OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – May 20, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, May 20, 2025
BodyKirkland, Washington
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, May 20, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 4:40:25

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right.

0:01

I'm gonna call to order the city council meeting of May 6, 2025.

0:06

City Clerk, will you please call the roll?

0:08

Councilmember Tim Chishon.

0:10

Here.

0:11

Councilmember Black.

0:12

Here.

0:13

Councilmember Sweet.

0:14

Councilmember Falcon.

0:16

Here.

0:16

Councilmember Pascal.

0:17

Here.

0:18

Deputy Mayor Arnold.

0:19

Here.

0:19

Mayor Curtis.

0:21

Our study session tonight is on two items.

0:23

First, we'll have an update on the regional crisis response agency.

0:27

Second, we will have a preview of the downtown and waterfront live parking data web map launch.

0:33

We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30.

0:36

City manager.

0:37

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

0:38

Deputy Mayor members of the council.

0:40

Very excited tonight to have Brooke Bittner, the executive director of the Regional Crisis Response Agency here.

0:45

As you know, I get the pleasure of serving with her as your representative on the board.

0:55

I'll look back, a little a bit of the present and a little bit of a look ahead.

0:58

So and we encourage questions and comments from the council.

1:02

So with that, I will turn it over to Brooke.

1:05

Thank you, Kurt.

1:06

Oh, thank you, Mayor Curtis, Deputy Mayor and Council members.

1:09

Is can everybody hear me okay if I'm right here?

1:11

All right, let me know.

1:13

And let me know if I'm talking too fast because I do get excited.

1:16

I'm just delighted to be here and see everybody again.

1:19

As Kurt said, I'm the director of Regional Crisis Response Agency, which we call RACER.

1:24

So I'll say racer as I'm walking through my slides this evening.

1:28

And my purpose here, as I see it, is one to give you a briefing and talk to you about how this investment is going, and two, to really thank you and kind of shine a light on how much impact Kirkland's investment is having in our region.

1:42

And then as we walk through the slides, you'll see also at the state level and at the national level by leading in this area.

1:48

And I really appreciate that Kurt has invited me to talk to you all.

1:52

As you know, RACER is a product of an interlocal agreement between our five cities up here in North and East King County.

2:00

It allows our cities to capitalize on economies of scale, to collaborate across jurisdictions where people do not stay within city borders, so we see people travel across the cities.

2:20

Because while Kirkland may have been able to do this alone and was doing this alone before the RACER agency was formed, most of our other racer partners could not uh sustain a model like this without the partnership of the other four cities.

2:35

And so the collaboration is really what makes this possible.

2:38

It's really what allows us to take it to the next level of becoming a true first response.

2:43

Um I also want to thank the city of Kirkland for stepping into leadership as the fiscal and administrative sponsor for the RACER Agency.

2:51

So I am lucky to get to partner with Kurt at kind of two sides of the coin as the city manager because myself and all of our racer staff are City of Kirkland employees, and as the president of the board, and he has been on both sides such an encourager of innovation.

3:08

I could not ask for a better boss that creates the space for me and for our agency to step into new territory.

3:17

And again, as we get down later in our slides, you'll see that it's really paying off at the state level and nationally.

3:23

So I'm gonna talk through what the racer agency is, our goals summarized from the interlocal agreement to provide crisis response, to reduce police response to behavioral health calls, provide alternatives to police as the primary response to crisis, and reduce strain on police and fire departments by reducing repeat calls.

3:41

And we all know that the traditional answer to a behavioral health emergency for the last many decades has been police, a badge and a gun, because that's all our system has had to offer.

3:51

And so it's really exciting that our community now has an alternative to that.

3:56

Uh crisis response that's a civilian, a skilled uh social worker that is trained and um experienced with de-escalation, uh, with providing resources, with figuring out what's going on for someone.

4:11

Um what our crisis responders are doing out in the field is responding to in progress 911 calls in their fleet vehicles.

4:20

They are self-attaching to any call that seems even remotely appropriate for a crisis responder to go out and join our police partners and our fire partners on a scene and really understand and figure out what is the underlying issue here.

4:34

Sometimes it's pretty clear that it's a behavioral health crisis, and my team is really good at doing that.

