Joe Forkner enters race for Issaquah mayor
February 5, 2013
Less than a week after rejoining the City Council, longtime community leader and seasoned Councilman Joe Forkner entered the race for mayor Feb. 4.
Joe Forkner
The announcement set up a contest between Forkner and a colleague, Council President Fred Butler. The councilmen hope to lead the city once Mayor Ava Frisinger steps down in January 2014 after 16 years in the top job at City Hall.
Forkner, 59, worked for the city in the past and served on the council in recent stints — from 2000 to 2005, and to fill a vacancy from September 2006 to late 2007. The latest appointment, a 10-month stint approved Jan. 29 in a 4-2 decision, caps a busy period after Forkner led the citizen panel responsible for outlining redevelopment in the business district.
Joe Forkner launches campaign for Issaquah mayor
February 4, 2013
NEW — 3 p.m. Feb. 4, 2013
Less than a week after rejoining the City Council, longtime community leader and seasoned Councilman Joe Forkner entered the race for mayor Monday.
Joe Forkner
The announcement set up a contest between Forkner and a colleague, Council President Fred Butler. The councilmen hope to lead the city once Mayor Ava Frisinger steps down in January 2014 after 16 years in the top job at City Hall.
Forkner, 59, worked for the city in the past and served on the council in recent stints — from 2000 to 2005, and to fill a vacancy from September 2006 to late 2007. The latest appointment, a 10-month stint approved Jan. 29 in a 4-2 decision, caps a busy period after Forkner led the citizen panel responsible for outlining redevelopment in the business district.
City seeks applicants for advisory boards, commissions
January 29, 2013
City leaders need civic-minded citizens to offer advice on important issues as municipal board and commission members.
The city needs applicants for openings on 12 boards and commissions. The groups advise the City Council on issues related to the arts, cable TV, development, parks and, in more specialized realms, city cemetery operations and sister-city relationships.
Meanwhile, officials need regular and alternate members for the 12 existing commissions. The applicants for board and commission posts do not need to reside in Issaquah.
City seeks applicants for boards, commissions
January 23, 2013
NEW — 10 a.m. Jan. 23, 2013
City leaders need civic-minded citizens to offer advice on important issues as municipal board and commission members.
The city needs applicants for openings on 12 boards and commissions. The groups advise the City Council on issues related to the arts, cable TV, development, parks and, in more specialized realms, city cemetery operations and sister-city relationships.
Meanwhile, officials need regular and alternate members for the 12 existing commissions. The applicants for board and commission posts do not need to reside in Issaquah.
Applicants undergo interviews before Mayor Ava Frisinger recommends appointees to the council for confirmation. The council usually confirms appointees in April, and terms for appointees start in May.
City Council applicants offer varied skills
January 22, 2013
Members to appoint candidate Jan. 29
The applicants for a rare open seat on the City Council include long-established community leaders — and some candidates from the last time the council accepted applications to fill a vacancy.
The seven candidates offer assorted skills in community, government and military service in the process to succeed Mark Mullet on the council.
Initially, Ken Sessler, a retired Boeing engineer and a prolific letter writer to The Issaquah Press, applied for the vacancy, but withdrew not long after the city released the applicant list.
City OKs buildings up to 125 feet tall in business district
December 25, 2012
Redevelopment plan calls for more than 7,000 residences
City leaders raised the building height limit to 125 feet in the business district and raised the stakes for redevelopment in the decades ahead.
The roadmap to redevelopment — a document called the Central Issaquah Plan — also creates a framework to add more than 7,000 residences on about 1,000 acres stretched along Interstate 90.
In a series of decisions reached Dec. 17 after years spent re-envisioning the business district, a relieved City Council adopted the Central Issaquah Plan, but delayed action on a key piece until at least April.
“It’s the right plan at the right time,” Councilman Fred Butler said. “It will not happen overnight, but when the time is right, we will be ready.”
City Council could delay part of Central Issaquah Plan
December 12, 2012
NEW — 10 a.m. Dec. 12, 2012
City leaders recommended Tuesday to delay the implementation of important development rules in a long-term plan to transform the business district from strip malls and parking lots to a dense urban hub.
In the last public meeting for the proposed Central Issaquah Plan before the document reaches the City Council for consideration, a council committee called for more time to refine and review the design and development standards outlined in the 30-year blueprint for redevelopment.
The design and development standards set rules for buildings, community spaces, landscaping, signage and more.
Overall, Council Land & Shore Committee members forwarded to the full council the four pieces of legislation to enact the Central Issaquah Plan. The full council is scheduled to consider the legislation and listen to public input Dec. 17.
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.
City hosts open house, hearing on Central Issaquah Plan
September 25, 2012
Residents can learn more about the proposal to transform more than 900 acres near Interstate 90 and state Route 900 in the decades ahead at Oct. 4 public meetings.
The municipal Planning Policy Commission’s Central Issaquah Plan open house runs from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and focuses on development and design standards. Then, the commission hosts a public hearing from 6:30-9 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall South, 135 E. Sunset Way.
The long-term Central Issaquah Plan is meant to guide redevelopment from shopping centers and low-rise office buildings to a taller neighborhood meant for businesses and residences.
Central Issaquah encompasses 915 acres — including retail destinations, such as Pickering Place, and the Meadows and Issaquah Commons shopping centers. The area does not include historic downtown.
Central Issaquah Plan hearing continues July 19
July 17, 2012
Citizens can still comment on the historic proposal to transform more than 900 acres near Interstate 90 and state Route 900 in the decades ahead.
The far-reaching Central Issaquah Plan is a step closer to implementation, but before city leaders act on the plan, citizens can comment on the bid at a Planning Policy Commission public hearing.
Commissioners held the initial hearing July 12, and then continued the hearing to July 19 to accommodate citizen comments. The commission meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall South, 135 E. Sunset Way.
The long-term Central Issaquah Plan is meant to guide redevelopment from shopping centers and low-rise office buildings to a taller neighborhood meant for businesses and residences.
Central Issaquah encompasses 915 acres — including retail destinations, such as Pickering Place, and the Meadows and Issaquah Commons shopping centers. The area does not include historic downtown Issaquah.
The environmental review, or environmental impact statement, for the project arrived June 28.
The commission is due to send the proposal to the City Council for consideration in the weeks ahead.
