October and November are especially busy months for planting natives species in parks and natural spaces throughout Kirkland.

Green Kirkland has over 20 work parties scheduled in the next seven weeks -- with five happening this week alone! Cross Kirkland Corridor trail-side work parties are also fun options.

No prior experience necessary. Tools and education are provided at each event.

Staff presented Council with information on the speed limit changes planned to begin implementation in 2027. The plan proposes lowering limits from 35 mph to 30 mph on Juanita Dr NE, NE 132nd St, and Totem Lake Blvd NE (with other arterial roads to follow), alongside implementing a default 20 mph limit on local residential streets. Implementation is slated to occur on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis over an eight-year period utilizing existing resources, though Council expressed a strong desire to explore budget options to accelerate the timeline to four years. Bellevue is currently in the process of lowering its neighborhood speed limits having installed 180 out of the planned 360 signs already with the rest expected to be installed by the end of the year.

Council evaluated the ECOnorthwest competitiveness study and minimum wage white paper. Kirkland lacks a local B&O tax, providing a business advantage, while higher utility taxes impact some sectors.

Debate centered on a motion to draft a minimum wage ordinance modeled on King County's unincorporated rate ($20.82/hr) with phased timelines. While some members pushed to draft an ordinance quickly, others expressed strong concerns about rushing during budget season without targeted local data. A motion to conduct stakeholder engagement and return to council on January 19th, 2027 with an ordinance failed on a 3 (Arnold, Falcone, Tymczyszn) to 4 (Curtis, Black, Pascal, Prem) split vote, but Council unanimously directed staff to bring back community engagement and targeted study options on November 4.

The motion to authorize the City Manager to lease out the former church property passed 5 - 2, with Councilmember Tymczyszyn and Councilmember Pascal voting against. Staff will return with a full resolution at a future meeting and will proceed to look for tenants if the resolution is approved.

When this property in Evergreen Hill unexpectedly came on the market early this year, the City Council allocated capital funds to purchase the property to fulfill long term goals for community center space. However, the City is already in the process of developing programming for the new community center at the Kraken Iceplex in South Rose Hill. The City does not currently have budget or capacity to run programs in this new space for a few years, hence the move to lease it out.

Councilmember Tymczyszyn raised a concern that any organizations looking to lease the property would seek subsidized rents, and then be a “massive problem” to move out when the estimated 2 year term is up. Councilmember Pascal highlighted his support for purchasing the property, but also said he may not have voted to approve the purchase if he knew it would not be programmed by the City for some years.

Supporters of the motion highlighted that leasing out the property is the fiscally responsible path to take in the meantime over leaving the building empty, given the operational constraints of the parks and community services department.

After the vote, the City Manager explained that Staff did mention this possible outcome when the City Council was first briefed on the property back in April of this year. The Deputy City Manager also mentioned during his presentation that the City will seek tenants who are readily able to relocate at the end of the lease term.

Council unanimously approved Res R-5747, authorizing the city manager to negotiate a final affordable housing agreement and execute a $500k zero-interest loan to preserve affordability at Arete Apartments. Key modifications since August include adding one additional studio at 60% AMI, setting aside five larger units (one studio, two one-bedroom, and two two-bedroom units) at 80% AMI to accommodate families, capping annual rent increases at 7% plus CPI (max 10%), and extending the maximum loan term and affordability covenant to 60 years.

During the meeting, the City Council voted to postpone several agenda items to a future meeting due to other items taking more time than expected. The postponed items are:
• Holmes Point LRMs;
• NE 85th St Station Area Naming;
• Federal Impacts Team Update;
• Council Policies and Procedures Updates.

Weighing the council’s busy calendar and a desire to comment on initiatives I-001 (concerning parental rights relating to children in public school) and I-638 (concerning interscholastic sports) council voted on a motion to remove taking a position on the initiatives from its October 20th agenda. That motion failed with 3 (Black, Arnold, Pascal) in favor of removing the initiatives from the agenda and 4 (Curtis, Falcone, Tymczyszyn, Prem) opposed. Council then unanimously voted to only consider resolutions opposing the initiatives.

The Planning Commission discussed their high level thoughts about what sort of regulatory approach the City should take to allow for more home-based occupations, and what it will mean to newly allow for neighborhood commercial spaces. While there are no draft code updates yet, common interest was expressed on many topics, and the end result of this project is starting to take shape.

By accident, the first topic ended up being: “what is the difference between a home occupation and a neighborhood commercial use?” Commissioners had a hard time picking a line to divide the two. Partially this is because the actual scale of neighborhood commercial has yet to be determined. Ultimately, there was support on the Commission for making a more uniform set of standards rather than trying to force these businesses into two buckets.

The Commission acknowledged the possibility of businesses having negative impacts on neighboring properties. But at the same time, they acknowledged that there are many behaviors which are totally allowed if they are done for residential purposes, but illegal if you declare yourself a home business. For example, home occupations currently have a limit (on paper) for how many deliveries they can accept per day, but there is no limit for how many deliveries a home can accept. A contractor might park their work van in their driveway, but if they registered as a home business (with a home office, for example), then they would be subject to size restrictions for parking “company vehicles”.

Overall, the Commission is supportive of removing regulations that apply greater restrictions on businesses than exist for residential uses, and removing or reworking regulations that can’t reasonably be enforced. Commissioners were in favor of requiring properties with neighborhood commercial uses to also be used as residences, and that the commercial space should generally be smaller than the residential use. Commissioners are interested in a by-right approach to regulation, with certain business types prohibited, and certain modifications requiring administrative review by staff.

It also seems that limiting overall size and hours of operations is the preferred approach for managing any negative impacts, as other approaches would be either ineffective or difficult to follow. 500 sq ft was discussed as a limit due to international building code requirements, but there was also interest in allowing for 1,200 sq ft as a limit, which is the maximum size of an Accessory Dwelling Unit in Kirkland.

The Planning Commission is going to continue discussing this project, particularly size and location limits, at their next meeting on October 22nd.

The batch of miscellaneous code amendments passed unanimously. No speakers signed up for the public hearing that was held.

Staff produces a batch of minor amendments once a year that would be too small to be worth considering on their own. The amendments largely aim to clarify existing practices, update outdated terms, fix oversights, and improve administrative processes.

In October’s featured video, Patrick Murphy from the Montreal-based YouTube Channel “Oh The Urbanity!” discusses the way that many urbanists hold car-free living as a purity test or expected standard, with extreme (though often not-entirely-serious) slogans like “#BanCars”. However, in urbanist utopias like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, with robust public transit and cycling infrastructure, around one third to one half of all households still own cars.

Instead, Patrick argues for car light as a more attainable goal for cities, aiming for one car per household instead of one car per adult.

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!)

Additional stories, articles, and media for those who want a little more.