Sign up on Meetup! We’ll see you there.

The Planning Commission will be holding a Public Hearing on the code updates for housing on faith-owned properties, and a public hearing for code clean-up for parking requirements. There will also be a study session on the Neighborhood Stores and Services project.

If you’d like to make a public comment during the public hearing, there will be a sign-up sheet in the meeting room at City Hall. You can also give a comment via Zoom. Can’t attend the meeting? Send an email to [email protected] instead.

Parking Requirements

These code updates are a follow-up item from when the City Council adopted new parking requirements in April of this year. The new requirements were adopted as a stand-alone ordinance because parking requirements are in so many parts of the zoning code. The Ordinance reflected the actual requirements in effect, but the text of the zoning code still had the old requirements. Now, the zoning code text is being updated.

Though this is mostly a clean-up update, there is one issue that needs to be decided: Bicycle Parking.
Previously, bicycle parking requirements were based on a ratio of bicycle parking to car parking spaces, except in the 85th St Station Area. Staff has prepared a draft which bases bicycle parking on how many residences a building has, or square footage for commercial/industrial. The proposal is similar to what exists in neighboring cities, so it could make sense to apply the same bicycle parking standard everywhere.

Faith Owned Properties

These code amendments will allow additional housing on land owned by faith-based organizations. The regulations apply to projects that provide a certain number of affordable housing units. Organizations will be able to build taller, and can also cover more of their lots if they wish to keep their existing buildings. This is in response to recent State law which requires cities to set up this type of regulation. 

There have not been any significant changes in the proposal since the City Council was briefed on the project in their August 5th meeting, which we covered in previous newsletters.

Neighborhood Stores and Services

The Planning Commission will have a study session about updating the code to allow more types of Neighborhood Stores and Services, building on the existing home-based occupation regulations. Today’s regulations are pretty strict:

Basically, a home-occupation needs to be almost unnoticed by the neighborhood, which greatly limits what kind of businesses can be allowed. It’s possible to have a service-based business today, but a retail business is almost impossible. Staff found that Redmond, Bellevue and Bothell are generally more lenient on home business requirements than Kirkland, and that Seattle is much more lenient.

The discussion is set to be pretty high-level, as this is the start of the discussion. Staff wants to determine what “neighborhood serving” means, what kinds of uses should be allowed, and what sorts of mitigations should be required.

At our last litter event, we picked up litter in Kingsgate, so this time we'll be tidying up our adopted blocks in north Juanita on Sept 13, 10am. 🧹 🦺 🗑️

Don’t worry about gear; we'll provide everything you need (pickers, vests, gloves, and bags). It’s a rewarding way to spend a morning outdoors with neighbors.

Sign up here to join the crew

Two important City of Kirkland surveys are open right now, giving us a great opportunity to push for a more walkable and vibrant city:

First, the City is gathering input on Neighborhood Stores & Services Code Amendments to allow small-scale commercial uses (like corner stores and neighborhood cafes) in residential areas, alongside updates for home-based businesses. Bringing everyday amenities closer to where people live is critical for creating complete, walkable communities. Take the survey by September 18th!

Second, the City has launched its biennial Community Survey, open through August 31st, which directly informs City Council's priorities as they prepare the 2027–2028 biennial budget.

Take a few minutes to complete both and ensure our shared vision for sustainable, connected, and human-scale growth is reflected in Kirkland’s planning!

Join Liveable Kirkland in a conversation about our city’s present and future! We have an active community on Discord and Facebook and we’d love it if you joined in too : )

(And if you add a picture you took to #photos on Discord it might get featured in next week’s issue!)