Kirkland Planning Commission Study Session: Legislative Review and Critical Areas Ordinance Update – July 24, 2025

The Kirkland Planning Commission met on Thursday, July 24, 2025, from 6:02 PM to 7:59 PM in the Council Chamber. Chair Rodney Rutherford presided, with Vice Chair Angela Rozmyn and Commissioners Aaron Jacobson, Gina Madeya, Julia Nolan, and Scott Reusser present; no members were absent. The meeting consisted of two study sessions — the State Legislative Session Review and the second Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) Update study session (File No. CAM25-00248) — plus one public comment. No public hearings were held, no minutes were approved, and no formal votes were taken.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Kate Conant, a Kirkland resident, spoke in support of stream buffers as part of the Critical Areas Ordinance update. She stated she has volunteered with the Sno-King Watershed Council for two years, taking monthly water quality readings at two sites on Juanita Creek, and also does salmon watcher work. She said stream buffers are a critical element in preserving streams and water quality, helping absorb water and release it gradually to buffer both the flashy flows of extreme winter storms and drying stream segments. She commended the city's watersheds website and noted the City Council recognized the importance of water quality by proclamation during Pollution Prevention Week in September 2024.

State Legislative Session Review

• Government Affairs Manager Diana Hart reviewed how the Washington State Legislature works. She noted the legislature has 49 districts, each with two representatives and one senator, with each district representing about 157,000 residents after the 2020 census (up from 137,000 after the 2010 census). The legislature meets 105 days in odd-numbered years and 60 days in even-numbered years. She described the bill-to-law process and how self-imposed cutoff deadlines cause most bills to fail.
• Session statistics: in 2023, 1,634 bills were introduced and 473 were enacted (2 fully vetoed and 22 partially vetoed); in 2024, 2,826 bills were eligible for consideration and 379 were enacted; in 2025, 1,905 bills were introduced and 423 passed (1 fully vetoed and 9 partially vetoed).
• Hart explained Kirkland's legislative engagement, noting the city is represented by the 1st, 45th, and 48th Legislative Districts and has leaders and former Kirkland elected officials in its delegation. The City Council approves the annual legislative agenda, and a three-member Legislative Work Group (Mayor Curtis and Councilmembers Sweet and Black in the last session) meets weekly during session, supported by more than 1,000 staff bill reviews per session. The 2025 agenda priorities included housing funding and tools (including increased real estate excise tax (REET) 1 and 2 flexibility for affordable housing), the behavioral health treatment crisis, transportation funding and revenue sharing, the noise enforcement pilot, NPDES-compliant transportation projects, and producer responsibility for glass and paper packaging. Both capital requests were funded: just over $500,000 for the Kamiakin Middle School gym expansion and Peter Kirk pool improvements.
• Senior Planner Lindsay Levine reviewed planning-related bills from the 2023–2025 sessions that require significant staff time or where implementation has not started:
  • HB 1217 (Tenant Protections): limits rent increases and adds notice requirements; effective May 2025; no code amendments needed, with public education to be coordinated through the homelessness action plan.
  • HB 1293 (Streamlining Development Regulations): requires clear and objective design review standards and no more than one public meeting; the city has hired a consultant and is behind on implementation.
  • The property tax exemption bill for new and rehabilitated multi-unit dwellings in urban centers (MFTE): amends reporting, household qualifications, and definitions. The minutes list this bill as HB 1949, while the transcript identifies it as HB 1494.
  • HB 1998 (Co-Living Housing): requires cities to allow co-living housing on lots that could accommodate six or more multifamily units; implementation deadline is the end of 2025, with a public hearing scheduled for the August 28, 2025 Planning Commission meeting.
  • SB 5184 (Minimum Parking Requirements): prohibits minimum parking requirements for uses such as affordable housing, senior housing, child care, residences under 1,200 square feet, and commercial spaces under 3,000 square feet, with exceptions such as ADA parking spaces; implementation deadline is early 2027 and will require significant staff time.
  • HB 1096 (Lot Splitting): requires an administrative review process for lot splits and prohibits pre-decision public hearings; implementation deadline is July 2027.
  • SB 5509 (Child Care Centers): requires cities to allow child care centers as a permitted use in all zones except industrial, light industrial, and open space; deadline July 2027; could be included in the miscellaneous code amendments package.
  • HB 1491 (Transit-Oriented Development): establishes density, affordability, parking, and SEPA requirements within 0.25 miles of rail or bus rapid transit stations, including the NE 85th Street and Totem Lake station areas and future King County Metro K-line stations; deadline 2029, with a SEPA exemption piece already in progress.
  • HB 1183 (Building Code Development Regulation Reform): prohibits off-street parking as a condition for permitting affordable housing and restricts unit size requirements for low- and very low-income households. Commissioner Reusser read the thresholds: 400 square feet for studios, 550 for one-bedrooms, 750 for two-bedrooms, and 1,000 for three-bedrooms; if the project's average unit size is smaller, affordable units may be comparable in size to market-rate units. The deadline is 2030.
• In discussion, Commissioner Jacobson asked whether HB 1217 public education would draw on the long-range planning team, and suggested folding HB 1096 into the middle housing optimization project, which staff said could be directed through the next planning work program update. He also asked about future stations under HB 1491; staff indicated the bill applies to stations designated in transportation plans, not only operating stations, and noted Kirkland's advocacy helped secure an equivalent-density pathway. Commissioner Madeya asked about HB 1293 design review complexity, likely HB 1491 zoning changes (floor area ratio, parking, and affordability requirements), SB 5184 parking spillover effects, and a timeline for MFTE finance analysis; staff said they would circle back on the finance timeline and that SB 5184 parking mitigation would require collaboration with the transportation division.

