City of Kirkland puzzles over splitting annexation area neighborhoods

From Houghton to Rose Hill to Bridal Trails, neighborhoods have a big impact on identity and resources in the City of Kirkland. The city has begun meeting with neighborhood leaders in the annexation area to discuss how the current neighborhoods can be broken up into smaller sections of the city.

By Matt Phelps • July 13, 2010 6:19 pm
This map shows how the Totem Lake neighborhood could be dissolved in a controversial plan the City of Kirkland is considering as it decides how to draw the annexation neighborhood boundaries.
This map shows how the Totem Lake neighborhood could be dissolved in a controversial plan the City of Kirkland is considering as it decides how to draw the annexation neighborhood boundaries.

From Houghton to Rose Hill to Bridal Trails, neighborhoods have a big impact on identity and resources in the City of Kirkland.

The city has begun meeting with neighborhood leaders in the annexation area to discuss how the current neighborhoods can be broken up into smaller sections of the city.

Although those meetings have been sparsely attended, the city is beginning to get a sense of what annexation residents see as acceptable changes to neighborhood boundaries.

The boundaries are important for the City of Kirkland as grants and funding is dispersed through the use of neighborhoods. The three current neighborhoods in the annexation area dwarf the size and populations of current Kirkland neighborhoods and changes will have to be made so these funds can be dispersed equally after annexation. But getting to those new configurations is proving to be a challenge.

The city has come up with five preliminary options for new neighborhood boundaries. One of the more controversial topics to get to those boundaries is to expand some of the current Kingsgate, North Juanita, North Rose Hill and South Rose Hill neighborhoods and get rid of Totem Lake as a neighborhood, as it is a business district.

“I have some issues with this because … this is our main area for economic development. I would like our economic development committee to take a close look at this before we go further,” said Mayor Joan McBride, during a special study session on annexation July 6. “When we start dropping these areas into other neighborhoods then we risk losing a bit of control over that urban designated center.”

Another issue that the city has to deal with is having two North Juanita neighborhoods and one South Juanita neighborhood. One plan combines the two North Juanita areas. The size of Finn Hill, which is the largest neighborhood, is also at issue and splitting the area into a north and south has been floated, along with splitting the Kingsgate neighborhood.

These ideas came from a series of meetings with identified community leaders from the annexation area, the Denny Creek Neighborhood Alliance (DCNA), the Juanita and Totem Lake Neighborhood Associations, and the Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods.

But the annexation neighborhoods only averaged about 20 people at a recent meeting, with no one from North Juanita in attendance.

“I keep hearing from people who don’t realize they have been annexed,” said Deputy Mayor Penny Sweet.

The city plans to ramp up the process during the fall with open houses and neighborhood workshops.

None of the ideas have been molded into concrete plans for neighborhoods and all are in the preliminary stage.

City cable channel in annexation area

The City of Kirkland has requested that the city’s two pubic cable channels be available to annexation area residents prior to the annexation date next year. The city’s cable channel is used to broadcast programming, including council meetings.

Comcast has stated that it can air the channel prior to the annexation date, but nothing has been agreed upon. Council meetings are also available on the city’s Web site, www.ci.kirkland.wa.us.