The Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance (FHNA) is hosting a community meeting with city staff on Tuesday, November 10, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at St. John Vianney Church.

The discussion will cover housing, land use issues, potential changes to the Holmes Point Overlay, and Public Works ideas for pedestrian safety and safe school walking routes on 84th Ave NE.

Community advocates are pushing for proactive measures—such as a permanent 20 mph speed limit, traffic circles, and traffic-calming pavement art—to establish this stretch as a pedestrian priority zone.

All neighbors are encouraged to attend and share their input.

The City of Kirkland is taking a major step toward cleaner, quieter parks by phasing out noisy and toxic gas-powered leaf blowers. Volunteer leaf rakers are needed to help city crews keep up the pace this fall!

While electric blowers are much better for our neighborhoods, they can take a bit longer to move heavy volumes of wet autumn leaves than traditional gas models. By volunteering to rake, you’ll help crews get the job done without extra hours, ensuring a smooth transition to quieter maintenance practices. Sign up via the Volunteer Leaf Raking form or simply show up! You can also read more on the City’s Electric Equipment Initiative page.

The City’s 2026-28 Planning Work Program contains two projects for Middle Housing - a “focused optimization” project scheduled for late 2026 to early 2027 aimed at making quick, simple changes to encourage middle housing production, and a broader project in 2028.

The two main standards that are being considered in this round are Floor Area Ratio (“FAR” - the ratio of how many square feet of buildings are allowed vs. the size of the property) and Lot Coverage (how much of a property can be covered in impervious surfaces, such as buildings, driveways, and walkways). It’s worth noting that middle housing and single family homes are currently subject to the same floor area ratio and lot coverage standards. In other words, middle housing projects are the same overall scale as a single family home project, just split into smaller pieces. Many builders still opt to build and sell their projects as single units. More permissive standards could encourage more middle housing, leading to a greater number of homes being built, and built at smaller, more affordable sizes.

Though the Planning Commission recommended that Floor Area Ratio and Lot Coverage be looked at in this project (among a few other things), that did not set the scope of the project. The City Council now has to decide which development standards should be updated by Staff.

Staff is presenting 4 options and seeking Council feedback:

The Planning Commission’s recommendation called for aspects of both Option 2 and Option 3. Staff point out in the memo that today’s projects generally max out their floor area ratio and lot coverage allowance without reaching the limit on the number of units. While streamlining makes the building process easier, changing the allowances for middle housing projects is more likely to change what gets built.

Public Hearing on I-001 and I-638 

The City Council will hold a public hearing on whether the council should adopt resolutions opposing the State Initiatives I-001 (concerns parental rights relating to their children in public school) and I-638 (concerns participation in athletics at K-12 schools). To give both sides equal opportunities to comment, there will be a limit of 8 2-minute comments per side per initiative.

If you think the council should or should not adopt resolutions opposing the above initiatives, you should give public comment as part of the public hearing on Tuesday evening, and/or send the City Council an email.

Shared Micromobility (i.e. Lime) LRM

Previously, council adopted a Legislative Request Memo (LRM) requested by Deputy Mayor Black and Council Members Pascal and Arnold which requested staff create options for allowing a micromobility company to operate in Kirkland, likely Lime Micromobility. Staff have identified four options:

Staff note that options 2, 3, and 4 are not currently in the 2027-28 budget, that option 2 does not take less staff resources than the large scale option 3, and that option 4 would require a significantly higher level of staff and budget resources.

Requiring Helmets LRM

On August 5th, Council adopted an LRM requested by Council Member Prem requesting staff develop options for requiring use of bike helmets when operating electric micromobility devices in Kirkland. Staff proposed four options:

While helmet use remains an effective personal safety choice, universal mandatory helmet policies introduce notable trade-offs for active transportation goals and social equity.

First, enforcement of mandatory helmet laws has drawn scrutiny for disproportionately impacting lower-income residents and communities of color.

Second, data suggest strict helmet mandates can suppress overall cycling participation rates. Because the broader public health and environmental gains of shifting trips from cars to bikes rely heavily on higher ridership volumes, population-level health gains from physical activity can outweigh the protective effect of mandatory gear policies in the aggregate.

Furthermore, operational evidence compiled by organizations like NACTO indicates that helmet laws add operational friction to shared micromobility systems, reducing overall usage. If Kirkland aims to establish a successful shared micromobility program, requiring helmets for every trip could create a significant headwind. This dynamic is also highlighted in broader evaluations of helmet law effects.

Rather than directing municipal staff time, studies, or enforcement resources toward a new mandate, the City could achieve more immediate safety equity by pairing safe infrastructure with direct bulk purchasing and distribution of helmets (which cost well under $10 each) to anyone in need.

Holmes Point LRM

Staff will present a response to the Legislative Request Memos submitted by Councilmembers Falcone and Pascal in the August 5th City Council Meeting. There certain development standards, particularly lot coverage limits and tree removal restrictions, in the Holmes Point Overlay that differ from the rest of the city and are holdovers from before the area was annexed into Kirkland. 

Staff will present information about what regulatory changes could be considered and how many city resources would be required. The City Council will then vote on how to proceed, possibly directing City Staff to return with code amendments at a future meeting. 

Affordable Housing on Faith-based Properties

Ordinance O-4950 is scheduled to be adopted via the City Council’s Consent Agenda. This Ordinance will implement the code updates recommended by the Planning Commission during their August 5th meeting. The code updates allow for faith-based organizations to build more housing on their property than would otherwise be allowed, as long as a certain amount of the units are Affordable Housing.

The Planning Commission will hold another study session to discuss updating the city’s regulations about home occupations (which are already allowed in some form) and allowing for more types of commercial uses in residential areas.

Generally, the concept of “neighborhood commercial” goes beyond what is currently allowed under the city’s home occupation regulations, but discussion during the last meeting revealed that no one has come forward with a clear dividing line between the two concepts.

For this meeting, Staff has proposed a two-tiered approach for Neighborhood Commercial, while also keeping the concept of home occupations as a separate type of accessory use. The proposed tier 1 would allow for more types of businesses, such as small retail and service businesses that serve daily needs. Tier 1 would have a 500 sq ft limit and is envisioned as being on roughly the same scale as current home occupations.

The proposed tier 2 would allow for more specialty types of retail businesses, as well as entertainment, recreation, and cultural uses, and would allow for up to 1,200 sq ft of business space. 1,200 sq ft was picked because it is the maximum size for an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) in Kirkland. Various other logistical restrictions, such as delivery vehicle size and buffers around outdoor service, would be loosened as well compared to tier 1.

Staff proposes that tier 1 be allowed by-right everywhere in the city, since they are minimally disruptive. Staff propose that tier 2 regulations would only be available in certain locations that are deemed eligible. The example criteria given is to allow tier 2 uses on properties that are within a quarter mile of a park or school, or another zone type (medium/high density residential, commercial, office, transit-oriented development).

You can view the full details of the proposal in the agenda packet, though there are a number of details that Staff is waiting for the Planning Commission to weigh in on.

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!)

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