At the July 7 Kirkland City Council meeting, the second public hearing regarding zoning in the potential annexation area (PAA) was held. Decisions made by the council could potentially include down zoning regarding building heights, limiting property uses on oversized vehicles, storage containers and chickens.

The Council continued the public hearing until its July 21 meeting. Staff identified the following as the key zoning issues in the PAA. Each issue is followed by staff analysis and a recommendation.

Storage Containers

Issue: At the June 2nd public hearing, a request was made to grandfather existing storage containers

within the PAA. The City Council directed staff to draft appropriate regulations for consideration.

Analysis: KZC 115.138 restricts the siting of temporary storage containers (shipping containers,

moving containers, etc.). The code does allow containers associated with active construction projects

and for a 14 day period (e.g. – for moving). King County does not have similar restrictions.

Storage containers in the annexation area would be considered nonconforming as to City regulations at

the time of annexation. KZC 162 regulates nonconformances and the City Attorney’s office has advised

that storage containers would be regulated under 162.35.12 (Any Other Nonconformance). This

section would allow a legally established storage container to remain until:

• An alteration or change is made on the property that exceeds 50% of the replacement cost (e.g. – significant addition or redevelopment), or

• The use of the property changes.

It should be noted that neither the City nor County regulations allow storage containers to be located

in setbacks or allow waiver of requirements for a building permit for those containers in excess of 120

square feet. Some examples noted in the PAA may presently be in violation of County rules on those

issues and would remain in violation on annexation.

Staff Recommendation: The existing code provides a reasonable “grandfathering” of existing

containers by allowing them to remain until the property owner rebuilds, undertakes significant

additions, or changes to use. Therefore, no code amendment is recommended. An alternative would

be to have a different set of regulations for the PAA that would allow storage containers outright.

Building Height

Issue: The City has received numerous emails (Attachment 2.a) from residents of Goat Hill (Finn Hill

area adjoining the South Juanita Neighborhood) about the draft reduction in allowed building heights

for single family zones. Most of the correspondence is against the reduction with one comment

favoring the reduction. The County currently allows a maximum 35’ building height in low density

zones (with increases up to 45’ in limited circumstances) and the City currently allows a maximum 30’

building height.

Analysis: The correspondence raises a number of valid concerns, including the difficulty of developing

homes in areas with steep slopes, small or narrow lots, and exceptional views. It also raises the

concern of changing the expectations of property owners who may have planned for future

development at 35’. If Council wishes to address these concerns, two options are available:

• Define a subarea for Goat Hill where the height limit would be 35’

• Retain the existing County 35’ height limit throughout the PAA

The difficulty with the Goat Hill subarea option is that there are other parts of the PAA that have some

or all of the same constraints as Goat Hill. Defining a specific and logical geographic boundary might

also prove difficult.

In terms of precedence, it should be noted that the County heights were 5’ taller than the City’s at the

time of the 1988 annexation and the City adopted the County height for those annexation zones.

Staff Recommendation: Maintain the County’s allowed 35’ building height in the low density

annexation zones. Staff would recommend the height be applied consistently throughout the PAA

rather than singling out Goat Hill as an exception. Allowed heights could be reconsidered on a

neighborhood basis to reflect unique conditions as part of future neighborhood planning efforts in the

PAA.

Chickens

Issue: Staff has received questions about the keeping of chickens in the PAA (see Attachment 2.b).

The primary concern is whether to allow chickens in the PAA under the County’s more liberal

regulations. Existing County code allows the keeping of three chickens on lots with less than a 1/2 acre

and has few restrictions on lots larger than 1/2 acre. Kirkland currently does not allow chickens

(regulated as “fowl”) on lots with less than 35,000 square feet and allows 20 or more (dependent on

lot size) on lots with more than 35,000 square feet.

Analysis: The keeping of chickens in urban areas has grown in popularity with the sustainability

movement. By way of example, chickens are allowed in the City of Seattle with restrictions similar to

the County restrictions. Chickens provide benefits including natural pest control, locally produced food,

and locally produced fertilizer. Issues with chickens are typically related to noise, but most

homeowners would not keep roosters.

An excellent summary of chickens in urban areas can be found on the Seattle Tilth website at

http://www.seattletilth.org/learn/resources-1/city-chickens/citychickensfaqs.

Staff Recommendation: Allow three chickens on lots less than 35,000 square feet in the PAA and apply

current City regulations on lots more than 35,000 square feet. This change has been included in the

draft ordinance for Council consideration.

Oversize Vehicles

Issue: The keeping of oversize vehicles in the PAA continues to be a frequently asked question in

community meetings (See Attachment 2.c). Most of the concern comes from individuals who currently

own and store oversize vehicles at their homes. One individual expressed concern that the PAA not be

held to a lesser standard than the rest of Kirkland.

The County does not have any restrictions while the City prohibits keeping oversize vehicles (over 9’

high and 22’ long) without a permit. Based on previous direction, the draft regulations allow owners of

oversize vehicles to register and retain existing vehicles. The owner can change vehicles within one

year, provided the new vehicle is no larger than the registered vehicle. After one year, the

“grandfathering” is limited to the registered vehicle. The draft regulations also downgrade the permit

process to store an oversize vehicle from Process IIA (Hearing Examiner) to Process I (Planning

Director).

Analysis: Several choices are available. The draft regulations could:

• Adopt the regulations as drafted

• Adopt the regulations as drafted but allow replacement in perpetuity

• Exempt the PAA from any restrictions

Staff Recommendation: Retain the existing draft regulations for registration and grandfathering. If the

Council wishes to allow phasing out of oversize vehicles at a slower pace, staff would suggest the

regulations be amended to allow existing vehicles to be replaced by new vehicles.

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