Kirkland City Council Meeting - February 18, 2025: K Line, Parkplace Extension, and Work Program
Kirkland City Council Meeting - February 18, 2025
The Kirkland City Council met on February 18, 2025, beginning with a study session from 5:30 p.m. to 6:47 p.m. to brief on the proposed King County Metro RapidRide K Line, followed by a regular meeting from 7:30 p.m. to 10:17 p.m. The regular meeting included a proclamation, public comments, approval of the consent calendar, discussion of the 2025-2026 city work program, approval of a 90-day extension of the Parkplace Planned Action Ordinance (O-4897), and an executive session on potential litigation. All votes were unanimous (7-0).
Study Session: Briefing on Upcoming K Line Record of Support Memos
- City and King County Metro staff presented detailed plans for the 16-mile RapidRide K Line, which will provide 10-15 minute service for 16 hours daily, connecting Totem Lake to Eastgate via downtown Kirkland and Bellevue. The presentation covered station locations (18 in Kirkland, 17 in Bellevue), access-to-transit improvements (8 investment areas), and speed and reliability projects including business access and transit (BAT) lanes and transit signal priority. Council members asked about service duplication, federal Small Starts grant funding (application deadline August 2025), impacts on property owners, and specific projects on Central Way and 108th Avenue NE. City Manager Kurt Triplett noted the project is the result of over a decade of advocacy and that staff will return on March 4 and March 18 for final decisions on letters of support.
Honors and Proclamations
- Mayor Kelli Curtis read a statement honoring Mutsuko Ikari Okada, a Nisei who experienced Japanese American incarceration during World War II and passed away in June 2024. Councilmember John Tymczyszyn read a proclamation declaring February 19, 2025 as "Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II" in Kirkland. Dale Watanabe, Commander of the Nisei Veterans Committee, accepted the proclamation. Girl and Boy Scout Troop 570 were recognized.
Consent Calendar
- Approved 7-0 (Motion by Councilmember Penny Sweet, seconded by Councilmember Amy Falcone). Items included:
- Approval of minutes from February 4 and February 11, 2025 (with typographical corrections noted).
- Audit of accounts (payroll $4,718,892.05; bills $5,243,509.40).
- Claims for damages (from Scott R. Heston, Ara Mehrabi, and Water’s Edge HOA).
- Award of bid for Kirkland Neighborhood Greenway Stores to Shores to OMA Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,799,974.00.
- Acknowledgment of 2024 Fourth Quarter Fire Department Dashboard, Investment Report, December 2024 Financial Dashboard, and Procurement Report.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Thirteen speakers addressed the council. Seven spoke on the K Line (reaching the limit of six per subject after the first seven signed up, though the clerk allowed a seventh as the sixth was not counted due to a technicality). Positions included:
- Neil Lebeck expressed support for the K Line but hoped for strong local connections and housing near transit.
- Julia Freeman opposed the proposed BAT lanes on 108th Avenue NE, arguing they target a symptom (traffic at 68th) and would disrupt the neighborhood.
- Tom Markle (Nelson Legacy) opposed the BAT lane and station near 68th/108th, stating it would cause the Houghton Starbucks to lose half its parking and likely close.
- Gary Greenberg suggested alternative BAT lane alignment starting at the fire station to reduce property impacts and called for more walking tours of the corridor.
- Margaret Landon (virtual) questioned the cost-benefit of the BAT lane for a two-minute time savings and urged reconsideration.
- Kyle Sullivan supported the K Line but asked for clearer communication about the project's iterative design process.
- Other speakers: Jennifer Loy criticized parks department customer service at Caroline Woods Park; Carmin Dalziel (Kirkland Community Foundation) announced the foundation's name change and grant program; Loita Hawkinson (Kirkland Heritage Society) provided historical context on Kirkland families affected by Japanese American incarceration; Alex Tsimmerman made unsolicited political comments (Mayor Curtis disavowed his statements as hurtful and offensive, noting his First Amendment rights); Radu Bacioiu criticized broken links and poor communication from the city; Scott Denman (virtual) urged greater focus on pedestrian safety.
Discussion Items
2025 Legislative Session Update
- Government Affairs Manager Diana Hart reported that the legislature is one-third through the session, with over 1,750 bills introduced. The legislative work group has signed in support of several bills, including road usage charge legislation (HB 1921) and bills on housing, behavioral health, and extended producer responsibility. Council will attend City Action Days on February 19. The work group updated its position report to only include legislation discussed by the group.
2025-2026 City Work Program Discussion
- City Manager Kurt Triplett reviewed a revised version of the proposed work program, incorporating feedback from the prior study session. Council discussed 12 potential goals. Key points:
- Comprehensive Plan and Transportation Strategic Plan: Added emphasis on regional and local transit options (K Line).
- Community Safety: Added language to "finish the promise of Proposition 1" (2020 public safety levy) and renovate fire stations/training props.
- Criminal Justice System: Modified to complete a phased review of the criminal justice system, including victim advocacy and prosecution/public defense services.
- Health Through Housing: Adjusted to highlight partnership with King County and Plymouth Housing for a 60-unit supportive housing project; language debated ("implement" vs. "monitor").
- Economic Development: New item proposed but deferred to retreat; council considered merging with the station area redevelopment goal.
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Several councilmembers wanted to retain this as a work program item to signal continued commitment; others suggested combining with communication strategies.
- Public Communication Tools: New item on developing innovative community engagement strategies; council will discuss at retreat.
- Public Works Maintenance Center: Proposed as a high-priority capital project; some councilmembers felt it should remain as routine operational work.
- Council also noted potential future items such as the Northeast Recycling and Transfer Station (NERTS) selection, Houghton Village redevelopment, and sustainability planning.
