Liveable Kirkland Newsletter 04/19/26

ToDo’s Bike Garage, in partnership with Foster Love and Beacon Hill Bike Garage, is coming together to build and donate 20 brand-new bikes to foster youth. There are local bike builders ready to donate their labor, but they need your help to raise funds for the parts!

All donations will be matched, so every $125 on the GoFundMe will result in a foster youth receiving a new bike, helmet, and lock.

“When I was 5 years old, I moved to a new city and didn’t know anyone. Riding around the neighborhood, I found my friends, people who are still like family to me today. That bike gave me freedom, confidence, and a way to belong. Now, we want to give that same gift to foster youth in our community.” - Chuck

You can donate to the project here!

ToDos Bike Garage is open most Sundays - see the Events section below for details, and say hello!

Possible Property Acquisition in Kingsgate

During Tuesday’s study session, the City Council will discuss the opportunity to purchase the church at 13220 NE 132nd Street. The property is listed for sale at $7.3 million and could be used for indoor recreation programs, preschool, or even potentially a gym, pool, or on some parts of the property, affordable housing.

The seller will be reviewing offers on April 30th, 2026, requiring the council to make a quick decision on whether to prioritize funding for this potential purchase. The property could be purchased if other city projects are delayed, such as:

The purchase could also be funded via bond issuance, interfund loans, or from the city’s general capital contingency fund, but these options would still affect other city priorities. The City would have to consider how it would balance using this new space while also working to start up the new community center at the future Kraken Iceplex in South Rose Hill.

Adoption of 85th St Code Amendments

The City Council will consider adopting zoning code amendments affecting the 85th St Station Area, as previously discussed and recommended by the Planning Commission.

The code amendments would prohibit townhomes in the Station Area (except for one project already in progress) so that buildings with more housing units (apartments/condos) are built instead. It would also allow developers to request changes to height limits and allowed uses when seeking a Development Agreement with the city, and clarify that all properties within the station area are eligible to do so. Finally, the “pioneer provision” allowing more flexible affordable housing requirements for early projects will be extended, due to low building activity.

These code amendments represent the completion of zoning work currently planned for the 85th St Station Area. However, in its recommendation on these amendments, the Planning Commission unanimously supported exploring more zoning updates in the near term to incentivize development. The City Council would need to provide direction for a new work item on the Planning Work Program to do this. Regardless, the City’s Economic Development Manager will continue doing outreach to support redevelopment in the Station Area.

Adoption of the Planning Work Program

The City Council will review the 2026-2028 Planning Work Program as recommended by the Planning Commission.

Staff has highlighted the Middle Housing Focused Optimization project that the Planning Commission added for this year, and will seek Council’s feedback on the language and scope of the project.

Following feedback from the City Council about the Neighborhood Plan Amendment process, staff updated the work program to reflect proposals being accepted in 2028, rather than 2026. Staff has not suggested any other modifications to the Planning Commission’s recommended plan.

Members of the City Council are able to propose amendments to the work program during the meeting, and those amendments could take many forms. There are currently no publicly known proposals, as none were discussed in the meeting packet.

Update to Council Policies and Procedures

The City Council will discuss changes to various policies, mostly about Boards and Commissions.

However, there is also a new “rules of decorum” section being added to the chapter about public comment at city meetings. It lists actions that would constitute disrupting the meeting. People who disrupt a city council meeting can be ejected by the Presiding Officer (the Mayor), and the Presiding Officer can also choose to exclude such persons from future meetings for 180 days. Other members of the City Council can override this decision, and excluded persons can still send in written comments to the city. Other cities, such as Bellevue and Redmond, have very similar policies.

The City Council will decide between two options for how Interview Selection Committee members will be rotated on a 7 year cycle. ISC members review applications to join boards and commissions and recommend a slate to be interviewed by the rest of the City Council. Option A would ensure that each council position serves on the ISC with each other position at some point, but would require some positions to serve on the ISC for 2 years in a row. Option B would prevent consecutive ISC service, but would cause some repeated pairings of committee members, leading to a less balanced rotation. Option A would see Mayor Curtis, Councilmember Tymczyszyn and Councilmember Falcone serve in 2027. Option B would see Mayor Curtis, Councilmember Tymczyszyn and Councilmember Pascal serve in 2027.

Other changes include clarifying the eligibility requirements for boards and commissions, allowing Salary Commission members to also serve on up to one other body, and other clarifications about the ISC process.

After receiving input from the City Council, Staff will create the final wording for these updates, and they will be adopted during the Consent Agenda during the May 5th meeting.

Federal Immigration Response Resolution

The City Council will consider adopting Resolution R-5729, which enumerates actions that the City will take in order to be prepared for the possibility of federal civil immigration enforcement actions (from ICE or similar) in Kirkland.

A draft was considered at the previous City Council meeting, and the edits requested by the City Council have been added. This includes adding a review of data storage policies for security cameras, and adding an evaluation of strategies to support free and fair elections (such as ensuring access to ballot drop boxes). Many other minor changes to the language and formatting of the resolution have been incorporated from City Staff and community organizations.

Downtown Valet LRM

At the March 17th City Council meeting, Councilmember Tymczyszyn introduced a Legislative Request Memo (LRM) to figure out what it would take for the city to allow a downtown car valet program similar to the Bike Valet program originally started by Liveable Kirkland members. Recently, a business created an unauthorized valet service, blocking off a few parking spaces that are supposed to be publicly accessible. The city could move forward with the idea, either requiring the businesses to fund the service themselves or by providing a subsidy. A preliminary assessment from one valet provider indicated city subsidies may be required due to Downtown Kirkland’s size and the location of available parking. Parking spots in the Wester lot by city hall would likely be utilized if the service goes forward in some form.

Tool Library RFP Schedule Change

At the May 5th City Council meeting, staff will present a draft Request For Proposals for seeking organizations interested in operating a Tool Library in Kirkland. This was previously scheduled for the April 21 meeting.

85th St Economic Development

Last year, the City of Kirkland hired its first Economic Development Manager, Jen Davis Hayes. A key part of her role is to help spur development activity in the 85th St Station Area. This has included attending regional events, hosting roundtable discussions, and doing one-on-one outreach.

The Economic Development Manager will be briefing the Planning Commission on her work so far, as was suggested at a previous Planning Commission meeting. The meeting packet includes a summary of several previous and on-going initiatives, such as developing marketing materials, seeking collaborations with the University of Washington’s Real Estate program, and a roundtable meeting with local grocery chain operators (the City Council is interested in encouraging more neighborhood-serving grocery stores).

The City of Kirkland is looking for community members to serve on several boards and commissions! This is an excellent opportunity to use your experience and perspective to help shape city policies and programs. While some professionals do serve on these groups, many are interested community members without a formal background in the subject.

Applications must be submitted by April 29th. If you have any questions about what it’s like to serve on a board or commission, consider asking a current member, ask on our Discord, or at a Meetup!

Click for details about each commission and how to apply

Join Liveable Kirkland in a conversation about our city’s present and future! We have an active community on Discord and Facebook and we’d love it if you joined in too : )

(And if you add a picture you took to #photos on Discord it might get featured in next week’s issue!)