholarship topics announced
April 9, 2013
The Issaquah Alps Trails Club has announced the topics for its annual Bill Longwell Memorial Scholarship.
Longwell was a longtime club member who taught English at Hazen High School for many years. He was an avid hiker and trail builder who, often with the help of his students, was responsible for building and maintaining many of the trails on Tiger and Squak mountains.
Issaquah Alps Trails Club seeks grand essay in scholarship contest
April 2, 2013
Graduating seniors will get a chance to win the Bill Longwell Memorial Scholarship again this year by describing their love of the Issaquah Alps .
Begun in 2010, the Issaquah Alps Trails Club celebrates the life of Longwell, an avid hiker and mountain biker who also taught English for many years at Hazen High School, with a $1,000 prize given to the best written essay on a specific topic.
Issaquah, Liberty, Skyline and Hazen high school seniors can submit their 700-1,000 word essays to school counselors by May 1. Runners-up might qualify for lesser awards.
Issaquah City Council revisits central plan design, development standards
February 26, 2013
The Issaquah City Council moved one step closer to reaching a consensus concerning the Central Issaquah Plan’s development and design standards at a Feb. 20 work session to identify and discuss any remaining issues with the standards.
In December, the council adopted the Central Issaquah Plan, a long-term vision for the city that would transform it into a dense urban core complete with 125-foot tall buildings.
The council delayed adoption of the development and design standards at the time, preferring instead to put them through a more thorough review process.
The development and design standards consist of rules for buildings, community spaces, landscaping, signage and more. It is the only piece of Central Issaquah Plan legislation that has yet to be approved.
Squak Mountain logging plan concerns neighbors
February 12, 2013
Proposal could lead to clear cut timber operation
High on Squak Mountain, pink plastic strips tied to trees mark 216 acres of forest as a timber harvest area.
Downhill, 15-year resident Helen Farrington is concerned about how a plan to clear cut the forest above could impact a fork of May Creek.
In September, after a long permitting process and almost $100,000 out of pocket, the Farringtons replaced a crumbling culvert with a passage easier for fish to cross.
Squak Mountain timber plan concerns conservationists, neighbors
February 8, 2013
NEW — 12:05 p.m. Feb. 8, 2013
High on Squak Mountain, pink plastic strips tied to trees mark 216 acres of forest as a timber harvest area.
Since a timber company purchased the forest and started the process to permit logging on the site, conservationists and nearby residents mobilized to fight the proposal to clear cut the land. The logging opponents said cutting trees on the land could lead to more flooding downhill, damage sensitive fish and wildlife habitat, and add a timber harvest site near conservation lands.
The proposal from Eatonville-based Erickson Logging to harvest timber on 216 acres on the mountainside above Renton-Issaquah Road Southeast galvanized residents on Squak Mountain and near May Creek, a destination for runoff from the mountain.
Issaquah Alps Trails Club Dog Hike / Jan. 11, 2013
January 15, 2013
City Council approves pact to transform gravel quarry to urban village
December 25, 2012
The gravel quarry carved into the hillside below the Issaquah Highlands is poised to transform into businesses and homes in the next 30 years, after the City Council approved a landmark development agreement to reshape the area.
The landowner and quarry operator, Issaquah-based Lakeside Industries Inc., proposed the pact last year for about 120 acres on both sides of Highlands Drive Northeast. The council approved the development agreement Dec. 17, despite concerns about building height, traffic congestion and contamination in the Lower Issaquah Valley Aquifer, a key drinking water source for the city.
“There was a lot of push and pull, a lot of compromise, and I think it’s an agreement that both is good for my family and is also good for the city of Issaquah, and that we will live to see a development on this site that enhances the city,” Lakeside Industries CEO Tim Lee said before the unanimous council decision.
Central Issaquah Plan proposes shift from suburban to urban in business district
December 11, 2012
Issaquah, circa 2040, could sport a skyline.
The central business district is on the cusp of change, as city leaders plan for redevelopment on about 1,000 acres stretched along Interstate 90.
Nowadays, suburban sprawl dominates the landscape — traffic-clogged streets unfurl next to strip malls. Residents live elsewhere and climb into cars to reach the area’s amenities. Underfoot, 75 percent of land in the area is encased under parking lots.
Imagine, instead, buildings up to 125 feet tall, storefronts and residences arranged along tree-lined sidewalks, and perhaps decades in the future, a station on the regional rail network.
Lakeside Industries development pact could transform quarry site
December 11, 2012
The gravel quarry on a hillside below the Issaquah Highlands, plus land adjacent to the highlands, could someday transform into businesses and homes, if city leaders approve a long-term agreement to redevelop the site.
The landowner and quarry operator, Issaquah-based Lakeside Industries Inc., proposed a 30-year development agreement last year for about 120 acres on both sides of Highlands Drive Northeast. The proposed pact is scheduled to reach the City Council on Dec. 17, as officials consider a plan to remake the area.
The land under consideration is zoned for mineral resources and single-family residences. The development agreement could change the designation on some areas to urban village, the same rules used for the highlands and Talus.
Tiger Mountain is test for commissioner of public lands candidates
October 30, 2012
Tiger Mountain is a destination for hikers, mountain bikers and loggers, and the official responsible for acting as a referee to balance the competing interests is the state commissioner of public lands.
Clint Didier
Peter Goldmark
Republican Clint Didier is challenging the incumbent, Democrat Peter Goldmark, to serve as the top natural resources official in Washington.
The commissioner of public lands leads the state Department of Natural Resources, and oversees about 3 million acres of forests, agricultural land and other properties, as well as about 2.6 million acres of shorelines, tidelands, lakes and rivers.
The position carries outsized influence in the Issaquah area. The agency is often a factor in local policymaking, due to the connections among the Department of Natural Resources, Issaquah City Hall and outdoor recreation groups.
