Park Pointe

The Park Pointe Subarea is located directly east and southeast of downtown Issaquah. Sensitive lands within the Park Pointe Subarea shall be protected to fully mitigate impacts to natural environments, the aquifer recharge area, forested hillsides, creeks, wetlands, viewscapes, the Tiger Mountain NCRA, Tiger Mountain State Forest, and Issaquah’s Treasures. Accordingly, the appropriate land use is public or private open space. The entire subarea should remain undeveloped to fully protect the sensitive lands mentioned above.

If maintaining all or part of the property in open space is not possible, a Master Site Plan shall be approved prior to development of the site, as established in IMC 18.04.500 and 18.04.600. The design and development of Park Pointe shall: protect the sensitive lands mentioned above, maximize open space, encourage innovative and diverse housing, create strong linkages to adjacent neighborhoods, and encourage use of public transportation and facilities. Development of the Park Pointe Subarea also requires providing usable active or passive recreation space located outside of sensitive areas and their buffers.

Development of the buildable area shall be carefully evaluated. Low impact development policies and techniques will be incorporated throughout the planning, site design, and development of the Subarea. One goal of low impact development policies and techniques is to retain the predevelopment hydrology of the site. A second goal is to maximize conservation of trees and native vegetation. Building materials should be high quality, durable, and recycled products where feasible. Development should blend with the forested hillside.

Transportation, recreational, and design linkages to the downtown, retail, commercial and public facilities, especially the Community Center, will be maximized. Development would be expected to help the City improve local roads, achieve concurrencies, and fully link with the City’s multimodal transportation system: including sidewalks, bike paths, trails and shuttle busses. Anticipated transportation options from Park Pointe would link residents with employment opportunities.

The details of density and transportation access for the Park Pointe Subarea will be identified through the environmental impact assessment, Master Site Plan process, and traffic and other concurrencies. Development of the Park Pointe Subarea is directly connected to the location, timing and number of lanes of the proposed SE Bypass. If the SE Bypass is built, the intensity of development shall be limited to a level that does not require construction of a SE Bypass greater than two lanes in width. If the SE Bypass is not built, the intensity of development shall be limited to a level that does not create significant adverse traffic impacts in the adjacent subareas.