Ending nearly a year-long process, Mayor Jim Lauinger called for the champagne.
“If we had champagne, or we could have champagne in here, we would do it,” he said.
City Council agreed to finally give the go-ahead for revised plans to build the Merrill Gardens/Bank of America (BofA) project at its Nov. 18 meeting. A citizen’s appeal for the development of the property at the corner of Kirkland Avenue and Lake Street South was brought earlier this year by Citizens for a Vibrant Kirkland (CiViK). After winning their appeal in August, the decision was appealed by SRM Development in Superior Court. After negotiating a temporary hold on the lawsuit, the city, CiViK and SRM reached an agreement to end legal action and modify the plans.
The key revisions from the design approved by the Design Review Board are the larger plaza and sidewalk area on Lake Street and a scaled back fifth floor.
CiViK Treasurer Bea Nahon thanked all parties involved for believing in the process.
“Our appeal was never about stopping development, eliminating a bank or a drive-thru, nor was it about one foot of height or about view. It was always about process, about honoring and adhering to the zoning and the comprehensive plan and allowing the development of a project, which achieved those important criteria,” Nahon said. “We hope and trust that an appeal such as this will never again be necessary.”
“Amen,” sighed Councilman Dave Asher. The motion was later moved by Asher and passed unanimously, 7-0.
In response, SRM Principal Andy Loos was conciliatory and said all parties learned something from it.
“We’ve been able to turn negatives into positives,” he said. “It’s been a long process, and I never thought I’d say this, but we’ve been a better project for it.”
Before the vote, several Council members weighed in on the agreement.
“Believe me, we know and appreciate what all of you went through. It’s really a win for all the citizens of Kirkland,” said Councilwoman Jessica Greenway.
“I’m very grateful for this process ending tonight,” said Deputy Mayor Joan McBride. “I’m proud of our staff, who kept their professionalism, always … The Council hung in there to.”
“Thank you for keeping my bank. For keeping my drive-thru. Keeping a fifth story,” said Councilman Bob Sternoff. “Personally, I wish there was more housing there. We need the tax base.”
Following the vote, Councilman Tom Hodgson and Mayor Jim Lauinger commented on their concerns regarding future development projects planned and currently under review.
“I would love to find a way to avoid this process for this sidetrack process in the future,” Hodgson said. “Maybe get ahead of a future situation where there’s a conflict that we might be able to head off, by just a little bit of planning.”
“The compromise is something that I think we can probably treat with a great deal of respect in Kirkland,” Lauinger said. “To be able to take a tough project and work out a compromise that everybody comes out pretty darn good on, and we have even a better project is something we might want to keep in the back of our minds as we move forward on some other projects.”
Budget actions
The Council also took several steps towards a balanced budget for the 2009/2010 biennium. The council moved to save all but two full-time positions in City Planning and Code Enforcement by swapping sources of funding and scaling back hours for several positions. The city also slashed the equivalent of 10 paid intern and seasonal positions, such as high school students interning at the City Municipal Court or grounds maintenance staff.
However, the city plans to hire four firefighters in order to meet the high standards it mandated in response performance and maintain the reserve firefighter compensation program. The new employees would actually save the city money since the positions are presently filled by current staff working overtime. The Council also placed the Neighborhood Connections program on temporary hiatus, calling it a “nice to have” program, but preserved the popular neighborhood grants program.
The service cuts were part of an overall reduction in projected city spending by 3.3 percent.
City Council also passed a motion, moved by long-time Bridle Trails supporter Jessica Greenway, supporting the annexation of the Bridle View neighborhood. The subdivision of 54 large, roughly three-fourth acre lots (often referred to as “Horse-Acres”) could join the city by petition method annexation. The motion passed unanimously. The next step for the petitioners is to obtain the signatures of property owners representing at least 60 percent of the total assessed value in the area. If the petition is submitted with sufficient signatures, staff will prepare a report to the King County Boundary Review Board (BRB). If approved by the BRB, an annexation ordinance will be prepared for consideration by the City Council at a public hearing. The process is expected to be complete by mid-2009.
