Heritage Hall
Moss Bay Co-Chair Mark Eliasen called the meeting to order.
Our first speaker was Andy Loos, Seattle Development Manager, SRM Development.
SRM has three projects in the works for Kirkland. The first is the former
Sauder Door site, a 7.2 Acre parcel located on 6th St. S. This is in the
Everest neighborhood, but borders directly on Moss Bay. It will be a 185,000 sq ft,
3 building office project with a unique campus setting. The old door factory
has been demolished. Next, Andy briefed us on the Assembly of God Site, on the
southeast corner of State St. and 2nd Ave. S. SRM plans a 2 story office
project of 37,000 sq ft, with 143 parking spaces, or 3.2 per 1000 sq ft of
floor space. During construction, parking will be leased from the Unitarian church across the street.
The third SRM project will be Merrill Gardens Assisted living, a 116 unit 5
story building with 143 total parking spaces. The project will utilize a City
right-of-way and the 20 existing public spaces will be replaced. In addition, 50 extra spaces will be
created for public use (pay parking). Andy mentioned that the parking impact
of this type of development is very low (.5 spaces per unit), making it a good
fit for downtown. Construction will be underway by May or June, 2007.
Next we had a
presentation on Kirkland's possible annexation of the Finn Hill, Upper
Juanita, and Kingsgate neighborhoods, a proposed addition of 33,000 residents.
Marilynne Beard, Assistant City Manager, along with City Manager Dave Ramsay and
several staffers were on hand. Growth Management encourages annexation because
cities are better equipped to provide urban services than counties. The current population of Kirkland is 47,000 and the annexation would raise that to 80,000. Since the area has
little commercial space and tax revenue, there would be a net deficit of $4.8 million per year.
The state of Washington will provide a 10 year subsidy of about $4 million per
year if Kirkland annexes by 2010.
The Kirkland City Council will explore the issue in late 2006. Questions brought up in the meeting will be answered on the
annexation web
site.
Carolyn Hayek of the
Planning Commission and the Downtown Action Team (DAT) spoke next. DAT is requesting funds from the city to update the earlier vision
for downtown. The planning Commission recommends zoning changes, but only the City has the power to enact zoning changes
-- some of which are under consideration now, including the controversial Floor
Area Ratio (FAR) changes.
Don Winters and Mark
Eliasen went over the Moss Bay "hot list" of issues. The on
again, off again move of the former Green Funeral Home chapel was
discussed, with the latest news that the move might go through after all. The
new location would be across 4th Ave. S. on Unitarian Church property. The
Pace Chemical project is in the environmental limbo, but steps are being taken
to finish the cleanup and complete the sale to CamWest Development. Truckloads
of dirt are currently being removed from the site. CamWest proposes a 60 unit
mix of condos and single family homes on the 5 acre property.
Our next meeting will
be Nov. 20, 2006.
A mysterious message
was found after the meeting, written on the back of a meeting agenda left
behind:

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