Mark
Eliasen called the meeting to order. City Council Members Dave Asher, Doreen
Marchione and Bob Sternoff were in attendance. The meeting was focused on the
possible development of the Pace site on 7th Ave. S. Mark explained how the
issue of this site being developed was the impetus behind the formation of the
Moss Bay Neighborhood Association back in 1997 when another office complex was
being proposed. You can read the minutes of our first meeting here.
Mark detailed how our association fought to limit traffic on 7th Ave. S.,
eventually winning an appeal before the City Council to force the developer to
limit access to the site from the east. The project was never built and the
site has been vacant for years. An environmental cleanup has been ongoing for
several years -- the result a chemical plant that operated previously.
Our
first guest was Eric Shields, Kirkland Planning Director. Eric was nice enough
to be our guest for the second meeting in a row. This time the topic was the
proposed amendments to the Light Industrial Technology (LIT) and Planned Area
6G (PLA 6G). Specifically, SRM Development is applying for changes to the
zoning of these areas because Google is considering expansion onto the Pace
site which is just west of the existing Google campus. The amendments would
(1) remove the two story restriction, but retain the 35' maximum height and
(2) remove the 25' maximum height limit adjoining low density zones where the
adjoining use is institutional (Lakeview Elementary in this case). The result
of these amendments would be increased density of development on the 5 acre
'pace site' parcel. For more information read the memo
prepared for the City Council. Eric answered many questions concerning the
zoning amendments and how they would affect neighboring properties.
Our
next guests were Andy Loos and Dave Tomson of SRM Development. SRM is looking
at the Pace site as a possible expansion option for Google. Google currently
leases their existing campus from SRM. The project would be about 170,000
square feet at current zoning and would have the potential to go to 225,000 if
the zoning amendments are implemented. This would be larger than the existing
Google campus. Parking would be underground with some surface parking. Various
improvements to the neighborhood would be provided, probably including
sidewalks on 7th Ave. S. Andy and Dave had a preliminary drawing of a possible
development which showed how they planned to keep traffic from the project
from using 7th Ave. S. with an angled drive into the project and a curb to
prevent turns to the west.
Don
Winters mentioned that the Kirkland's zoning code regulations for the Pace
site specifies that "All vehicular access shall be from the east. The
site access shall be configured to structurally prevent the use of 7th Ave. S.
or other residential streets?" Don was wondering if the proposal will in
fact keep traffic off 7th and what the residents could do if traffic from the
site was using the street.
There
will be a public hearing on the proposed amendments at the City Council
meeting on Jan 17.
Kelly
Ferron, Kirkland's Recycling Coordinator, gave an overview of recycling in the
city. Kelly told us that recycling of metal and paper is straightforward, but
plastics can be confusing. It's more accurate to recycle by the shape of the
container. Electronics are now recyclable at single family residences in
Kirkland by calling 24 hours in advance for a pickup. For more info, visit the
City's
recycling site.
Our next meeting will be
March 19, 2012 7PM at
Heritage Hall, 203 Market. St.