Highlands meeting summary (Zoning, Housing)
Karen Story
Here is the presentation given by city staff at last week's
Highlands meeting:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13k9gknTac6RKjk5kNQxIMBG_s-rCFMN5/view?usp=sharing
Contact Allison Zike with questions at AZ...@kirklandwa.gov.
Highlands Zoning takeaways:
- No Highlands zoning changes are being proposed in the NE 85th
St. Station Area Plan, but parts of the south Highlands are
already zoned for medium-density residential.
- Single family lots are allowed up to two ADUs, as long as the
total lot coverage does not exceed that of a single family home.
- The city requires developers to develop to at least 80% of the zoned density (rather than, for example, building one large home on a lot zoned for two or three units.
Missing Middle Housing is a range of multi-unit or
clustered housing types, compatible in scale with detached
single-family homes, that help meet the growing demand for more
affordable housing. These can include duplex, triplex, ADU, or
cottage homes.
Housing Strategy Plan
Kirkland's Housing Strategy Plan recommends a variety of ways to
make housing more affordable, expand housing choices, make it
easier for people to age in place, and more. Stakeholders from
throughout the community were on the Housing Strategy Advisory
Group. The plan was published in 2018: https://www.kirklandwa.gov/files/sharedassets/public/planning-amp-building/planning-and-building-images/hcc-files-and-images/housing-strategy-plan.pdf
Form-based Codes
"A form-based code is a land development regulation that fosters predictable built results and a high-quality public realm by using physical form (rather than separation of uses) as the organizing principle for the code. A form-based code is a regulation, not a mere guideline, adopted into city, town, or county law. A form-based code offers a powerful alternative to conventional zoning regulation."
Learn more at:
https://formbasedcodes.org/definition/
Park Board: The Park Board is citizen volunteers who apply for a 4-year position advising city staff about Kirkland parks. Member Mike Holland is the board liaison with our neighborhood. We can reach him at mhol...@kirklandwa.gov.