Kirkland planning commission backs staff'recommended parking reforms, strips proposed affordable-parking discount

The Kirkland Planning Commission voted to forward staff's early-action parking ordinance implementing Senate Bill 5184 to the City Council, choosing Option Two for the station area and approving an amendment that removes the draft special regulations for affordable-housing parking.

Senior Planner Martha Rubart told the commission that SB 5184 requires cities to limit minimum parking to one space per single-family dwelling unit, 0.5 spaces per multifamily unit and no more than two spaces per 1,000 square feet of commercial space. Rubart said staff's early-action draft applies the state minimums citywide, consolidates parking rules into a single code section, and preserves certain lower existing requirements for specific uses such as kennels and daycare pickup/drop-off areas.

The commission debated two station-area options. Under Option Two, the commission would exempt many station-area mixed-use ground-floor commercial spaces where the state exempts them, while retaining SB 5184'level minimums for other commercial uses. Vice Chair Erin Jacobson moved to recommend Option Two and later moved to amend the recommendation to delete Section 4, the staff'proposed "special regulations for affordable housing" that had required projects providing more than the minimum stalls to 1) offer them on a first-come, first-serve basis to all units and 2) discount stalls for affordable units at 50% of the market rate.

Chair Angela Rosman voiced concern that, as written, the combination of SB 5184'minimums and high construction costs for structured parking could lead developers to provide zero parking for affordable units; she said, "I honestly think this is a way that we're going to see zero parking available for affordable units." Staff and commissioners debated enforcement and implementation details: staff said ARCH'administered affordable-housing covenants would be revised to reflect any new code, and ARCH representatives indicated covenant enforcement mechanisms exist to ensure discounted stalls are offered as required.

After discussion and motions, the commission voted to forward the package with Option Two to council and to remove the staff'proposed special regulations for affordable housing. The motion to forward the amended recommendation passed and will be transmitted to the City Council for final action.

The commission also asked staff to return to the March 26 meeting with any clarifications and noted that ADA-parking issues and additional bicycle-parking design research will be addressed in a second-phase code-cleanup package rather than in this early-action ordinance.

What happens next: The commission's recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for its consideration; staff indicated the commission's amendment would require adjustments to ARCH covenants and coordination with ARCH and other implementation steps prior to any council action.