During its Dec. 11 meeting, the Kirkland City Council adopted the Rose Hill and Bridle Trails neighborhood plans.

The plans were the result of a year of community outreach, including: surveys, dialogue with working groups comprising community members, open houses, numerous public meetings and pop-up stands at community events. The adopted Rose Hill and Bridle Trails neighborhood plans consolidated what were previously four plans into two plans.

The new plans focus on encouraging transit-oriented development near regional transportation investments, enhancing bike and pedestrian connections and promoting opportunities for more affordable housing in neighborhoods with predominantly single-family homes. Using the Housing Strategy Plan adopted in early 2018 as a foundation, the new neighborhood plans promote the construction of accessory dwelling units, cottages, duplexes and triplexes to better accommodate the city’s workforce, aging population and families.

In the Bridle Trails neighborhood plan, city staff worked to address community concerns about redevelopment of the Bridle Trails Shopping Center. A major theme heard from community members was the desire to incentivize the construction of local-serving retail and grocery options.

In order to encourage this type of development, and to leverage the shopping center’s proximity to future planned bus rapid transit, the adopted neighborhood plan allows for up to five stories of development in the Bridle Trails Shopping Center – subject to further community input and city council approval of development standards, design guidelines and a design program.

City staff will begin working on implementation of the plans in 2019, including necessary zoning amendments. For more information on the city’s neighborhood planning process, visit http://bit.ly/KirklandNeighborhoodPlans.