Critical Areas Ordinance Update – Study Session #2 (CAM25-00248)

• Deputy Planning and Building Director Allizon Zike said staff were not seeking specific decisions but wanted commission direction on options as they begin drafting code amendments, with at least one more study session expected before a public hearing. Environmental Program Coordinator Anna Heckman and Senior Planner Jennifer Anderer presented data and options.
• Critical area coverage: about 65% of the city is covered by critical areas, with a similar share of parcels having one or more critical areas on them; high and medium landslide areas combined cover 88% of parcels. Fewer than 2,000 of more than 25,000 parcels (about 7%) are on streams with buffers.
• Permit data (2022–2024): about 26 Chapter 90 determinations per year (a subset are full project reviews), fewer than 2 significant-impact permits per year, and about 44 Chapter 85 significant permits requiring peer review per year; the city processed about 300 new residential permits per year. Chapter 90 costs include peer review for determination, project review, and monitoring; monitoring costs vary with mitigation size and are paid annually for 3–10 years (most commonly 5). Chapter 85 reviews average about $4,000.
• Example permit timelines for three single-family permits by the same applicant: about 5 months with no critical areas, about 4 months with a geohazard review (running concurrently with other reviews), and about 14 months when a Chapter 90 determination and permit are both required.
• Chapter 85 (geohazards) – staff sought guidance on four potential updates: (1) adding a minimum slope-height threshold to the moderate landslide definition (currently any 15–40% grade, regardless of height), to reduce review triggers for low-risk features; (2) peer review exemptions for smaller projects such as fences, deck additions, and retaining walls (of 85 geotech peer reviews in the period, 3 in moderate landslide areas and 25 in high landslide areas involved such smaller projects); (3) structural setback adjustments or peer review exemptions where a safe structural setback can be achieved, while still requiring a geotech report; and (4) clarifying vegetation and tree removal rules for Chapter 85 and considering supplemental planting requirements. Natural Greenbelt Protection Easement language was noted as an FYI.
• Public feedback on Chapter 85: the state supports the potential updates and believes Kirkland is doing a good job; staff, homeowners, and developers aligned on creating thresholds for smaller projects and simplifying while maintaining slope protection and public safety.
• Commissioner input: Commissioner Nolan asked whether danger tree removal would remain allowed in landslide areas; staff confirmed that safety-first tree removal is already handled through Chapter 90 and would remain the intent. Commissioner Reusser expressed concern that a small slope feature could trigger disproportionate expense. Commissioner Madeya asked about GIS map accuracy; staff said geohazard maps derive from 2017 LIDAR-based mapping that requires case-by-case verification, while stream and wetland maps are updated continually through determinations and surveys.
• Chapter 90 (stream buffers) – staff summarized the state requirement to prevent net loss of critical area functions and apply best available science. Kirkland has about 80 miles of streams. Surface water quality monitoring shows many low- and moderate-concern streams and few high-concern streams, but the state Department of Ecology's 303(d) list includes many Kirkland waters that do not meet water quality standards. Habitat mapping (built from about four years of volunteer data) shows strong values in areas like Forbes Creek and O.O. Denny and poor conditions in more developed sections such as parts of Juanita Creek.
