During its June 4 meeting (
see video), the City Council voted to end the Talus Development Agreement, as well as adopt replacement regulations, which will go into effect June 13, 2018.
Both Talus and Issaquah Highlands had contracts (called development agreements) with the City that dictated the rules and entitlements associated with each neighborhood for a specific time period. Both agreements could have been terminated starting in 2017.
In developing replacement regulations, Issaquah’s goal was to keep the existing character of each urban village, and make future land use rules more consistent with the rest of the city.
Citing goals to reflect the community’s vision for Talus, council members unanimously voted to apply single-family zoning to Parcel 9, which is located near Northwest Talus Drive and Shangri-la Way Northwest.
This zoning will allow the 90 residences assigned to Parcel 9 to only be used for single-family development, either as attached residences (such as townhouses), or detached homes.
In addition, the replacement regulations retain the solely commercial use of Parcel 17B, which is the unbuilt parcel below Timber Ridge. However, the Parcel 17B property owner, Trimet, has an appeal hearing scheduled for later this summer on their request to add residential uses to Parcel 17B. If this appeal is successful, this may allow Parcel 17B to be developed with both office and residential uses.
Examples of other approved replacement regulations include:
- Retaining the 100-foot buffer along state Route 900.
- Retaining the residential parking standards.
- Requiring some structured parking for certain types of development.
- Ensuring non-residential properties are used efficiently, with a minimum floor area ratio of 1.0.
While these replacement regulations are permanent, they are considered "provisional," and can be revisited in 2019 following a neighborhood visioning public process.
For more information about the end of the development agreements, go to
issaquahwa.gov/developmentagreements.