After addressing several issues surrounding development in Issaquah, the last portions of the City’s moratorium have now ended.
In 2012 — to protect Issaquah's existing neighborhoods and natural environment — the City adopted the Central Issaquah Plan (CIP) to guide the long-term evolution of our community's existing commercial core into an urban center.
During a July 2016 check-up on the CIP, the City assessed whether projects that have been built, approved or are currently under review met the community's vision for Central Issaquah.
In response to that review, in September 2016, the Issaquah City Council enacted a moratorium on certain types of development to address:
- Architectural Fit
- Urban Design Elements
- Vertical Mixed Use
- Affordable Housing and inclusionary zoning provisions
- Parking
- District Visions
New regulations were adopted for each item by the end of 2017 except for two: inclusionary zoning and district visions. To address those items, the council extended the moratorium – for the Central Issaquah area only – until June 6. Now that the council approved inclusionary zoning May 7 and district visions May 21, the moratorium has now ended.
The recent moratorium did not mean all development stopped. Projects currently under construction — or that already had filed complete permit applications — still proceeded. There were also a variety of exclusions, including transit-oriented development; properties covered by development agreements; and single-family homes with lots already vested through platting approvals.
For more information, go to
issaquahwa.gov/moratorium.