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Issaquah committee backs revisions to street landscaping standards, forwards them to council
Summary
The Mobility & Infrastructure Committee reviewed proposed changes to Issaquah’s street standards and IMC chapter 18.606 to allow limited deviations from the required planter strip for tree preservation, critical-area protection and interim pedestrian connections; the committee recommended forwarding the revisions to full council for consideration March 30, 2026.
Council member Joe, chair of Issaquah’s Mobility & Infrastructure Committee, said the committee unanimously recommended forwarding proposed amendments to the city’s street standards and Issaquah Municipal Code chapter 18.606 (landscaping) to the full City Council for consideration on March 30, 2026, and suggested placing the item on the consent agenda unless a council member requests fuller discussion.
John Mortensen, the city’s transportation engineering manager, presented the proposed revisions and said they are intended to allow narrowly defined deviations from the current planter-strip requirement — which now generally requires a planted strip between the travel lane and sidewalk — when that requirement would conflict with tree preservation, critical-area protections, steep driveway grades or short interim pedestrian connections. “The purpose tonight’s item is to provide an update and seek the committee support on proposed revisions to the street standards in Issaquah Municipal Code chapter 18.606, landscaping,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen described several examples the administration used to develop the revisions: a Squawk Mountain sidewalk project where adding a planter strip would have required widening the roadway and removing mature trees; a retaining-wall project (Black Nugget retaining wall) where inserting a planter strip would greatly increase project cost; and sections of Newport Way that border wetlands or streams where building to the strict planter requirement would create critical-area impacts.
Under the proposal, deviation requests would be reviewed against guardrails that include an arborist tree-health assessment for tree-related deviations, concurrent review with any required critical-areas report, and a pedestrian-level-of-traffic-stress (PLTS) threshold. Mortensen said the proposed PLTS target is “2 or better” for pedestrian comfort and safety, with limited circumstances where a PLTS of 3 would be considered following a higher level of review. The proposed ‘standard’ planter-strip size used for measurement is 20 feet by 5 feet (100 square feet), Mortensen said.
The package also includes an exemption for rehabilitation projects whose purpose is to extend the life of existing facilities rather than make new improvements; an interim-connection standard that would let the city build short sidewalk links without undergrounding overhead utilities or installing a full planter strip; and housekeeping updates, engineering standard details, intersection design criteria to accommodate a future 40-foot bus with a front bike rack, and pavement-section updates aligned with WSDOT guidance.
On the question of sidewalks and triggers for construction, Mortensen listed pathways that can create sidewalks: redevelopment (where a developer installs frontage improvements), rare council action to require owners to build a short section, full city-funded construction, or an interim connection under the proposed standard. On undergrounding utilities, Mortensen said property owners would remain responsible for undergrounding overhead utilities up to the first pole past their property line if they redevelop.
Council members asked clarifying questions about PLTS measurement, the guardrails for deviations and whether adopting WSDOT pavement standards would change longstanding practice. Mortensen described PLTS as a function of posted speed, sidewalk width and separation; he said a five-foot planter generally achieves PLTS 2 or better on streets with speed limits under 40 mph. On pavement, Mortensen said the change is intended to lengthen pavement life and align local standards with WSDOT practices, noting potential mix-size implications for contractors.
No members of the public spoke during the committee’s public-comment period; the clerk reported no sign-ups. Committee members expressed general support for the revisions, noting the code has created challenges on some projects and that the deviation process could help preserve mature trees and avoid harm to critical areas while still enabling pedestrian improvements in constrained locations.
The committee’s action was a recommendation to forward the proposed amendments to the full council for consideration on March 30, 2026, with a preference for placing the item on the consent agenda; the administration had not recommended whether it should be on consent or regular business. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
