ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, December 23, 2011
www.issaquahreporter.com
Council OKs Rowley plan as balanced, sustainable BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
ABOVE: Olena Myroneds carries a load of presents for her children from Eastridge Christian Church’s Christmas toy drive. LEFT: Isabella P., receives a candy cane from youths volunteering as elves at Eastridge Church’s first toy drive. The church gave away about 900 toys to families in need. CELESTE GRACEY, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
Saving Christmas Eastridge Church brings toys and Santa to families in need BY CELESTE GRACEY CGRACEY@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
While Christmas may not be all about packages and presents for Eastridge Church, it certainly is about family. To encourage children who might not otherwise have cause to rush from their beds Dec. 25, the church decided to offer a toy drive and Santa house last weekend. Eastridge is known for doing an annual turkey drive for Thanksgiving each year, but this is the first year it decided to giveaway toys for Christmas. Messages went out through the radio and a network of local churches. All in all, they gave away about 950
toys Dec. 17. Parents, many with young children clinging to free candy canes, lined up outside a red chapel and waited to pass in front of Santa. Old and young alike gave him hugs as they passed. In the next room volunteers, some dressed as elves, passed out wrapped presents according to age and gender. Occasionally a volunteer would brush against a tall pile of stuffed animals, sending soft bears tumbling to the floor. “This is just one way we can reach out to the community and say that we not only care about their spiritual life, but we care about their home life,” said Pastor Steve Jamison. SEE TOYS, 10
The vision for Issaquah’s valley floor was set in stone Monday night, but it will be years before any brick and mortar buildings come of it. In an unanimous vote, the City Council approved the Rowley Redevelopment Agreement, a plan that would bring 150-foot buildings and mix-use condos to 78 acres off State Route 900. “If it works, it will transform the valley,” said Tola Marts, a councilmember. The city met its Dec. 19 schedule after several weeks of intense discussions over the tangible benefits for the city and the environment. At the last minute, the Rowleys agreed not to develop within 100 feet of Tibbetts Creek until a decision is made on what to do to preserve it. The family also agreed to a seven-year check-in for the 30-year plan. A few councilmembers prefaced their decision to vote for the agreement with some caution. “This is not a perfect document,” said Fred Butler, a councilmember, but “it’s balanced, it’s fair and it’s sustainable.” The speed that the council was asked to review the document wouldn’t allow for its members to fully understand it, but the framework itself was good, Completion of the Rowley plan said Joshua will be up to Keri Magill, Skip Schaer, a Rowley’s daughter, who spoke councilmem- before the council Monday. ber. CELESTE GRACEY, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter “I only ask the following: don’t make it Seattle, don’t make it Bellevue, and in fact don’t make it anything but the city we know and love,” he said. It will be a few years before the Rowleys can develop a plan. Even then, it will take the entire 30 years of the agreement to deliver the SEE ROWLEY, 7