The Kirkland Planning Commission on Thursday received a staff briefing on how the Washington state Legislature works and a run‑down of 2023–2025 bills that will require local implementation by the planning and building department.

The briefing, led by Diana Hart, the city’s government affairs manager, and Lindsey Levine, senior planner in the Planning and Building Department, explained how the city develops a legislative agenda, how staff and a Legislative Work Group coordinate with state legislators, and which enacted bills will require Kirkland code changes or other implementation work.

Hart said the city relies on a small, active delegation relationship in Olympia and a weekly work‑group cadence during session. “Kirkland definitely punches above our weight in engagement and effectiveness for our size in Olympia,” she said, describing the municipal process for tracking thousands of bills each session and escalating city priorities to legislators.

Why it matters: a cluster of enacted bills set new requirements or deadlines that will force code amendments, new public outreach, or multi‑department work. Staff asked commissioners to note likely resource needs and to expect future briefings before formal public hearings.

Key bills and timing
- House Bill 1217 (tenant protections): Sets limits on rent increases and new notice requirements; effective in May. Staff said no code amendment is required but the city will undertake public education for tenants and landlords in connection with the homelessness action plan. (Lindsey Levine)
- House Bill 1293 (design‑review streamlining): Requires jurisdictions to apply clear‑and‑objective exterior design standards and limits design review to a single public meeting. Levine said the city has hired a consultant to recommend code changes and acknowledged staff is “a bit behind” on implementation but will return to commission with a briefing prior to any public hearing.
- Senate Bill 5184 (parking minimums): Establishes limits on minimum parking requirements for residential and certain other uses; implementation likely to require substantial staff time and will be added to a future work program (implementation deadline early 2027).
- House Bill 1491 (promoting transit‑oriented development): Raises density allowances, affordability requirements and limits minimum parking within designated station areas (defined as properties within 0.25 miles of a rail or bus rapid transit stop). Staff said this applies to portions of the NE 85th Street station area and parts of Totem Lake and will require a substantial implementation effort; deadline is 2029.
- House Bill 1096 (lot splitting): Requires an administrative review path for lot splits and forbids pre‑decision public hearings for such splits; implementation deadline July 2027.
- Senate Bill 5509 (child care siting): Requires childcare centers be allowed outright in most zones (except industrial and open space); staff suggested the needed zoning text changes could be included in a future miscellaneous code amendments package (deadline July 2027).
- House Bill 1183 (building‑code and affordable housing): Changes in the state building code preempt some local parking and unit‑size restrictions for certain affordable housing; staff noted implementation responsibilities fall partly to the state building code adoption process but that local planning rules will need adjustment (longer time horizon).
- Other items flagged: changes to the multifamily tax exemption (HB 1494), co‑living standards (HB 1998), and other transport and behavioral‑health funding items on the city’s legislative agenda.

Staff resource and process notes
Levine said department staff review planning‑related bills and recommend positions; the Legislative Work Group meets weekly during session and staff advisors run more than 1,000 bill reviews per session to surface issues of local impact. For bills with near‑term deadlines — notably the parking and lot‑split bills — Levine said the commission should expect those projects to appear on the department’s future work‑program updates.

Commission questions and staff responses focused on workload and team assignment. Levine said public education on HB 1217 may be led by the long‑range planning team if the engagement scope grows beyond mailers. On HB 1096 (lot splits) staff suggested the work could be folded into an existing middle‑housing optimization project if commissioners direct that during the work‑program update. On HB 1491 (TOD), staff noted that the bill applies to station areas that are already designated in regional or local transportation plans, so some future BRT or K‑Line stops could trigger rezoning obligations even before the physical station opens.

Commissioners asked for additional detail on implementation timing and unit‑size thresholds in HB 1183; Commissioner Scott Reiser read the statutory size limits aloud from the bill language for studios (400 sq ft), one‑bedrooms (550 sq ft), two‑bedrooms (750 sq ft) and three‑bedrooms (1,000 sq ft).

What’s next
Staff said they will return to the commission with more detailed briefings ahead of formal code‑amendment packages and recommended the commission consider prioritizing the parking and TOD implementation tasks on the next work‑program update given deadlines and anticipated staff time.

Ending: Hart and Levine closed the briefing without asking the commission for formal direction; staff will present implementation timelines and draft text in future meetings before any public hearings.