Plans for a gas station in the Issaquah Highlands took another step forward Dec. 8 after a City Council Land Use Committee (LUC) gave majority approval to the project.
Armed with updated plans for a proposed “Energy Station” the LUC decided to return the issue to the full City Council for its Dec. 21 meeting. Members Maureen McCarry and John Rittenhouse supported recommending the plans while John Traeger dissented.
Originally banned to alleviate concerns about the city’s drinking water, underground storage tanks and the accompanying demand for a gas station proved too loud for Highlands master-planner Port Blakely Communities to ignore. They originally submitted a request to revise their development agreement last March.
“This initiative was started by residents for the gas station,” said Port Blakely president Alan Boeker. “We’ve entered this request on thier behalf.”
Port Blakely claimed over 70 percent of Highlands residents polled said they wanted a gas station in their neighborhood.
The gas station is planned for the intersection of Highlands Drive and Ninth Avenue near the future site of Swedish Medical Center and not far from Interstate 90 onramp.
But former City Councilmember Hank Thomas said he could hardly contain his disappointment that the Highlands Development Agreement was subject to another amendment that was so opposed to “green” development principals and goals originally aspired to. He complained bitterly that the city wasn’t upholding their end of the bargain.
“The citizens expect someone to enforce the contract,” Thomas said. “What’s being offered in return (for the changes)?”
In response, Boeker and Port Blakely spokesperson Chris Hysom said they wanted to make a commitment to building a mountain bike skills park with local bike advocacy organization Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance.
“We’ll provide funding to make that happen,” Boeker said.
The LUC had already given conditional approval July 14 to a proposal for a gas station in the Issaquah Highlands, requiring stricter regulations for environmental protection, a curfew for any attached convenience store, and a 1,500 square-foot area kept available and landscaped for potential future use as an alternative fueling station.
Also included is an exemption for “essential public facilities” to put in fueling tanks, a caveat added to accommodate plans for the new Swedish Medical Center a block away. The hospital would need several large diesel fuel tanks on site to run emergency generators in case of power loss.
But in August the City Council sent the proposed amendment and stipulations back for more detailed discussions held on the same issues.
According to the draft amendment, those additional details include requirements to include at least one non-BTX fuel pump, a minimum of three charging stations for electrically charged vehicles and the designation of the property as an architecturally significant ‘gateway’ that must meet additional design guidelines to “announce arrival into the Issaquah Highlands.”
The planned station would likely have three fuel pumps with space for six vehicles.
Rittenhouse said he was happy the amendment was so detailed with regard to design guidelines, so as to rule out any misunderstandings.
“There is a value in having language this specific,” he said.
