Meeting Notes - January 25, 2016

​Don Winters called the meeting to order. We had a great turnout of about 50 members. 
Dave Tomson of SRM Development was our first guest. Google has moved into their new building on 7th Ave. S. There will be a ribbon cutting on Feb 16 at 11AM with City and Google officials as well as Governor Inslee. Moss Bay residents are invited. The City will be installing two traffic signals on 6th St. S. this summer -- one at Kirkland Way and another at 9th Ave. S. The new lighted "Google" sign on the building facing 7th Ave. S. will be turned off daily at 9PM to avoid annoying neighbors. SRM has purchased Moss Bay Storage on 5th Place S. No immediate plans.
 
Ed Segat of Continental Properties told us about their new mixed use project on the "Antique Mall" site at 114 Main St. There will be 4 stories with 128 residential apartments over one floor, approx. 13,000 sq ft, of retail. There will be 20 studio apartments, 35 1 bedroom, 57 1 bedroom/Den units, and 16 2 bedroom apartments. The units will average 785 sq ft. There will be 212 underground parking stalls and 46 pay retail stalls which will be available to the public. The project is slated to be completed by the end of 2017.
 
Jenna Higgins, Kirkland's Recycling Program Coordinator, briefed us on the new plastic bag ban, which goes into effect March 1. Stores will not be providing plastic bags and there will be a 5 cent charge allowed for paper. More info here.
 
Glenn Peterson mentioned that Summerfest, which will take place Aug 12 and 13, is in need of volunteers for a steering committee.
 
Kari Page explained the Neighborhood Safety Program and how the two projects we voted for are now candidates to be funded by the City. The City Council will make the decision on April 19 and the projects should be implemented by June 2017. Our number one project is stairs to the Cross Kirkland Corridor near the corner of 2nd Ave. and 10th St. We discussed the option of moving the location to nearby Kirkland Way where it might be more visible and used by more people. Our second project is improved sidewalk and a crosswalk at the west end of Kirkland Ave. This would provide a more pedestrian friendly entry to Marina Park. Kari mentioned that stairs from the CKC to 68th St. in Houghton are under construction.
 
Don Winters reviewed a number of development projects that are planned or underway. The 27 unit "401 State" project is under construction and 5 units have been sold. The 76 unit Capri Kirkland, on the old White Swan site on Central Way, is completed and apartments and retail spaces are leasing. The 290 unit "apodment" development, Areté (Crab Cracker site), also on Central, is nearing completion and some tenants have moved in. A 20 unit development, "The Walk", on 7th Ave. S. is under construction. A new project, "State Street Lofts", is in the planning stage. The project will be 4 stand-alone residential "cluster homes" on the northeast corner of State St. and NE 68th St.
 
KAN report -- The Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods provided input via their spillover parking efforts that resulted in the City Council approving a new ordinance that makes it a violation to park in front of a mailbox from 8AM until 5PM.
 
Our next meeting will be March 21, 2016.