Chamber gathers input on Issaquah city sign code

The City of Issaquah has begun a discussion with the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce concerning the city's sign code. The city is in the works of updating the older code and working to simplify sections as needed.

Debi Kirac, a senior planner with the city, said the planning policy commission and development commission recently met with members of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce to get input on how changes to the sign code may affect businesses. The Chamber is developing a sub-committee to discuss the code further, but Kirac said the primary focus of the first discussion was on wall signs and sign illumination.

The committee discussed wall signs and Kirac said the Chamber wanted to make sure the code remains friendly to businesses so they can use space on the sides of buildings for signage, while keeping a balance.

"They want to strike that balance," said Kirac. The sign illumination topic was about how much lighting should be used, whether to back light the entire sign, or specifically the letters.

She added the group also discussed sustainability, whether or not businesses should be encouraged to turn lights off at night, but Kirac said it was decided to leave that piece out of the code.

"Their feeling was that it should be at the discretion of the owners," said Kirac.

Matt Bott, the chief executive of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber is meeting with its business members to gather input as to what they would like to see changed or added to the code.

"Signage is something our members are very interested in and we appreciate the city's outreach to give input on this," said Bott. He said the Chamber plans to discuss the code with members over the course of the next month before going back to the city with their feedback.

Bott said especially for small businesses sign codes are very important and that so far it has been a great program for collaboration with the city.

Kirac said much of the process of updating the code is housekeeping, in which the city makes sure definitions continue to match current and best uses.

The Chamber sub-committee will present findings to the city within the next several weeks Kirac said, in the hopes of sending the updated code to a public hearing in July.

View the code at it currently stands by visiting Issaquah Municipal Code