Issaquah Highlands Connections
July 2019
21
DOING BUSINESS
Mullet Hands Over Zeeks Franchise to Founders No Plans to Change Our Zeeks Under New Management
Letter from Mark Mullet to his email list dated June 5, 2019: This is not your normal weekly update of specials as I would like to explain to the neighborhood the transition that is happening at Zeeks in Issaquah starting on July 1st. I was the Zeeks Pizza franchise guinea pig ten years ago when I opened in June of 2009. As a resident of the Issaquah Highlands I felt that our community needed a neighborhood pub where you could walk from your house to get a drink, and Zeeks was my favorite pizza in the Seattle area, so I combined those two concepts to open up the restaurant where I have worked five nights a week for the past decade (minus winter months when the Senate is in session). Tom Vial and Doug McClure, the original founders of Zeeks back in 1993, will be taking over operations of the Issaquah location starting on July 1st. I was not in a position to commit to renewing the franchise agreement for another ten years, and they had an interest in buying the Issaquah location, so my goal in the next month is to set things up for a successful transition on July 1st. Let me try and explain the multitude of things that will NOT be changing at the restaurant as things go forward: 1) All the staff is staying as they have all been offered a job. Tom and Doug have even agreed to continue to offer healthcare benefits to our full-time staff as they appreciate how important this has been to our staff for the past ten years. 2) The great pizza stays the same. Nobody knows how to make a great Zeeks Pizza better than the two guys who started the restaurant back in the 1990’s. 3) Trivia will still be around. I have offered to teach the Seattle Zeeks folks the magic of trivia, and they are contemplating expanding it from beyond Issaquah to the other Zeeks locations. 4) For our regulars who have been grandfathered into specials on the bar drinks and funky pizza combinations, those deals will still be honored. 5) I will still be in the restaurant, but as a customer on the side of the bar where I don’t have to stress out when our delivery screen has twelve orders up and only three drivers (this is why many of you have had me personally deliver pizza to your home over the past ten years). 6) I’m still the commercial landlord of the building space, so I have a vested interest in seeing the restaurant continue to be a success and an integral part of our neighborhood. As many of you can imagine, coming to this decision since my Senate session ended back on April 28th has seen me experience a wide range of emotions. I love owning a neighborhood restaurant in the community where I live and my kids go to school. Opening Zeeks back in 2009 was one of the best decisions of my life. That being said, my oldest daughter is 16 years old and a sophomore at Issaquah High School. I don’t know if others have ever experienced this same feeling, but time always felt infinite to me
Except for past franchise owner, Mark Mullet, the crew will remain after ownership changes July 1. From left to right, Birk Taubeneck joined the team in 2015. Amy Ayers, Mark and Jeremy Mason have worked at Zeeks since opening day back in June 2009.
until Isabel started high school. In the past year I have come to appreciate that time is finite, and family dinners with all six of our kids won’t be something I get to experience on a nightly basis for the rest of my life. This change does enable me to get a good sense of family balance as our six kiddos start to finish school and head off to college. I will still be in the restaurant on my regular Monday to Friday schedule until the end of the month. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have and I will be happy to answer them. I still own the Ben and Jerry’s scoop shop at the bottom of the hill, and that won’t be changing. I also still own the Zeeks Pizza in Sammamish, so I’m still part of the Zeeks family. I look forward to seeing everybody in the restaurant this week. Best Regards,
Mark Mullet
Owner - Zeeks Pizza Issaquah and Ben and Jerry’s Issaquah Washington State Senator for the 5th District
CITY NEWS by Nina Milligan, Commmunications Manager, Highlands Council
Future Park West of Swedish?
On the docket for Comprehensive Plan updates in 2019 is a proposed re-zone for city-owned land west of Westridge South. This land had been zoned Community Facilities-Facilities in support of the school district’s past interest in building a school there. Geotechnical research caused the district to abandon those plans. The possible re-zone will be taken up by the Planning Policy Commission later in the year. There has been talk, and signs on the land suggest, that the re-zone would support park designation.
Polygon Affordable Housing Proposal Denied
On Thursday, June 6, 2019 the Issaquah City Council, Land and Shore committee heard a proposal from Polygon NW to amend their Development Agreement (DA) with the City of Issaquah to reduce the size of the affordable housing units planned in Westridge Block 4. The required size is defined in Table #1 of that agreement and states the minimum size for 2-bedroom units to be 1,030 square feet. But Polygon’s architectural design has the units coming in with only 880 square feet, the size referenced in artist renderings in the DA. Also presented was a request to consider changing the carport requirement as the city discovered the required carports will be located over, and limiting access to, underground stormwater facilities. This storm-line was not considered when the DA was drafted. On June 19, 2017 the City Council approved a Development Agreement with Polygon NW for the provision of affordable housing. This agreement authorized the incorporation of 100 additional housing units in Issaquah Highlands in exchange for incorporating 49 for sale affordable housing units in Polygon’s Westridge Development. Public comments included Nick Abdelnour, representing Polygon, who said, “The end result is this is an error. We believe it is just a scrivener’s error,” explained Abdelnour. Council President, Tola Marts argued against the smaller housing units proposal. “I am
disappointed the developer came to us this way asking for relief. Without offering anything commensurate is extremely disappointing. This was a tough decision when we made it (2017 DA) …There was never any talk about having smaller units, and I know this because I would have been dead set against it… No,” Marts explained. Councilmember and committee chair, Victoria Hunt, stated she too was against amending the DA to allow smaller units. And she was not in favor of exploring changes in parking either. Councilmember and Issaquah Highlands resident, Stacy Goodman agreed and added, “We have a clear contract (referring to the DA). This is not a scrivener’s error. I too am disappointed.”
Development Commission Expected to Begin Deliberations on Shelter Holdings Land Use Applications
Issaquah’s Development Commission will meet on Tuesday, July 2 at 6:30pm in Council Chambers to once again take up three pending land use applications in Issaquah Highlands. It is expected the lawyers will finish taking testimony and the commissioners can begin their deliberations. The Commission has been meeting since September 26, 2018, sometimes two times a month, to hear arguments and testimony regarding which regulations govern the approvals of these applications. The applications relate to future commercial/retail development along 9th Ave NE and Discovery Drive. For background information on this topic, please see issaquahhighlands.com and search “Shelter Holdings”. The public was allowed to comment on the applications at the March 20 meeting of the Development Commission. The public comment is now closed.