4:40

Initial assessment, de-escalation when somebody's agitated, referring them kind of back to what the the resources in the community that can help uh keep them from falling into crisis in the future.

4:50

And sometimes it's a little less clear that there is an underlying need, and that's why our partnership with other first responders is so important because we may not know until a little later in the call that there's a behavioral health need or a human services need, or like I said, that we will attach to anything and everything.

5:07

We might get there and say, okay, this is a DV, but I see that the survivor is also going to benefit from some de-escalation, some referral to services, or sometimes this is a theft, but really this is a poverty-driven theft.

5:20

What's going on for this person?

5:22

What are the other resources that we can bring in to help move them out of crisis?

5:27

And Kirkland Police Department is really a star in every member of that agency, understanding that a lot of times there is another cause to what's going on for someone, and being really open to the idea of having alternative responses, having diversions from arrest or from jail.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Planning And Zoning████████████████████20%
Mental Health Awareness███████████████15%
Parking Management█████████9%
Affordable Housing█████████9%
Procedural█████5%
Public Safety█████5%
Transportation█████5%
Impact Fees█████5%
Zoning Regulations████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting – May 20, 2025

The Kirkland City Council held a regular meeting on May 20, 2025, beginning with a study session at 5:30 p.m. and reconvening at 7:30 p.m. The meeting included proclamations, public comments, a special presentation on the city flag process, approval of a consent calendar, and multiple business items including rezoning to park/open space, zoning code amendments for the Juanita neighborhood, adoption of updated park and fire impact fees, and discussion of a wastewater rate comment letter. The council unanimously approved all agenda items, including an ordinance to rezone parcels to park/open space, an amended ordinance for impact fees, a letter on King County wastewater rates, and a direction to increase the lot coverage exemption for artificial turf to 25% with future study of environmental impacts.

Study Session

  • The council received an update from Regional Crisis Response (RCR) Agency Executive Director Brook Buettner. Key topics included coordination with NORCOM dispatch, crisis response at schools, integration with the Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) program, and challenges for youth mental health resources. The council expressed gratitude and discussed data tracking and future expansion of the agency.
  • Public Works Deputy Director Sarah Olson and Transportation Planner Kimberly Scrivner previewed the downtown and waterfront live parking data webmap, launching June 2, 2025. The council discussed accessibility, promotion via QR codes to businesses, color contrast for users with vision issues, and the potential to expand sensors to private lots and the garage.

Honors and Proclamations

  • Councilmember Tymczyszyn read a proclamation declaring May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month. Monik Martinez, Executive Director of 4 Tomorrow, accepted and highlighted the importance of nurturing mental health daily and the city's investment in youth programs.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Alison Warner (Balboa Retail Partners) expressed support for flexible zoning at the Juanita Goodwill site, noting that various development scenarios (600 to 330 units) could meet policy goals but face financing challenges in the current market.
  • Phil Allen (Friends of Taylor Fields) criticized King County’s adherence to a 2005 memorandum of understanding regarding the Houghton transfer station, citing failures in tonnage reduction, overnight truck reporting, and payments to the city. He urged the council to accept no further deals from the county.
  • Jessica Rowe (land use attorney for the Michaels site owner) requested flexibility on ground floor commercial requirements and reduced parking due to site constraints (wetland buffers). She also expressed support for the artificial turf LRM option 2.
  • Jeff Schramm (transportation engineer) stated that a 170-unit redevelopment of the Michaels site would generate fewer daily trips than the existing store, and that access improvements and a new sidewalk would enhance pedestrian safety.
  • Meredith Everist (architect) noted that the wetland buffer (110 feet plus 10 feet for structures) impacts about one-third of the Michaels site.
  • Alex Tsimerman made political comments criticizing Democratic leadership and expressing support for Trump, stating that King County is collapsing.
  • Kate Conant (Kirkland resident, 25 years) urged the council to require a lakeside walking path between Juanita Bay Park and Juanita Beach Park as part of the Michaels site redevelopment, citing numerous city plans that call for shoreline access.
  • Liz Hunt raised concerns about vague wording in a proposed new zoning code for development agreements, particularly the definition of "suitable for transit-oriented development" and the potential for a 14-mile strip along I-405 to receive special treatment.
  • Scott Morris (Finn Hill Neighbor Alliance) thanked staff for responding to their letter but urged deeper analysis of traffic impacts at the 98th/116th intersection and greater transparency on how rezone unit counts affect affordable housing targets under HB 1220.

