Council reviews Juanita zoning amendment requests; Planning Commission recommends 75‑foot maximum and design standards

City planning staff and the Planning Commission updated the Kirkland City Council on May 6 about two community‑initiated zoning amendment requests in the Juanita neighborhood: the JBD‑4 zone (the Michaels/adjacent site) and the North Juanita Center (the former Goodwill site and adjacent properties).

Nut graf: The Planning Commission preferred draft code approaches that would allow more capacity while adding design and public‑realm requirements: for the JBD‑4 area they recommended a 75‑foot maximum and 100% lot coverage paired with stronger frontage and public‑space standards; for North Juanita the commission asked staff to present options for attached dwelling units (townhouses) versus mixed‑use apartments, and recommended a 15‑foot minimum ground‑floor height to support viable ground‑floor retail.

Planning context and community input: Senior planner Leandra Baker Lewis summarized background from Kirkland’s comprehensive and neighborhood plan updates directing growth toward neighborhood centers and establishing policy J‑16 and J‑20 as the comp plan guidance. Staff emphasized the goals the community endorsed in outreach: activated ground‑floor frontage, pedestrian connections, public open space and preserving viable retail.

Planning Commission direction: Vice Chair Angela Rosman and the commission recommended that the JBD‑4 draft code include: a 75‑foot maximum building height; up to 100% lot coverage (acknowledging critical‑area buffers and other requirements will limit impervious coverage in practice); no additional landscape buffer beyond critical area requirements adjacent to Juanita Bay Park; and a design‑standards approach that requires modulation techniques (rather than prescriptive stepbacks). For the North Juanita Center the commission favored a 15‑foot ground‑floor clear height to attract retail, asked staff to draft options for attached dwelling units, and recommended sky‑exposure plane or similar massing controls near low‑density residential to the north.

Tradeoffs and housing targets: Staff reminded council the state’s House Bill 1220 affordable‑housing targets require showing zoned capacity for multifamily housing affordable to lower AMI bands; the commissioners asked staff to return with options for inclusionary zoning flexibility and alternatives for achieving affordable/homeownership outcomes. Councilors pressed for clarity on traffic/level of service assumptions; staff said the SEIS and TSP concurrency projects show intersections performing at acceptable levels using the current package of concurrency projects, but recommended further traffic analysis at public hearing.

Next steps: Staff will bring the draft zoning code to a Planning Commission public hearing on June 12 and return to council for final action in September. Commissioners asked staff to include options to preserve or expand ground‑floor retail and to return with public‑benefit approaches for off‑street park connections between Juanita Bay and Juanita Beach parks.

Ending: Councilors supported additional outreach and asked staff to keep the dialogue with applicants and the community open as staff prepares draft code for public hearing.