Kirkland City Council down-zones property rights in effort to prevent future appeals
The Kirkland City Council made some sweeping changes to downtown zoning at a public hearing conducted at their March 3, 2009 City Council meeting. The result of these actions is a down-zoning of properties located in the downtown core. The new rules restrict property owners’ rights with stricter requirements in massing, height, stepbacks, sidewalk widths and use limitations.
Ambiguities in the downtown zoning code, such as the definition of a two story building on Lake Street, were addressed. The goal of the Council was to correct ambiguity in the code which resulted in appeals being filed against downtown development projects last year.
The Council passed various ordinances relating to land use and zoning which included the following:
- Amend Central Business District (CBD) 1
- height regulations;
- building stepbacks;
- sidewalk widths;
- banking and related financial use limitations;
- rooftop appurtenances allowances; and
- dimensional requirements for retail
- Amend ground floor retail height requirements in CBD Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8
- Measure height in feet instead of stories in CBD Zones 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7
- Revise zoning code by removing reference to the comprehensive plan.
A map of downtown property owners represented by Joe Castleberry during his testimony to the City Council
The City Council passed Ordinance No. 4177 by a margin of 4 to 3 with Councilmembers Burleigh, McBride and Sternoff in the minority. The Council also passed Ordinance No. 4178 and 4179 unanimously.
For further details, please see the Council Packet for the Central Business District Amendments Public Hearing.
Council made two changes from the referenced Council Packet:
-
- they increased the “zone” in which setbacks can occur, from 30 feet to 40 feet;
- they decreased the required setbacks by 50% – from 20 feet to 10 feet. Both of these changes are helpful to the developers, both in terms of overall FAR as well as design flexibility.
Testimony at the public hearing came from advocates from both sides of the issues including several downtown homeowners and property owners. Joe Castleberry, presented the above map of the downtown property owners whom he represented during his testimony. His view was that the zoning changes constitute a down-zoning in the Central Business Districts and represent a serious loss of value for property owners.
Mr. Castleberry’s testimony follows:
Good evening, my name is Joe Castleberry. Jann, my wife and I have been commercial property owners in downtown Kirkland for more than 25 years.
The Council is going to make a big decision tonight. I believe the proposed changes to the zoning code are very important as we will live with them for many years to come.
While I believe some of the proposed changes are good, in that they increase predictability of development in the CBD, I think many of the proposed changes will likely have negative economic repercussions. The wider sidewalks and the 20 to 30′ upper story setbacks all tend to shrink the overall size and flexibility of downtown buildings of the future.
These changes will, in effect, reduce the size of the potential buildable envelope. By practically anyone’s definition, this constitutes a down zone.
If these changes are adopted, what will happen? I believe we will see development stop on all parcels in CBD 1 west of Matin Street. All development has already been halted through zoning in CBD 2, now if these proposed changes are enacted, CBD 1 will be impacted too.
What does this mean to the City? The economy will suffer. An analysis needs to be prepared to quantify the economic impact of these zone changes.
I ask the Council to delay this decision such that a more detailed analysis of the ramifications of these changes can be better understood.
Thank you.
In early February, Mr. Castleberry wrote this Letter to the Editor in which he described a 2008 meeting between downtown property owners and several Councilmembers:
“At this meeting [Fall of 2008], three Council members were present – Mayor Lauinger and Council members Sternoff and Burleigh. The Mayor lead the meeting and explained why the Council felt it was necessary to institute a moratorium. He asked for our patience and understanding. The Mayor said the Council would seek to fast track the resolution of only the necessary changes to accomplish the task at hand (primarily clarification of the code to eliminate ambiguity). The content of the meeting led us to believe that the only issues to be addressed were the clarification of the definition of superior retail, the specific interpretation of the existing guidelines for measurement of step backs for the upper floors above the second floor and the resolution and clarification of the required building heights directly fronting Lake Street. All parties agreed that these were the only three issues to be addressed. The Mayor assured all parties that these changes would not in any way result in a downzone in the CBD.”
The following charts can be found in the Council Packet for the Central Business District Amendments Public Hearing:
Summary of Amendments
The matrix below lists the proposed changes and the affected CBD zone. All of the proposed changes will affect properties in CBD 1. Proposed changes which affect the height of retail stories at the street level will affect all CBD zones except CBD 5. In addition, proposed changes which affect measuring building height in terms of feet rather than stories will affect all CBD zones except CBD 5 and CBD8 where cuch rules are already being applied. Attachements 4 and 5, Ordinance 4177 contains the full text of the proposed changes to the Kirkalnd Zoning Code (KZC).
Posted by Rob Butcher on Friday, March 6, 2009 at 9:05 am
Filed under Development · Tagged with City Council, Development, Downtown, Zoning
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We all share in the beauty of downtown. Communities that improve their surroundings and don’t bow to developers are better places to live and visit. A little give and take is what is needed sometimes for developers to learn what we all need. I support the downtown, not the developers.
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There was no give and take – the property owners had some of their development rights taken away from them, which robbed them of thousands of dollars of property value. I’m no developer, nor am I one of Mr. Castleberry’s property owners.
How would residents feel if they were suddenly told they couldn’t remodel or expand their homes because people didn’t want such big buildings? And what the difference between this and what the City Council enacted?
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Time will tell whether the enacted changes to the code make it appeal proof. I seriously doubt it.
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Once again four of our council members have decided that they have more expertise than our Planning Department and Planning Commission and have decided to dictate what should or should not be built in our downtown core. Shame on them for being so arrogant as to think that they can short-circuit our normal processes in deciding what is best for our community.
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November 2009 will mark the breaking of “The Gang of Four”
This HAS to be the last straw. Unlawful taking of property rights marks the true slipperly slope into socialism. If the council thinks this will prevent further lawsuits they are sadly mistaken. This will – and should – be the point where ALL residents, whether they are property owners or not, stand up to the council and say “No More”.
The truth is that no one can legislate the future, anything done today can be undone tomorrow. The tumbleweeds blowing down Lake Street Kirkland as opposed to the boomtown that is Bellevue are clear indicators that the status quo is not healthy for residents, for shopkeepers or for property owners.
Let this council know they need to undo this legislation – otherwise the next council most certaily will.
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