Kirkland Planning Commission Meeting - March 12, 2026: Parking Code Amendments and 2026-2028 Work Program
Kirkland Planning Commission Meeting - March 12, 2026
The Kirkland Planning Commission met on March 12, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting included a public hearing on state-mandated parking code amendments (Senate Bill 5184), a study session on the 2026-2028 Planning Work Program (PWP), approval of minutes, and public comments. The Commission voted unanimously to recommend a specific parking option and to remove a section on affordable housing parking regulations, and deferred final action on the PWP to the March 26 meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Troy Schmeil (owner, Sapphire Homes) spoke at the beginning and end of the meeting. He expressed concern that the city's middle housing code implementation was the minimum required by state law and urged the Commission to optimize code provisions (e.g., setbacks, floor area ratios, lot coverage) to make middle housing viable. He noted that neighboring cities like Bellevue and Redmond have made such adjustments. He also commented on the difficulty of building single-story housing due to land costs and suggested incentivizing desired outcomes.
- Mike Nykrim (Kirkland resident) spoke at the end of the meeting. He referenced historical challenges in Kirkland's housing planning, urged faster action on middle housing, and suggested that the city consult builders to identify barriers. He also mentioned using machine learning for permit review and advocated for better lot coverage allowances and single-day permits.
Discussion Items
- Public Hearing for State-Mandated Parking Code Amendments (SB 5184): Senior Planner Martha Rubardt presented two options for station area parking rates. Option 1 would exempt all station area zones except Urban Flex from parking requirements; Option 2 would exempt all uses except commercial (applying SB 5184 minimums). Staff also recommended a new section requiring affordable housing projects that provide parking to offer stalls on a first-come, first-served basis at a 50% discount (reduced from an earlier two-thirds proposal). The Commission discussed the potential for game-playing, the impact on project feasibility, and the need for flat-rate parking. Vice Chair Jacobson moved to recommend Option 2, seconded by Commissioner Nolan. Commissioner Jacobson then moved to amend the recommendation to remove Section 4 (Special Regulations for Affordable Housing) from the code, seconded by Commissioner Rutherford. Both motions passed 7-0.
- Study Session: 2026-2028 Planning Work Program (PWP) Update: Deputy Planning Director Allison Zike reviewed council input, ongoing projects, new state mandates (e.g., lot splitting, transit-oriented development, shoreline master program update), and potential new tasks. Commissioners discussed priorities, including middle housing optimization, low-density residential zone consolidation, short-term rental policy, and Totem Lake sub-area planning. Commissioner Jacobson expressed skepticism about completing the transit-oriented development (TOD) task in six months and suggested delaying short-term rental work. Commissioner Bouniol supported zone consolidation. Commissioner Nolan emphasized increasing housing supply. The Commission agreed to schedule a revised PWP for the March 26, 2026 meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Parking Code Amendments: The Commission voted 7-0 to recommend Option 2 (SB 5184 minimums for commercial uses in station area) and to remove the special regulations for affordable housing parking (Section 4). The recommendation will go to City Council.
- Planning Work Program: The Commission deferred final action; the revised PWP will be discussed at the March 26, 2026 meeting.
- Approval of Minutes: The January 22, 2026 meeting minutes were approved 7-0.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for March 26, 2026, with a public hearing on station area code adjustments and continued PWP discussion.
Meeting Transcript
Call roll, please. Margaret Bunya is here. Aaron Jacobson. Here. Gina Medea. Here. Julia Nolan. Here. But Roiser. Here. Angela Rosman. Here, Ronnie Rutherford. Here. So for starters, we have public comment, but this is if you are here not to speak on the public hearing. If you are here to speak on the public hearing, that will be in just a minute. Public hearing? Public comment. Then feel free to come up. Okay, then yes, feel free to come on up. It's on. Okay. Just state your name. Yes, my name is Troy Schmeel. I'm the owner of Sapphire Homes, a local building company. I'm here to talk to you about the City of Kirkland planning work plan priorities and middle housing optimization. We, meaning all the builders, were shown the middle housing code for implementation, implementing HB 1110 January 8th, 2025 at the Master Builder City of Kirkland quarterly meeting. Myself and many other builders were concerned about how you were doing what we felt was the minimum to meet state law, but not doing anything additional regarding setbacks, floor area ratios, and lot coverages that we feel allows it to be done well. At the January 8th, 2025 meeting, and since we were told by staff that phase two of middle housing would be completed in 2026, and these items would be addressed at that time. Those of us that were there that were doing middle housing or want to do middle housing, we're not happy but went along with it because we thought it was gonna be fixed this year. Uh we made it clear that at time we'd um they would continue to lose land to large one-for-one builders. I have nothing against that, but they do not add the housing stock, they do not solve our housing problem. Um I personally won't do that. Um that we wouldn't be able to optimize the land that we are building on now. So uh now I'm hearing that the city may backtrack on that commitment and it would move to possibly 2028, which means it would really be 2029 before we could start using it. That is an over three-year delay that the city of Kirkland is meeting the law, but not really in my opinion, meeting the intent of the law, what 1110 was meant for. Um the current code was set up to control size and scale of single family houses, which I totally understand. You guys wanted to make them so they weren't so huge. Um, those same standards do not work very well when it comes to middle housing, as we need additional floor area ratio lot coverage, and if we can better setbacks. Um all the jurisdictions around you, including Bellevue and Redmond, put into place reduced setbacks and increased limits on far lot coverage and other things that allow middle housing to be effective and competitive as part of their initial implementation. You guys were great. I love the fact you guys did it ahead of everybody else, but then when it came to actually doing this, everybody else realized that the FARS and the lot coverages for single family don't work for middle housing. Um a lot of them are just going back and doing some cleanup. Please do as promised and update at least the critical items in your code to allow middle housing to be implemented as intended and more housing to be built. Thank you. Thank you. And if you could also email us those like general comments, and if you have any more specifics on what you think would be helpful. To your just your guys' general email. Yeah, that would be wonderful. Thank you. Um and then if anyone online would like to speak, this is again not to the public com public hearing.
openpublica.com