Kirkland Planning Commission Meeting: Comprehensive Plan Update and Wireless Code Amendments - May 11, 2023
Kirkland Planning Commission Meeting: Comprehensive Plan Update and Wireless Code Amendments - May 11, 2023
On May 11, 2023, the Kirkland Planning Commission held a meeting from 7:01 PM to 9:58 PM, including a study session on the Comprehensive Plan Update (K2044) and a public hearing on Wireless Code Amendments (KZC Chapter 117 and KMC Title 26). The study session focused on the vision statement, sustainability/climate/environment (SCE) element, parks element, and community engagement. The public hearing addressed revisions to wireless facility regulations, including macro and small wireless facilities. Commissioner Sandeep Singhal left at 9:06 PM before the final vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kim Allen (Verizon Wireless) requested the public hearing remain open to allow time to review the revised draft provided only one hour before the meeting. She cited height limits (40 feet) as unworkable due to Kirkland's tree canopy and requested up to 60 feet for macro towers, and expressed concerns about roof-mounted antenna standards and equipment shelter height limits (5 feet).
- Greg Bush (Bush Law Firm, outside counsel for AT&T) joined the request to keep the public hearing open, noting he had just received the revised draft and needed time to identify potential conflicts with federal law. He argued against encouraging or discouraging any specific concealment technology (e.g., artificial trees), advocating for site-specific flexibility.
Discussion Items
Study Session: K2044 Comprehensive Plan Update
- Vision Statement Update: Planner Kaylee Duffy presented a revised vision statement based on a community visioning process (December 2022 – January 2023) involving a survey and a virtual event with ~50 participants. The draft emphasizes Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), accessibility, housing, growth, and sustainability. Commissioners provided feedback: suggested shortening the statement, removing jargon (e.g., “interpersonal racism”), avoiding redundancy, clarifying that “never have to leave” could be misinterpreted, and adding language about job creation and economic resilience. Commissioner Rutherford noted the survey skewed heavily toward older, white, female homeowners.
- Sustainability, Climate, and Environment (SCE) Element: Senior Planner David Barnes presented survey findings: 75% of respondents are concerned about climate change; natural gas accounts for 21% of Kirkland’s carbon emissions. Currently, 26,000 households use natural gas, with projections of 15,000 more units in 20 years. Staff asked for direction on prohibiting or limiting new natural gas hookups. Commissioners expressed caution: concerns about electrical grid capacity, cost implications for affordable housing, legal precedents (e.g., Berkeley ban struck down), and lack of expertise. No clear direction was given; staff noted the question will be revisited.
- Parks Element: Senior Planner Lindsay Levine reviewed themes from outreach: accessibility, equitable distribution, tree canopy preservation, and climate resilience.
- Community Engagement: Staff highlighted efforts to reach underrepresented groups, including focus groups (stipends provided), outreach to senior and youth councils, and tabling at events. Commissioner Singhal suggested showing survey data by demographic groups and increasing outreach to renters.
- Next Steps: Elements will be updated through summer 2024, with a public hearing and recommendation to City Council by fall 2024.
Public Hearing: Wireless Code Amendments
- Senior Planner Lindsay Levine and outside counsel Emily Romanenko (Ogden Murphy Wallace) presented amendments to bring the code into compliance with FCC regulations. Key changes: streamlined permit procedures, updated definitions, removal of minor modifications, new design standards, and expanded concealment options. Staff recommended not encouraging artificial trees as concealment due to unnatural aesthetics and microplastics. Commissioner questions focused on permit timelines (12-month initial period with four 12-month extensions), height limits (40 feet for residential zones, with possible exceptions under the Telecom Act), and the transfer of approval authority from City Council to the City Manager for certain license agreements (staff confirmed no substantive power shift). Industry representatives (Verizon, AT&T) requested the public hearing remain open to review the late-revised draft. The public hearing was kept open during deliberation and then closed.