Special Presentations

  • Deputy City Manager James Lopez provided an update on the Kirkland Flag Learners Advisory Group (K-FLAG) process. The group received 75 flag design submissions and narrowed them to six semifinalists. Staff recommended extending the timeline to the first quarter of 2026 due to a heavy work program in 2025. The council expressed gratitude to K-FLAG members and entrants and supported the delay.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved unanimously (7-0) including: minutes of May 6, 2025; audit of accounts (bills $5,390,084.23, payroll $4,728,653.52); claims for damages; four proclamations (Safe Boating and Paddling Week, Public Works Week, Jewish American Heritage Month, Building Safety Month); Ordinance O-4902 adopting the 2025-2029 Commute Trip Reduction Plan; Surface Water Utility annual report; March 2025 Financial Dashboard; 2025 First Quarter Fire Dashboard; Neighborhood Safety Program projects and fiscal note; and procurement report.

Discussion Items

Approval of Zoning Map Amendments (Rezoning to Park/Open Space)

  • Senior Planner Lindsay Levine presented proposed amendments to rezone the former Houghton Park & Ride and five Finn Hill parcels from low density residential to Park/Open Space (P) zone. The council noted the Houghton property is currently a temporary park, and the Finn Hill parcels will be added to Juanita Heights Park. The Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval. No public comments opposed.
  • Vote: Unanimous 7-0 to adopt Ordinance O-4903.

Review of Juanita Community-Initiated Amendment Request (CAR) and North Juanita Center Zoning

  • Senior Planner LeAndra Baker-Lewis and Planning Commission Vice Chair Angela Rozmyn briefed the council on zoning code amendments for the Michaels site (JBD4 zone) and the Goodwill site (BC1 zone). The council provided feedback supporting the Planning Commission's recommendations: 75-foot height maximum, 100% lot coverage (with landscaping and buffer mitigations), parking minimums reflecting state law (SB 5184), and flexibility on inclusionary zoning and high-performing building standards. The council emphasized the need to preserve ground floor retail, explore pedestrian access along the lake, and prioritize apartment housing over townhomes to meet affordable housing targets.

Transportation, Fire, and Park Impact Fee Update

  • Financial Planning Manager Kevin Pelstring presented two phase-in options for park and fire impact fees. Option 1 (adopted) phases in the maximum single-family fee over three years (80% in 2025, 90% in 2026, 100% in 2027) while keeping the per-square-foot fee constant. Option 2 would have lowered the per-square-foot fee proportionally. Staff recommended Option 1 as more equitable and stable. The council also adopted a separate phase-in for ADUs and cottages (50% in 2026, full in 2027). For transportation impact fees, the council will consider adoption on June 3, 2025.
  • Vote: Unanimous 7-0 to adopt Ordinance O-4901 as amended (adding Option 1 fee schedules for parks and fire, and effective date of July 1, 2025).

2026 King County Wastewater Rate Comment Letter

  • Utility Policy Supervisor Carly Joerger presented a draft letter expressing concern over King County’s projected 7.5% rate increase in 2026 and subsequent annual increases of up to 13.5%, which would double the county portion of sewer rates by the end of the decade. The letter supports a regional utility affordability summit. Councilmember Sweet noted that rates are rising across utilities and that Kirkland’s low-income support program (Kirkland CARES) is being used by many households.
  • Vote: Unanimous 7-0 to authorize the Mayor to send the letter, with an amendment to include the impact of rising rates on Kirkland CARES participants.

Artificial Turf and Regulating Lot Coverage (LRM)

  • Senior Planner Peter Milliken presented three options: (1) retain current 50% exemption; (2) increase the exemption (e.g., to 25% or 0%); (3) study environmental impacts before amending. After debate, the council favored Option 2 at the 25% level, with a future opportunity for staff to study the issue (Option 3) at their discretion. Councilmember Falcone and others expressed concern about lacking data on microplastics and soil health, but the majority prioritized immediate relief for homeowners facing code enforcement.
  • Vote: Unanimous 7-0 to approve Option 2 (25% lot coverage exemption for artificial turf) and to follow up with Option 3 at staff’s discretion.

