Which do you prefer? City still taking comment on Parkplace

After a crowd in the hundreds and a political rally-esque atmosphere nearly overwhelmed City Hall last month, city staff made sure the venue could accommodate a large, raucous crowd at another Parkplace hearing last week.

After a crowd in the hundreds and a political rally-esque atmosphere nearly overwhelmed City Hall last month, city staff made sure the venue could accommodate a large, raucous crowd at another Parkplace hearing last week.

Only this time, it didn’t need to.

Neither the same crowd, nor drama, presented itself at second Planning Commission hearing to discuss Parkplace redevelopment plans at City Hall on June 26.

The rebuild of the current 235,800-square-foot Parkplace has sparked much debate, with an “Option B” — a proposed 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development with buildings up to eight stories in height — drawing the most comment. Developer Touchstone has also submitted an alternative plan (“Option A”) for a 1.2 million-square foot development of five-story buildings that meet current zoning codes.

A third plan popped up at the first Parkplace hearing June 12 with the Planning Commission proposing an “Option C,” which would offer lower building heights closer to Peter Kirk park but 11 stories elsewhere. Option C, however, has since earned little or no public support, and the plan is not endorsed by Touchstone, the company’s Vice President A-P Hurd said.

“We don’t have any renderings for that,” she said by phone last week. “We’re waiting (to see) if in fact the directions to the commission change.”

As with the previous hearing, those supporting Touchstone’s request for eight-story buildings outnumbered the opposed by roughly a two to one margin.

Even Bea Nahon, a CiViK (Citizens for a Vibrant Kirkland) board member and opponent of the Bank of America project (a downtown redevelopment project currently under appeal by the group), gave her conditional approval and said the mixed-use project was a smart land use decision that would revitalize the downtown core.

“We can make this a ‘green light’ with a little bit of yellow for caution and we can still ‘see the sky’ and treasure our downtown Kirkland,” she said, referring to the slogans of Touchstone and Citizens for Responsible Development, the group opposed to eight stories at Parkplace.

The hearings are intended to help the Planning Commission settle on a “preferred” design and, if necessary, recommend new language to the city’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning codes to accommodate Touchstone’s requests for increased height and reduced setbacks. The public comment aspect of the process will remain open until the Commission’s next meeting on July 10, when it is scheduled to begin weighing the arguments for and against the changes.

The “A” option for development meets with current zoning codes, while the “B” and “C” proposals do not.

One new development was a proposal by opponents to amend the property’s existing zoning to require retail and thus invalidate Touchstone’s “A” option for an office park. City Planner Angela Ruggeri said the city attorney will soon decide if the commission actually has that power.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing to discuss a “preferred” alternative by October.

Contact Kendall Watson at kwatson@reporternewspapers.com.