• Best available science: the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recommends a 100-foot buffer for water quality and site-potential tree height for riparian habitat. Site potential tree height in Kirkland would average about 150 feet (ranging from 96 to 236 feet by soil type). Current buffers are 100 feet for fish (F) streams plus a 10-foot structural setback and 66 feet for non-fish (N) streams, with buffer averaging and a 25% reduction mechanism.
• Buffer increase impact analysis: average tree canopy cover is 70% in the 0–50-foot band, 56% at 50–100 feet, and 46% at 100–150 feet. Only 22 undeveloped parcels exist within 50 feet of streams, 18 more at 100 feet, and 6 more at 150 feet. About 2,000 developed parcels are on N and F regulated streams; increasing N buffers to 100 feet would newly significantly impact about 300 parcels (significant impact defined as 40% or more of the property encumbered), and increasing F buffers from 133 to 150 feet would significantly impact about 100 more.
• Options presented: (1) no change to current buffers, which staff said would be hard to defend to the state; (2) keep current development buffers but add a 100- or 150-foot riparian management zone (RMZ) applying low-impact development and pollution reduction measures without restricting development capacity (staff said the state was 'a little bit nervous' about this approach); and (3) increase N-stream buffers to 100 feet and F-stream buffers to 150 feet while retaining a 25% reduction. Staff noted their initial recommendation was in the RMZ-related range and that Kirkland is ahead of many neighboring jurisdictions that have not yet submitted buffer proposals.
• Commission direction: Vice Chair Rozmyn said it was difficult to see a viable path outside of Option 3 for meeting state requirements and improving clarity. Commissioner Madeya agreed Option 3 appeared to achieve streamlining, cost reduction, clarity, and environmental goals. Commissioner Nolan, after staff clarified the RMZ concept, supported continuing to explore both Option 3 and the RMZ approach, emphasizing that in a fully urban environment the goal is repairing what has been disturbed rather than only preserving undisturbed areas. Staff will take this direction to City Council meetings the following week. Staff noted the code already allows existing legally non-conforming structures in buffers to be repaired, maintained, and in some cases expanded (e.g., on the non-stream side or via second-story additions), and those allowances are not proposed to be removed.

Administrative Reports & Commission Discussion

• Allizon Zike reviewed upcoming agenda items and announced that the August 14, 2025 Planning Commission meeting is canceled. The co-living housing (HB 1998) public hearing and the miscellaneous code amendments public hearing will be combined onto the August 28, 2025 agenda.

Key Outcomes

• No formal motions, votes, or public hearings were held; the meeting was a study session.
• The Commission directed staff to continue developing Chapter 85 updates (landslide definitions, peer review exemptions, structural setbacks, vegetation requirements), with scrutiny on what triggers review and cost.
• For Chapter 90, the Commission signaled preference for increasing N-stream buffers to 100 feet and F-stream buffers to 150 feet with a 25% reduction, while remaining open to the riparian management zone alternative; staff will brief City Council the week of July 28, 2025.
• Staff will return for at least one more CAO study session, including vegetation requirements, before a public hearing on the update.
• Future planning work program updates are expected to schedule implementation of HB 1096 (lot splitting), SB 5184 (parking), HB 1491 (transit-oriented development), and HB 1183 (building code reform), with deadlines between 2027 and 2030.
• No meeting is scheduled for August 14, 2025; the August 28, 2025 meeting will include public hearings on co-living housing amendments and miscellaneous code amendments.