After reading both of the recent articles about Issaquah Highlands, (The Reporter, http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/iss/news/82959812.html and http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/iss/news/83504822.html) I come away just shaking my head.

There are lots of folks who paint me as being anti- Issaquah Highlands or Port Blakely, but they are too simplistic when they brand me with that iron. The folks at Port Blakely get up every morning to make a buck for the company and I, like most of us, would do the same thing.

We might argue the merits of the urban village concept which traded 750 parcels for high density development including 3,250 residential, plus retail, plus office space and all the infrastructure pressures that come with that decision, but the Mayor and City Council took that vote in 1996.

What the citizens of Issaquah got in exchange was a Development Agreement.

The Development Agreement for Issaquah Highlands is a contract with binding provisions which were supposed to protect what was important to the citizens of Issaquah while leaving enough room for Port Blakely to make a buck in the process.

What the Development Agreement has become is a document on the shelf which can be ignored when the provisions seem to pinch too much.

Soon we will be talking about a gas station again, even though it is specifically prohibited in the Development Agreement.

Then there are the inevitable discussions about more residential or taller buildings – again, prohibited.

What I oppose is the lax enforcement of the provisions in the Development Agreement. Who stands up for the citizens?

Hank Thomas

Issaquah