Kristen Holsworth and Caroline Eckle updated the council on the Rediscover Downtown plan, reporting a revised timeline and a distilled vision and six goals that staff say reflect community advisory input. Holsworth said the adoption schedule was moved from late 2025 to spring 2026 following conversations with the Puget Sound Regional Council and to allow more internal coordination and one final advisory-group meeting.
Staff presented a compact vision statement and six goals: (1) make downtown a memorable place that tells Kent's story; (2) increase housing variety and jobs to support activity throughout the day; (3) embed health, equity and sustainability across projects; (4) foster a vibrant mix of businesses and entrepreneurship; (5) make it simple to get to and around downtown with improved parking certainty and pedestrian connectivity; and (6) coordinate infrastructure investments to anticipate growth. Planners said the goals emphasize more housing, more jobs and more activity and reflect regional growth-center requirements.
Caroline Eckle outlined emerging plan priorities and corridors under study, including improving pedestrian experiences on Central Avenue, an eastwest multimodal connection opportunity along Smith that could link a new roundabout and Uplands Playfield to Town Square Plaza and the Interurban Trail, and stronger connections among ShowWare, Kent Station and the historic downtown. Staff said priorities also include branding, wayfinding and place-making, encouraging temporary activation of underutilized spaces and exploring tools to address vacancies. Council members and downtown stakeholders will be consulted in the months ahead, and staff said they expect to return with more detailed priorities and maps by late November or early 2026 for workshops and public review.