R. W. Thorpe & Associates
Albertson's Food Center
LAND USE DESIGNATION CHANGE
Client: Albertson's Food Company, Inc. - Boise, ID
Project Size: 3 Acres
Albertson's identified the Issaquah area as a desirable location for a new food center. When this site was identified as a gateway to the Sammamish plateau, the land use designations were in need of a change.
R. W. Thorpe & Associates assisted the underlying property owner in obtaining a change in the Comprehensive Land Use Designation for the site. Based on the change the site was rezoned to allow community business uses. Based on existing site conditions, some special provisions were required of the site design. There were "wetlands" within the County Right of Way ditches that required mitigation, residential property adjacent that required screening from the building, surface water quality and quantity issues requiring offsite retention/ detention and wetponds prior to release.
R. W. Thorpe & Associates continued our relationship with the site as Landscape Architects for the Design and Permit Team. During the design phase a potable water use condition had a large impact on the landscape design. An irrigation system would not be permitted on site, therefore a hardy plant palette was devised to account for low summer watering. We also designed a special underground perforated pipe system to hold water in the root zone. The pipes would be filled weekly in the hot summer months. The opposite problem presented itself to us during the winter with a high water table. A system of deeper drainage pipes was used to intercept rising ground water and carry it away from the root zone. The pipes may later be used as sleeves for routing irrigation pipes under the parking lot paving, if in the future the Water District lifts the restrictions on the use of water for irrigation. The combination of natural effects made the project very challenging and interesting to work on. We provided an aesthetically pleasing planting design that will function within the difficult environmental parameters.
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