Meeting Notes - May 24, 2004

Kirkland Maintenance Center
Glenn Peterson called the meeting to order. Glenn has agreed to lead our meetings while we search for a new Chairperson. Glenn updated the crowd, which included many new faces, on the association activities and our ties to the Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods (KAN). Glenn mentioned that the Moss Bay Neighborhood Association is looking for people to fill several slots. Anyone interested in joining the association should contact us at [email protected]  


Mark Eliasen, of our group, was the first to speak. Mark updated us on the status of the sale of the Pace Chemical property. The sale is still in the works, but is pending resolution of environmental studies on the site. Camwest Development plans to build approximately 60 living units on the 5 acre property.


Don Winters spoke briefly on the rumored sale of the Green Funeral Home property to a developer and possible construction of 20 living units on the approximately 2.5 acre site. The planned fate of the historic Nettleton Home, built by a Seattle PI publisher in 1914, is not known.


Don also mentioned the Magnuson Park sports field issue. Seattle will apparently be scaling back the project to seven lighted fields from a planned eleven. Don mentioned that even seven fields will produce a lot of glare on the shores of Lake Washington.


Brian Fritz of Trammel Crow, was the next to speak to our group about a plan a build on the old Safeway site on Kirkland Ave., across from the Kirkland Performance Center. Brian described the plans which include one floor of retail with three floors of residential, approximately 160 units, above. A generous setback from the road and an open courtyard were appealing aspects of the plan.


Kirkland City Manager Dave Ramsay was our next speaker. Dave spoke on the Downtown Strategic Plan as a vision and the concrete steps that are being taken to make that vision a reality. Dave first introduced Bob Sternoff, Co Chairman of the Lakeshore Plaza Design Committee, who gave us a report on the status of that proposal. The objective of the project is to reverse the fact that Kirkland has "turned its back" on the lake. The plan is to create a plaza on a lid over a parking structure where the present Marina parking lot sits. The second of three community meetings was held in May and two concepts for the project were reviewed -- one "hard" concept with more retail space and one softer version with more open/green space. The hard version seems to be favored at this time. 


Carolyn Hayek spoke on the Central Way narrowing plans. Central Way will be torn up for infrastructure upgrades this summer and four options for reconfiguring the lanes in downtown are being considered. Traffic calming and improved pedestrian flow are the objectives. An open house is planned this summer to show off the options.


Jeremy McMahon spoke about the "Lake and Central" property. The parcel is now a public parking lot, and redevelopment is being considered to improve the pedestrian-oriented retail character of downtown. The Milliken Martin development team is working on developing a proposal that would combine the city parcel with the US Bank land for a development including ground floor retail anchored by an urban grocery, with three floors of residential condos above, and increased parking below.


A spirited Question and Answer session, moderated by Dave Ramsay, finished up our meeting. Many ideas were floated on the various proposals. 
 
The next meeting of the Moss Bay Neighborhood Association is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 20, 7PM, at Heritage Hall on Market Street.