Current News

Issaquah-Hobart Road Closure

The southbound lane under SR-18 will be closed for the month of August. The retaining wall will be replaced along Holder Creek. Traffic will be detoured onto westbound 18 to 244th Ave. SE and back onto 18 eastbound to Issaquah-Hobart Rd.  The Area Council has submitted suggested alternatives to complete closure of the southbound lane.

GMVAC Committees Review of King County Code

The Area Council's Growth Management Committee and Transportation Committee have completed their three-month review of the King County Code (KCC) to address potential Rural Area impacts from large urban developments. This was precipitated by the recently completed set of hearings on the Yarrow Bay-proposed 6,000-home Master Planned Developments in Black Diamond. The objective of the effort was to provide recommended KCC changes to the King County Executive and County Council to protect the Rural Area from massive urban development. In general, while many KCC provisions protect Rural Area citizens from the impacts of adjacent urban development, in many cases, meaningful or timely enforcement is lacking. A summary of the specific recommendations by KCC TITLE is given below:

7 - Parks & Recreation: Combine school needs with park needs to create multi-purpose parks.

9 - Surface Water Management: Strengthens surface water runoff policy to protect Rural Area property rights; maintain consistency with the KC Surface Water Design Manual; if an East KC Groundwater Protection Committee is again funded, it should have equal Rural and Urban Representation.

10 - Solid Waste: Ensure Rural Area representation on KC Solid Waster Advisory Committee.

14 - Roads & Bridges: KC shall lobby the state to change RCW 36.70A.070 to eliminate Transportation Concurrency's six-year lag time for completing transportation infrastructure mitigation.

26 - Agriculture and Open Space Lands: There is insufficient funding available to purchase Open Space now, at a time of historically low prices.

Master-Planned Developments in Black Diamond

On August 24, 2010, the Black Diamond City Council voted 5-0 to approve with conditions two Master Planned Development (MPD) applications submitted by Yarrow Bay in and around the City of Black Diamond. The MPDs total 4,530 single-family and 1,520 multi-family units, for a total of 6,050 dwelling units on 691 acres, and 1,165,000 sq. ft. of commercial and offrice space, all on the rural/suburban fringe of our southeast corner of King County.

Throughout 2010, members of the Area Council have attended and testified at public hearings before a Hearing Examiner and the City  Council. Many serious concerns remain regarding the potential adverse impact on the greater Maple Valley area's traffic flow, major intersections, and additional traffic impinging upon already existing clogged major roads and minor arterials (see Letter of Concern sent to the King County Executive). In addition, there is the potential for up to seven new schools and a very large retention "lake" to be located in the Rural Area outside the City limits and outside the MPDs. Another concern is the potential direct connection between one of the MPDs and historical rural Green Valley Road located in the Agricultural Production District.

Many citizen and local groups have requested the City of Black Diamond delay this rapidly moving process so that appropriate government agencies can further study these proposals and ensure adherence to the King County Comprehensive Plan and WA State Growth Management Act. Those efforts have failed and now the Black Diamond City Council will review and vote on an Ordinance to Approve with Conditions the two new MPD applications at a meeting in the Black Diamond City Council chambers on Lawson St. on Tuesday, September 14 at 4 pm. Concerned citizens can monitor status on the City of Black Diamond website.

King County DDES has submitted their adopting ordinance for new building codes to the King County Council for approval. This ordinance does not include any new sprinkler requirements for residences. There had been concern that new residences would have to install sprinkler systems as part of construction. The National Board has voted to adopt International Fire Code Section R 313 - Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems - that would require new residences to install such systems. The State of Washington also has adopted the new code, but has left it up to each jurisdiction (e.g. county, city) to decide whether to adopt the new code locally. The King County Council will make a final decision by July 1, 2010. These codes are reviewed every three years. More information on King County code related to sprinkler systems can be found here. Go to Sprinkler Systems and click on the pdf file.