Thomas Cox wrote in his letter to the Kirkland Reporter published on March 13, “Open space is a rare and scarce commodity…”. He is correct and not only in regards to that grassy field across from the beach that will be overtaken by the ARC (Kirkland Aquatics and Recreation Center). Preservation of that open space would be a logical piece in a larger plan to retain the integrity of, and restore many links in, a natural system to the Juanita creek watershed.
In addition, if we could expand the vision for this place to look at a whole system, that field, Juanita beach and Juanita Bay wetlands would have the potential to be part of a natural corridor that passes through the Juanita creek watershed straight through to many parts of Kirkland and surrounding neighborhoods.
As one of the original developers of Sensitive Areas Maps in King County, and a planner who reviewed many nearby and similar properties for geologic hazards, I see environmental constraints on the location that have not been discussed. In Kirkland’s Sensitive Areas maps, the Juanita-valley floor is within a seismic hazard area. The slope on the ridge to the west of the valley is classified as a high landslide hazard area; to the east, a medium landslide hazard area in spots. Within a short distance from the proposed location there are two known bald eagle nesting sites; one at Kiwanis Park and one at O.O. Denny Park. Particularly in the case of seismic risks, the reports and the presentation I saw skirt through seismic testing as is typical. The normal process that occurs in building in areas like this is spot testing; which is much more limited than what is done in the actual building of a project. In the standard design and review approach engineers accept, they don’t know what they will ultimately find or how much more complicated and expensive it will be to build in any location.
Of important note as well, there is rich historic and cultural significance to the Juanita beach area. I have been told indigenous people used the beaches as a summer fishing camp and there is a rich history of the more recent human settlement in Kirkland.
For all of the reasons above, I prefer the already much more urbanized and accessible site at NKCC (North Kirkland Community Center) which will give local residents what they want in terms of indoor swimming without taking so much away from the community as a whole. People often forget in the midst of our anger or excitement about a particular issue that we are part of a much larger universe. Our sense of place in this community, our history and the continued ability to thrive in sync with natural systems, are a much bigger issue to me over the long term.