- Triplett will bring a revised draft to the March 4 meeting and seek adoption on March 18.
February 28 City Council Annual Retreat Agenda Approval
- Deputy City Manager Julie Underwood presented the draft agenda: morning team-building through colors communication styles training, followed by working lunch and discussions on council outreach, 85th Street station area, economic development, and criminal justice review. Council agreed to move criminal justice review to earlier in the afternoon to ensure adequate discussion. Councilmembers requested strict time management with 5- and 10-minute warnings. The agenda was approved as amended.
Extension of Planned Action Ordinance for Parkplace (Kirkland Urban) Project
- Planning and Building Director Adam Weinstein presented Ordinance O-4897, which extends the Planned Action Ordinance (O-4473) and associated development agreement by 90 days to June 1, 2025. The extension allows time to evaluate mitigation measures, hold a public hearing, and consider a longer extension. Google (property owner) did not request any land use changes. Councilmember Jon Pascal asked about Google's plans to activate retail spaces; Councilmember Penny Sweet requested information on short-term use of the parking lot and podium. Ordinance O-4897 was adopted 7-0 (Motion by Councilmember Sweet, seconded by Councilmember Tymczyszyn).
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar approved 7-0.
- Ordinance O-4897 (Parkplace Planned Action extension) approved 7-0.
- February 28 retreat agenda approved with criminal justice review moved earlier in the day.
- City staff will return on March 4 with revised work program draft and on March 18 for final adoption.
- Staff will bring K Line letter of support requests on March 4 (record of support memos) and March 18 (final support letter).
- Council will consider a formal letter to King County Council regarding the proposed King County Parks Levy at the March 4 or March 18 meeting.
Reports
- City Council Regional and Committee Reports: Councilmembers shared updates on Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods (tribute to former Councilmember Dave Asher), Eastside Transportation Partnership, North Rose Hill Association, King Conservation District Advisory Committee, Association of Washington Cities Action Days, King County Board of Health, Junior World Series of Softball planning, solid waste/wastewater rate setting, and Chamber of Commerce re-engagement. All councilmembers thanked retiring City Clerk Kathi Anderson for her 34 years of service.
- City Manager Reports:
- Forbes Lake West Property Update: Parks Director Lynn Zwaagstra announced the acquisition of 2.65 acres from the Washington State Department of Transportation (from a 2004 agreement), adding wetland area to Forbes Lake Park, enabling future boardwalk and passive access improvements per the 2010 park plan.
- Calendar Update: City Manager Triplett noted a meeting with King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski regarding a potential upcoming King County Parks Levy increase (proposed from $0.18 to $0.24 per $1,000 assessed value), with more information to come.
Executive Session
- At 9:50 p.m., the council entered executive session to discuss potential litigation pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(i)(ii). The session was extended by five minutes, and the council reconvened at 10:15 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:17 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
I know. Test it. Okay. Councilmember Sweet can hear us? I can. I would like to call to order the city council meeting of February 18, 2025. Before the roll is called, I would like to note that Councilmember Sweet is joining us remotely for the study session. And she will be in person during the regular meeting. I'd also like to note that Councilmember Tim Chishol is absent from our study session and will be explained by our city attorney. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to take a brief moment to explain that Councilmember Tim Chisholm has recused himself from decisions regarding the K-line and participating in discussions about it. He recently discovered that uh the property that he has a financial that he has a property interest in is one of the properties portions of the property that need to be acquired for the K-line route under its currently proposed alignment. So because of that financial interest, potential financial interest and uh conflict of interest that proposed that you know presents that he's decided under the rules of ethics to uh recuse himself. So that's the explanation. Thank you. City clerk, would you like to call the rule? Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Sweet? Here. Councilmember Falcone. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Curtis. Here. Our study session tonight is on a briefing on the King County Metro K-Line and upcoming record of support memos. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30. I'd like to welcome our very special guest, City Manager. Okay, thank you. So I seem to be a bit of a resident historian here. So before I turn this over to Doug Backantire, the transportation team, I just want to say I personally am really excited that we're here talking about the K-line. So for many people, this is the first time they're really hearing about it. And so I just want to remind folks that this is really the product of over a decade of advocacy by past and present councils to get more transit to more places more often in Kirkland. And this is played out a whole bunch of ways. Some of it has been in the ST3 um ballot measure that Deputy Murray was a huge part of, as well as uh former mayor sweet now, councilmember sweet and others to really try to connect us to the region. Uh connect us to light rail, connect us to the bus rapid transit up four oh five. And we're starting to see the fruits of all those things occur in the next few years. So uh we want to make sure that we highlighted that because the K-line really does connect us to everything, and it's really the product of a whole host of work, not only from our councils, but also our partnership with King County Metro, um and the hard work of our staff, and especially the leadership we've had from uh King County Council Member Claudia Balducci and King County Council Mr Rod Dembowski, as well as our partnership with the county executive Del Constantine over the years. So this is a really critical investment in transit for our city and for the region. So as you saw in the memo, the K-line is every 10 to 15 minutes, 16 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and it really truly connects everything, and you're gonna hear about that um later in the presentation. So uh it's very exciting to be at this point. Um but I also want to acknowledge that some of the investments, particularly the speed and reliability investments that we're gonna talk about later today, do have real impacts to some property owners and to some businesses. Um I want you to know that we understand that both as the city staff and the metro staff, and we're gonna be doing everything we can to minimize the impacts to those businesses and those residents. Um if they can't be avoided, we're gonna do everything we can to appropriately compensate and mitigate those impacts. So uh we take that work very seriously, it's work that still needs to be done. We're gonna try to do it well. Um and finally, I want to say this is a theme that's come up with all the council members as well and has been in past letters that um when the K-line comes into implementation, it will be a when, right, not an if.
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