Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting - June 3, 2025
Kirkland City Council Regular Meeting - June 3, 2025
The Kirkland City Council met on June 3, 2025, beginning with a study session at 5:30 PM and the regular meeting at 7:30 PM. The council discussed transit needs and a joint bike path and park proposal, received public comments, approved several consent calendar items unanimously, adopted a transportation impact fee ordinance, deliberated on middle housing zoning amendments without action, and directed staff to prepare a resolution supporting the trans and non-binary community for the next meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the May 20, 2025 regular meeting.
- Acknowledged audits: bills totaling $8,505,073.48 and payroll of $6,127,461.92.
- Acknowledged claims from Leah Cullinane, Totem Lake Warehouse LeClercq, LLC, and Heidi VanderWel.
- Awarded bids: 2025 Street Overlay Project to Lakeside Industries, Inc. for $1,797,986.13; 2025 Striping Project to Specialized Pavement Marking, Inc. for $546,487.25, with additional funding from Vision Zero ($35,000) and Neighborhood Traffic Control Program ($15,000).
- Approved Resolution R-5683 for participation in WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery Interlocal Agreement.
- Recognized National Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 6) and Ride Transit Month (June) proclamations.
- Approved artist selection of Shima Star's design for Downtown Utility Box Art Wrap.
- Approved Resolution R-5684 authorizing a pilot program with King County Sexual Assault Resource Center for a dedicated Kirkland sexual assault legal advocate.
- Adopted Substitute Ordinance O-4901 updating park and fire impact fees.
- Acknowledged April 2025 sales tax report, investment report, and procurement report.
- Motion to approve the consent calendar passed 7-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kyle Sullivan: Expressed strong support for the middle housing amendments, including adoption of SB 5184 parking requirements now; also raised concerns about anti-LGBTQ+ events in Seattle and urged local action.
- David Haynes: Discussed transit connectivity gaps, need for robust housing development, and criticized restrictions on building height and density.
- Niel Lebeck: Urged adoption of the middle housing ordinance, praising the city's leadership on affordable housing and parking reduction.
- Liz Hunt: Raised concerns about accessory dwelling unit density counting, parking studies, and readiness of the inclusionary zoning fee; requested further review.
- Bonnie McLeod: Called for correction of historical inaccuracies in a city document about a mammoth tusk discovery.
- Loita Hawkinson: Requested removal or correction of the historical document, and criticized the city's reliance on Wikipedia for historical accuracy.
- Sarah Jokar Deris: Expressed concerns about the permanent supportive housing project at La Quinta, citing safety and accountability issues, and urged more careful site selection.
- Susan Davis: Criticized transportation planning for expecting reduced driving without adequate transit; questioned impact of increased density on parking.
- Luke Travis: Supported the middle housing amendments, inclusionary zoning fee, and closing the McMansion loophole.
- Joe Kunzler: Urged review of public comment rules and addressed anti-Semitism concerns at previous meetings.
- Eugene Chudin: Argued that transit must be time-competitive to be used; provided comparisons of driving vs. transit times to various destinations.
- Liam Myers: Voiced support for the middle housing ordinance and reduced parking minimums; stated reliance on transit and opposition to forced parking.
Discussion Items
- Transit Needs Study (Study Session): Public Works staff presented proposed study outcomes—community engagement, needs assessment, and solutions toolbox. Council emphasized addressing transit deserts, connecting to BRT, understanding senior and youth needs, and developing a long-term advocacy strategy with Metro. Council suggested pursuing Kirkland-funded circulators and coalition-building with neighboring cities. No action was taken.
- Central Way Bike Path and Peter Kirk Park Joint Proposal (Study Session): Staff presented three alternatives for a bike path, including impacts on parking, trees, and park fence. Council discussed cost ($1.79M–$4.22M), connectivity to existing projects, and grant opportunities. Council feedback leaned toward alternatives that preserve parking and provide raised bike lanes, with interest in pursuing grants. No action was taken.
- Transportation Impact Fee Adoption (Business Item): Financial Planning Manager Kevin Pelstring presented Ordinance O-4904, which adopts a phased fee schedule for transportation impact fees. The ordinance was approved 7-0.
- Washington State Housing Code/Middle Housing Code Compliance Zoning Amendments (Business Item): Staff and Planning Commission Chair Rodney Rutherford presented Ordinance O-4905 covering state-mandated density, parking, and inclusionary zoning changes. Council engaged in extensive discussion on parking requirements (SB 5184) and affordable housing (inclusionary zoning) options. No action was taken; the ordinance will return for final adoption on June 17.
- Interview Selection Committee Recommendations – Cultural Arts Commission Youth Vacancy: Council voted 7-0 to interview all three candidates.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the consent calendar (7-0).
- Adopted Ordinance O-4904 establishing transportation impact fees (7-0).
- Approved interviewing all three candidates for the Cultural Arts Commission youth vacancy (7-0).
- Awarded an Outstanding Service Award (Council Coin) to former Executive Assistant Amy Bolen (7-0).
- Directed staff to bring a resolution in support of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse community members to the June 17, 2025 council meeting (7-0).
- Postponed the executive session on potential litigation to a later date.
- City Manager reported a Kraken update will be presented at the June 17, 2025 meeting.
- Adjourned at 11:23 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, hello everyone. I'd like to call to order the city council meeting of June 3rd, 2025. City Clerk, will you please call the role? Councilmember Tim Chizon. Here. Councilmember Black. Here. Councilmember Sweet. Here. Councilmember Falcone. Here. Councilmember Pascal. Here. Deputy Mayor Arnold. Here. Mayor Curtis. Here. I've spilt my coffee already. We're off to a great start. Our study session tonight is on two items. First, a discussion on the transit needs study. Second, we will have a presentation on the joint project proposal for a central way bike path adjacent to Peterkirk Park. We expect to reconvene our regular meeting at 7 30. City Manager. Okay, thank you. Madam Mayor, Deputy Mayor, members of the council. So excited to talk to you today about the transit needs study. The presentation is going to be made by Kimberly Scrivener, our transportation planner and Victoria Covacks, also transportation planner, and Sarah Olsen, our deputy public works director. We want to lay out the background as to how we got here and what we're looking for is council's feedback on the proposed elements of the study and any other thoughts you want to share with us before we get going on it. So with that, I will turn it over to Kimberly. Thank you. Is your mic on? Thank you, City Manager. Mayor Curtis, Council. Good evening. I know I'm trying to find the mouse. I need to share the great. Good evening. So tonight we're talking about the transit needs study. The no surprise to everybody, this is a study that's identified in the transportation strategic plan. This project meets a variety of the goals, both the balanced transportation with city council and the goals in the transportation strategic plan and the comprehensive plan. And this restructure was designed to have more direct routes, but required more transfers. We've also seen due to the pandemic loss in service hours, also loss in ridership and change in ridership trends. We've also heard from the community that with a desire for more transit service. And we really want to better understand the what people where people want to get to and what the gaps are and what's keeping them from taking transit now. We wanted to give you a little bit of a reminder of what we heard from the transportation strategic plan. We did ask questions about transit service. It looks like almost 85% of them are at least somewhat interested in taking transit. So at least for the folks that took that survey, that's encouraging. And then this next chart can came from the work that King County Metro has done and from their survey related to the Rapid Ride K line, but they also asked general questions about transit and fewer transfers and again frequency came in pretty high, really high in terms of what they heard from the community.
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