Highlands residents had the chance to hear more about the Park Pointe development proposal, and ask questions of officials at a meeting last week.

The most commonly expressed concern revolved around how the Park Pointe proposal could affect traffic in years to come.

Officials from Port Blakely and the city assured the residents that they’re watching the situation, and said that they believe the roads will be able to handle additional traffic.

“Traffic models suggest that there’s capacity for the increased density,” said Chris Hysom, director of Legal and Community Affairs for Port Blakely.

Residents asked specifically about traffic on Park Drive near Grand Ridge Elementary School, saying that the street is already overloaded during drop-off and pick-up times. Officials explained that as a safety measure, drivers are not allowed to turn left out of the school during those times, so traffic is forced to turn right, then turn into a residential area and turn around in order to go back the other direction. They said that the School District is planning for additional growth in the Highlands, and that the expectation is that at some point in the future after boundary lines are redrawn, Grand Ridge would likely serve the Highlands alone rather than also having students bused in from outside the Highlands.

Under the proposal presented to the City Council by Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger last month:

• Port Blakely Communities would purchase the 101 acres known as Park Pointe and give it to the city to be preserved as forested open space. Another 31 acres or so of property would also be preserved as permanent forested open space.

• $3 million in improvements would be made to Central Park in the Highlands.

• $5 million in traffic improvements would be made in the Highlands.

• Port Blakely would sell land to the city to use for more affordable housing and possibly a human services campus.

• Port Blakely would be allowed additional density or development in the Town Center area of the Highlands.

“The lion’s share — 700,000 to 800,000 square feet — we’ve offered to Microsoft,” said Alan Boeker, president of Port Blakely Communities. Boeker noted that officials with Swedish Medical Center may be interested in taking on some of the additional density allowance at its planned hospital and medical campus.

• A gas station may be allowed in the Highlands.

In addition to the traffic concern, residents asked questions about potential options for grading and filling on the various parcels, the possible noise and light impacts of additional athletic fields in Central Park

Port Blakely CEO Judd Kirk explained some of the history of the Highlands development, such as the transfer of development rights method that they used to move density on to a portion of the land in order to preserve open space on the rest of the land. Port Blakely had been looking at three options for a parcel of land that originally belonged to the Washington State Department of Transportation, when they were approached by city officials about a year ago regarding the potential for the Park Pointe deal as a fourth alternative.

The city’s Major Development program manager, Keith Niven, talked about the fact that Issaquah used to have three planned urban villages: Grand Ridge, which became the Highlands, East Village, which became Talus, and Park Pointe.

“Over time, the City Council decided there was enough growth with East Village and the Highlands,” Niven said, so the council changed the zoning on Park Pointe and made it residential rather than mixed use. The current owners of Park Pointe, a corporation in Canada, submitted a draft EIS for about 300 residential units, Niven said. As the city reviewed that application, officials realized they had a window to keep the treed hillside the land occupies.

“It’s an opportunity to potentially preserve Tiger Mountain as it is today as a forested hillside. … This project is a ‘win’ for all parties. I assume Port Blakely will financially benefit. I assume the Park Pointe owners will benefit, and the city gets open space,” he said. After coming up with the idea, officials from the city approached Port Blakely and the Park Pointe owners. The first few times, Port Blakely was busy with other ventures and the Park Pointe owners were focused on getting their proposal for residential units approved, but both eventually said they would consider it.

The project is on somewhat of a rushed timeline compared to most proposals of this magnitude. Officials are aiming for council approval by the end of the year, Niven said.

Boeker spoke to Port Blakely’s eventual agreement to consider the deal.

“Why are we doing this? I think it’s important to remember the partnership between the city and Port Blakely,” he said. “Even though we were a reluctant participant, we definitely think this is good planning.”

For example, he said, increasing density in the Town Center area of the Highlands will help reduce the Highlands’ carbon footprint and increase access to transit. Some of the transit possibilities include the option for an internal shuttle within the Highlands, as well as the potential for additional express bus service to Seattle.

“There are many things we’re excited about,” Boeker said.