Comments on: Planning Commission to make final recommendation on Kirkland Parkplace Mixed-Use plan

By: Jilliegirl

Jilliegirl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:04:45 +0000

It won’t be long until we all drive less and bus more. I think Smart Cars are the wave of the future because how often do you really need to transport 2000 pounds of steel to the mall. At the very least there will be a lower demand for huge parking spaces for SUVS.

By: A different planet

A different planet — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:58 +0000

To Patrick,
Please correct me where I am wrong but don’t most people who shop in Kirkland drive by car? Probably 95%. Will that number go down in the next 20-40 years? Of course. But we will not have the density here to justify any rail for another 40 yes if ever. Bikes are great to ride after shopping. Buses will be the only reasonable alternative to the car and it will not work for the vast majority of our population for many reasons like density and convenience. So what happens to the shoppers and merchants for the next 20 years if you limit parking in an attempt to change shoppers behaviors? Everyone suffers. Shoppers go to Bellevue and Resmond for free abundant parking. Merchants suffer from lost sales. Kirkland suffers from lower tax receipts.
Yes, my friend, less parking can be a bad thing. It causes the people of Kirkland to suffer because of idealistic planning that is so far in to the future that everyone here today will be dead before cars are used so little. Oh and please recall that parkplace is only 25 years old and is being redeveloped. Build parking for today’s needs. Tomorrow will rebuild for what works economically at the time.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:05:44 +0000

Less parking encourages people to find alternative forms of transportation. This is clearly not a bad thing.

By: Jazz Song

Jazz Song — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:12:50 +0000

Parking is a good issue to deal with because I think too many times that the planning commission has given exemptions to developers to have less parking than is needed. The reasons given by developers are many but they all end up saving the developer money. The reason behind the city giving in to these requests is the crazy idea that if you make it so painful for people to drive a car that they will magically take public transportation. This idea is crazy because it only will make sense in 20 or 30 or 40 years when density and transportation options are greater. In the meantime we are left with suffering retail because customers have no place to park! I am as ‘green’ as the next guy but this sort of crazy public policy is so infuriating because it says the city doesn’t care about shopkeepers and that the city plans to make the lives of its own citizens so painful that we will be forced out of our cars. Well that works in Europe and NYC but we are not them. Stop making daily life painful and provide parking for the people of Kirkland.

By: Marcia

Marcia — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:13:26 +0000

If nothing else, let’s please consider parking and traffic. The only way I have to get home from work in the evening is to drive through downtown Kirkland (I live in the Norkirk neighborhood), there are many days when it takes me 20 minutes to go 3 miles from the Park and Ride to my home. What’s going to happen when there are 1,000 people working at the new Google campus and an 11 story building in downtown Kirkland? What are the planners thinking!?

And parking - I have actually driven down to Park Place to shop and had to leave and go somewhere else because I couldn’t find a parking space. Bigger buildings, more people and less parking!? It doesn’t make sense.

By: Downtown Dave

Downtown Dave — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:02:12 +0000

Not to argue with you, Want to be kirkland, but you are dead wrong. In fact, your ‘facts’ are simply untrue and you are misinformed. If you haven’t had a chance to pick up the Kirkland Reporter today, please do so. You may notice an advertisement on page 11 that is signed by almost EVERY DOWNTOWN BUSINESS urging support for Parkplace mixed-use option.

The ad urges everyone to attend the Planning Commission public hearing at City Hall Thursday night at 7:00pm to support the Parkplace mixed-use option.

The ad reads in part, “As business owners in Kirkland, we know first hand how fragile our downtown economy is. The mixed-use option proposed by Touchston Development for Kirkland Park Place will be a much needed shot in the arm to Kirkland’s downtown vitality.

“Unfortunately, without your support we will lose the opportunity for a destination place where we can shop, play, stay, dine, or just hang out with friends. Instead we will have an office park - catering to office workers, and empty on the weekends.

“We encourage all of our customers, neighbors, friends, clients and the Kirkland community to urge our City Council to approve the project with the retail mix. With your voice, we can make this project a reality and reap the benefits for generations to come.”

Downtown Kirkland needs Park Place to have retail as it will help bring more shoppers to our downtown stores. Please help support the project.

By: Want to be kirkland

Want to be kirkland — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:32:33 +0000

We need a redevelopment that makes sense for Parkplace. It is hard to beleive, with all the retail zoning in the downtown corridor that the City overlooked requiring first floor retail at Parkplace. I hope people come out tomorrow and encourage the city to zone for retail and to work with Touchstone to develop a project that makes sense.

We do not have to bullied by developers who are constantly wanting to swap retail for height. We can develop a Parkplace that makes sense for the city and for the exisitng downtown retailers. In all truth the all-office alternative would drive more business to downtown than the 1.8 million square foot office/retail proposed. But what makes the most sense for the city is a moderated plan that includes some retail, less office space, lower heights along the park and adequate parking.

But the only way we will get there is if the local businesses and community members come to the meeting and speak out about what they want to see and their concerns over what is being proposed. So Kirkland…GET OUT AND GET YOUR VOICE HEARD! Otherwise you have no one to blame but yourself for the outcome.