Metro Flex Service Letter

  • The council discussed and approved a letter urging King County Metro to continue the Juanita Metro Flex service, which scored 4.8 out of 5 on Metro’s new scoring system (below the 5.0 threshold for discontinuation). The letter cites the service’s origin as a replacement for reduced fixed-route service and the upcoming rapid transit lines. Councilmember Falcone requested adding Juanita High School as a key connection.
  • Vote: Unanimous 7-0 to authorize the Mayor to send the letter.

Key Outcomes

  • All votes were 7-0 in favor.
  • Consent calendar approved including multiple reports and Ordinance O-4902.
  • Rezoning of Houghton Park & Ride and Finn Hill parcels to Park/Open Space (Ordinance O-4903) – effective upon passage.
  • Park and fire impact fees adopted with Option 1 phase-in (effective July 1, 2025, at 80% of maximum for single-family; ADUs/cottages at 0% in 2025, 50% in 2026, full in 2027).
  • Wastewater rate comment letter to King County Council approved, with addition of Kirkland CARES data.
  • Artificial turf lot coverage exemption increased to 25% (effective after code amendment process) with potential future study.
  • Metro Flex service continuation letter approved.
  • Executive session held at 10:54 p.m. to discuss real estate acquisition and potential litigation, followed by closed session on collective bargaining; meeting adjourned at midnight.

Meeting Transcript

All right. I'm gonna call to order the city council meeting of May 6, 2025. City Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Tim Chishon. Here. Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Sweet. Councilmember Falcon. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Curtis. Our study session tonight is on two items. First, we'll have an update on the regional crisis response agency. Second, we will have a preview of the downtown and waterfront live parking data web map launch. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30. City manager. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Deputy Mayor members of the council. Very excited tonight to have Brooke Bittner, the executive director of the Regional Crisis Response Agency here. As you know, I get the pleasure of serving with her as your representative on the board. I'll look back, a little a bit of the present and a little bit of a look ahead. So and we encourage questions and comments from the council. So with that, I will turn it over to Brooke. Thank you, Kurt. Oh, thank you, Mayor Curtis, Deputy Mayor and Council members. Is can everybody hear me okay if I'm right here? All right, let me know. And let me know if I'm talking too fast because I do get excited. I'm just delighted to be here and see everybody again. As Kurt said, I'm the director of Regional Crisis Response Agency, which we call RACER. So I'll say racer as I'm walking through my slides this evening. And my purpose here, as I see it, is one to give you a briefing and talk to you about how this investment is going, and two, to really thank you and kind of shine a light on how much impact Kirkland's investment is having in our region. And then as we walk through the slides, you'll see also at the state level and at the national level by leading in this area. And I really appreciate that Kurt has invited me to talk to you all. As you know, RACER is a product of an interlocal agreement between our five cities up here in North and East King County. It allows our cities to capitalize on economies of scale, to collaborate across jurisdictions where people do not stay within city borders, so we see people travel across the cities. Because while Kirkland may have been able to do this alone and was doing this alone before the RACER agency was formed, most of our other racer partners could not uh sustain a model like this without the partnership of the other four cities. And so the collaboration is really what makes this possible. It's really what allows us to take it to the next level of becoming a true first response. Um I also want to thank the city of Kirkland for stepping into leadership as the fiscal and administrative sponsor for the RACER Agency. So I am lucky to get to partner with Kurt at kind of two sides of the coin as the city manager because myself and all of our racer staff are City of Kirkland employees, and as the president of the board, and he has been on both sides such an encourager of innovation. I could not ask for a better boss that creates the space for me and for our agency to step into new territory. And again, as we get down later in our slides, you'll see that it's really paying off at the state level and nationally. So I'm gonna talk through what the racer agency is, our goals summarized from the interlocal agreement to provide crisis response, to reduce police response to behavioral health calls, provide alternatives to police as the primary response to crisis, and reduce strain on police and fire departments by reducing repeat calls. And we all know that the traditional answer to a behavioral health emergency for the last many decades has been police, a badge and a gun, because that's all our system has had to offer. And so it's really exciting that our community now has an alternative to that.

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