- Motion and Vote: Commissioner John Tymczyszyn moved to send the Wireless Code Amendments to City Council for their June 20 meeting, supporting staff’s recommendation and allowing additional time for industry review. The motion passed 6-0 (Commissioner Singhal absent).
Key Outcomes
- Comprehensive Plan Update: No formal decisions; staff will incorporate commissioner feedback on the vision statement and continue outreach. No direction was given on prohibiting natural gas hookups. Staff will provide future data on survey demographic breakdowns.
- Wireless Code Amendments: Approved recommendation to City Council with a 6-0 vote, including staff’s recommended draft and a commitment to work with industry on remaining issues before the June 20 Council meeting. The public hearing was closed after the vote.
- Administrative Reports: City Council authorized a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program for the Station Area Plan on May 16. The Planning Commission’s Work Program is on the Council’s May 16 consent agenda. Commissioners requested a presentation from the Government Affairs Manager on impacts of HB 1110 (missing middle housing) and HB 1181 (climate change resilience), to be scheduled later.
- Calendar Updates: The May 25 meeting (initially for station area plan affordable housing and officer elections) may become virtual due to commissioner absences; the park lane study session was moved to July 13. Staff will poll commissioners for a possible special meeting in early June to advance the station area plan public hearing.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, thanks. Okay. If we could call roll. Caught you, Alan. Yes. Bria Heiser? Here. Scott Riser. Here. Angela Rosman. Here. Rodney Rutherford. Here. Sandeep Single? Here. John Tim Chishon. Here. All right. So tonight we have a study session, uh, comp plan update and a public hearing on the wireless code amendments. So uh for starters, if we have any items from the audience tonight. Um I can't see online if anyone is. This would be the time. If you would like to um speak, if you could raise your hand. This would be unrelated to the public hearing. This would be general public comment. Seeing none, uh, let's move on to the comp plan update. All right. Thank you, Madam Chair. We have several staff members here to give you a briefing on the comprehensive plan update tonight. We have David Barnes, uh, Lindsay Levine, and Kaylee Duffy here. We're going to go through a few different topics, and each staff member will make it clear what the question is for planning commission tonight on the comp plan update item. So I'm going to hand it over to David. Thank you, Alison. Thank you very much. I'm so glad to be here tonight to provide this briefing and cover some of the other things that we're going to be talking about tonight. Um, I'm going to start out and then we'll transition to Kaylee. Um Duffy is going to talk about the um K twenty forty-four vision statement draft. Um, and then we'll come back to me where I start off with the um sustainability climate and environment um element and park elements, and Lindsay Levine will join me for part of that because she's the parks element lead and senior planner. Then I'll continue on with uh community engagement and we'll get into some of the um key discussion questions and finish up with next steps. So um just kind of a refresher for the larger comprehensive planning um update process, some of the key themes that you're gonna be seeing throughout this process are listed here. Um some of the questions that are going to be coming up during the process is how can we advance the city's diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging initiatives? Um how can we plan for housing options for all stages of life, more affordable housing and prevent homelessness, um, the other things such as how can we improve how we walk, bike, bus, and drive around Kirkland, and what more should Kirkland do to prepare for and adapt to climate change to be more sustainable? And other themes will obviously emerge from the community engagement process. So just some of the things that we have to do during the um the update process, um, you know, the state and regional concepts are that the comprehensive plan seeks to reflect the needs and desires of people who currently or would like to live, work, play, learn in Kirkland, and we know that growth is coming. This means there's gonna be more neighbors, more jobs, housing, transportation choices options, and the K 2044 comprehensive plan update process will help us guide guide us through the growth and over the next 20 years. And we will look and when we look at these 20-year projections on growth, we see additional opportunities to help guide it to be more sustainable and create strong and relevant policies across all of the elements. And the Growth Management Act and the regional plans listed here provide requirements which help us do this as part of the update process. Sorry, something's freezing here. Okay. Um, and just a reminder too um, these are the different topic areas that you're gonna be seeing over um, you know, the the process.
openpublica.com