Remarks by Sandra Matthews
19 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 1
- Play at 18:07
“So when I look at this list, it's like we're really looking backwards. So was that a theme that was guiding the decisions? Because mid-century modern, which we do have buildings like that, is not included or anything that's going modern. So it's like was the theme to look backwards and try to recreate what was in the past versus trying to develop more of a synchronistic community that is both backwards and forwards looking. Cause it seems like we're stepping back instead of like reaching forward to whatever's possible in the future.”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 19:55
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 30:50
“They also have, though, a lot of three-block passages.”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 44:29
“So it kind of, you know, everyone's afraid to start from scratch. But the problem is we have like a... a dream for Issaquah, that's not the right word, but it's like to make it pedestrian friendly, to create a vibrant community, and are these design styles gonna get us there? I mean, is that why we're doing this? It makes no sense to me why we're sticking hard and fast, we have to have this and that, because you're looking at materials that are required, so you can't have metal roofs because an arts and crafts building's supposed to have shingle roofs, and it's like now you're becoming way…”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:00:58
“I would actually say to get rid of them or to redo them. As Commissioner Brennan was saying, some are not even relevant. One of them is the Chicago style. Like Louis Sullivan, we're going back to the 1800s. But we also don't have a mid-century modern. If somebody wants to do a flat roof that's a green roof, there's not an option. So we need to either replace some of them and make all of them less prescriptive. But I don't think we should keep all seven the way they are.”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 1:09:09
“Yes, I absolutely agree with Commissioner Brennan because when I looked at the roof, the specificity, it was kind of like, that's ridiculous. So, I totally agree, don't make it so specific, but have those categories. Commissioner Holder.”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 2:02:37
“Yeah, I think I'd like to see clarification on what the non-residential is, too. So say, like, would Safeway have to put in a shower? I mean, yeah, I guess you'd want them to, but I mean, I guess it does make sense to do it by how many people work at an office.”
Planning Commission · Sep 10, 2026
- Play at 47:25
“Hi, I had a question about the AMI that's targeted in the study. It looks like you start at 50% AMI, and then our big, huge gap of 72% is under 50%. So is this just a study to stimulate some development, and then we're going to try to claw something back to get the gap that we need for the lower AMI? I'm a little confused on, yeah. I'm looking at that one too, the housing targets. So we need 72% under 50% AMI.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:00:13
“This is kind of a weird question, but one thing that Washington has that other states don't have is tax on labor. And so I'm assuming all of these big projects you're doing has a 10% or whatever it is in the county you're in, tax on the labor when you're building these apartments. Has the state ever thought about them giving a tax exemption for building while we're trying to build all of these units? I mean, I know that's something out of our jurisdiction, but it would be kind of nice if this is their goal for us to meet, that they kind of put in that hand to kind of give us a tax break on…”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:31:36
“I was going to suggest something similar, but is it possible to, we just voted on the Pioneer Program, but just have two options in the Pioneer Program. You could get an eight-year MFTE if you have no affordability, or you could do a 12-year MFTE if you have 60% affordability or whatever. You know, just have two different options and see which one bites. That's a great suggestion. I would be fine with that.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:46:08
“Sorry, I was going to go back to Commissioner Zakharov's comment about the development bonus program, and I also think that that might be something that's duplicated that we may get rid of, and maybe the city picks up. some of the open space requirements because I know that the parks department has goals for having X amount of parks. So maybe that's a trade that we do get rid of the development bonus program and then the city helps locate and build parks that might be more expensive. I'm not really sure what it costs to develop a site into a park, but it might be something to consider.”
Planning Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 32:35
“I actually did have a question about, are we up to 95? I was like, am I too far ahead? Because I was looking at the neighborhoods where they're describing parks. And in the West Newport neighborhood, there's a lot of out-of-date information. And I wondered, oh, you already know. Oh, sorry.”
Planning Commission · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:00:23
“I had a question that I may be going into the weeds, so you could just say, no, we're not going to talk about that. But just out of curiosity, did the city ever talk to Costco? Are they willing to update their CC&Rs to change? Because that's possible. They just have to be willing to do that to allow housing. And where are other land possibilities? There's stuff sitting everywhere all over Issaquah. And I understand that some of the owners don't want to give up their land. So are talks in the process? to actually acquire land that could be redeveloped?”
Planning Commission · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:01:05
“No, just that if a developer was like, hey, I really like that spot where Rite Aid used to be, but I understand the owner is like, no, I don't want to sell it. So, I mean, how does that land get freed up Are conversations happening or do we just rely on the developers to go knocking on doors to figure out if a piece of land's up for sale?”
Planning Commission · Aug 13, 2026
- Play at 1:16:40
“I think, to me, it feels like we're overcomplicating the issue because earlier, I'm sorry, I forgot your name, but you stated that it doesn't take any additional time or money to do a deviation and that normally when a when a developer is going through the deviation process, you've already supported that. You're not going to go, OK, just do your deviation. I don't think it'll get approved. But I don't think that's exactly what's happening. Is that correct, that you typically believe that they've met all the criteria or they can meet all the criteria before they even go in for a deviation. I…”
Planning Commission · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 1:23:19
“I also, I was going to say more fond of, I actually really like the language for the deviation. I think it does give a bit more flexibility because you definitely don't want to just pigeonhole people into doing, okay, you have to do this and this and this. If you have a deviation and your site has a little, you know, a different approach, you might want to have a different way of doing it and not have to do it just like it's in code. Because that's a little more simplistic. Every site's going to be a bit different.”
Planning Commission · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 1:27:23
“I like to say that I really appreciate the work that has gone into this because the original code was convoluted and difficult to go through. And now it's very simple and I feel like it's easier to read and to understand what you're required to do. And I would not be a fan of going and completely going down to 15% or getting rid of the requirements because I believe that having transparency at it at the rate that we've agreed on is going to be a benefit for the city and for residents that live here.”
Planning Commission · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 1:58:19
“I was checking with current planners, sorry.”
Planning Commission · Jul 23, 2026
- Play at 2:10:56
“Yeah, I think it's actually a good idea because I'm not very comfortable with removing minimums at this time either. Just because, again, we don't have parking on streets. We don't have side streets to have people loading their cars.”
Planning Commission · Jul 23, 2026