The Kirkland Planning Commission held a continued public hearing on the 2044 Comprehensive Plan, focusing on the Market Street Corridor Plan and the Land Use Element (File No. CAM22-00032). The meeting began at 6:00 PM and adjourned at 10:41 PM. Commissioners present: Rodney Rutherford (Chair), Bria Heiser (Vice Chair), Katya Allen, Aaron Jacobson, Gina Madeya, Scott Reusser, and Angela Rozmyn. Staff present: Adam Weinstein, Allison Zike, LeAndra Baker-Lewis, Bryan Cole, Katie Kapoor, and Jeannie Dines. The commission heard extensive public testimony and voted to continue the hearing to September 12, 2024.
Over 90 speakers provided testimony. Key positions and themes:
Support for transit corridor density and increased housing:
Opposition or concerns about transit corridor density:
This meeting of the Kirkland Planning Commission is called to order. Please start with a roll call. Cut you, Alan. Present. Ria Heiser. Here. Aaron Jacobson. Here. Gina Medea. Here. Scott Ricer. Here. Angela Rosman. Here. Ronnie Rutherford. Here. All right. The uh next item on our agenda is items from the audience. This is the portion of the meeting where we hear from the public about items that are not scheduled for public hearing tonight. Before I provide instructions for public comment, I would like to clarify when individuals should provide their comments depending on what you are here to speak about. Tonight's agenda includes a continued public hearing to discuss the draft land use element and amendments to the Market Street Corridor Plan. The planning commission previously voted to reopen the record for spoken uh testimony both for both of these items tonight. If you are here to provide comments on those items, please wait until we uh open the hearing uh later in this agenda. Uh if you wish to provide comments on any topic other than the Market Street Corridor plan or the land use element, we will accept those now during the general items from the audience portion of the agenda. Now, in order to hear in from as many people as possible tonight, we are allowing any individual wishing to provide oral comments to speak for a maximum of two minutes rather than the typical three minutes. We ask that you direct your comments to the commission. The timer on the dais will flash a yellow light when you are nearing the end of your time and a red light when your time has elapsed. To be fair to all speakers, we will strictly adhere to the two-minute limit. We've also been informed in advance that some individuals tonight may wish to provide their comments in a language other than English and have arranged a translator to join them. For individuals requiring translation, we will allow two minutes for comments in the language of their choice and two minutes for translation of those comments for a total of four minutes. The commission wants to hear from as many different views and opinions as possible. If you have already heard another speaker state your comment, please consider not repeating the comment and instead providing a comment or perspective that is unique to you. We'll begin items from the audience with a list of people here in person that have signed up to speak. When I call your name, please approach the dais to address us. Remote audience members may indicate that you wish to speak by raising your hand in the Zoom meeting. In making your comments to the commission, we ask that you please direct them to the commission. Uh and this is not a time for give and take with the commission, so don't uh please expect uh a direct response. Obscene, profane, threatening, harassing, or abusive language towards the commission, city staff, or those in the audience is not allowed. As audience members, please refrain from any demonstrative agreement or disagreement with a speaker, such as clapping, cheering, or booing. These actions are not only disruptive, they may also intimidate or have the effect of excluding others in the community who whose views may differ. In the event of an individual or group of individuals for some reason makes the orderly conduct of this meeting unfeasible. I, as chair and presiding officer, will call for a recess so that order can be restored, and so that we don't have to clear the room and uh complete the meeting in another location. Make sure that that's not necessary. I'm confident that we can have a productive and respectful meeting, even as we address issues that may generate strong and opposing viewpoints. With that, we're on to uh comments from the audience. Uh do we have um. Is it Harold? Or if you're the first one to sign in. I'm not sure if it was scratched out. I think the second person on here is maybe also scratched out.