The Hearing Examiner issued her recommendations on the Northwest University Master Plan.  It can be downloaded below.
​
The Hearing Examiner concurred with the August 15, 2019 recommendations from the Houghton Community Council which revised several of the staff conditions included in the May 2019 staff report.

More background on the Master Plan can be found on the City's web page for the project:
https://www.kirklandwa.gov/depart/planning/Development_Info/projects/Northwest_University_Master_Plan_Zoning_Permit.htm

The City of Kirkland has issued the agenda and meeting packet for the continuance of the Northwest University Master Plan. The joint hearing with the City's Hearing Examiner and Houghton Community Council will be continued on Thursday August 15 at 7:00 PM. The hearing will be held in the City Council Chambers starting at 7:00 PM.

The meeting agenda and packet are attached (they are not yet posted to the city's web page for the project).  Oral testimony will not be taken at the hearing; however, written testimony and comments can still be submitted in advance of the hearing. The comments should be addressed to:

Tony Leavitt, Senior Planner, 425-587-3253
tleavitt@kirklandwa.gov  
 
You will need to include the file number in the subject line - ZON16-02063
 
If you have any questions please contact us at centralhoughton@gmail.com

 

​Hope you are all having a fabulous holiday.

​The Central Houghton Neighborhood Association's (CHNA) next meeting will be Tuesday September 10 at 7:00. It will be held at Fire Station 22 -- 6602 108 Ave NE.
 
The following includes information on some ongoing and upcoming items which may be of interest to our membership before the next meeting.  
 
1. Tree Code Revisions: A primary purpose of the tree code is to define what trees must be retained and requirements for planting more trees with development. It also addresses how many trees a property owner can remove each year without development. The tree code also addresses a range of other items that may affect your property or other properties as part of development or landscaping, etc.

• Thursday July 11 @ 7:00 PM City Council Chambers -  The Kirkland Planning Commission will meet to start reviewing the first draft of the code changes. The meeting packet, including the code revisions, can be found at the following link.              https://www.kirklandwa.gov/Assets/Planning/Planning+PDFs/Planning+Commission/KZC+Chapter+95+Code+Amendments_PC+Packet_CAM18-00408_07112019.pdf  
• Monday July 22 @ 7:00 PM City Council Chambers - The Houghton Community Council will start their review of the initial draft code.
  
  

2. Northwest University Master Plan Hearing

• The joint Hearing Examiner and Houghton Community Council public hearing on Northwest University's proposed Master Plan was continued from June 11  to a date yet to be established.
• When a new date is established, the City will provide public notice. CHNA will send out an email when we have a date and time.
• Oral testimony on the Master Plan is closed.
• Written comments/testimony can still be made - send them to Tony Leavitt, Senior Planner -   tleavitt@kirklandwa.gov. Be sure to include the project file number in the subject line -   ZON16-02063 
  
  

3. Crossing Kirkland Event

• CHNA will be participating in the Crossing Kirkland event on Saturday September 7 on the Cross Kirkland Corridor. 
• We will be part of the station at the Google site
• We are currently gathering ideas and formulating a plan - if you have some thoughts, please share them with us
• If you would like to help in the planning or day of event activities (set-up, assisting at the station/booth, clean up) please let us know - the more the merrier and many hands makes light work

• You can simply reply to this email or send a separate email to centralhoughton@gmail.com
  
  

4. King County Metro South Kirkland Bus Route Changes

• Regular riders of Route 255 already are aware that the route no longer stops at the Montlake Station because of construction of the west segment of the SR 520 bridge corridor.
• You can no longer take the 255 and get off at Montlake to go to UW . Sound Transit will still be running ST 540 during peak hours and Sound Transit has added service to ST 542 (Redmond to University District). You can transfer at Evergreen Point Station to the 542 and it will take you into the Stadium/Link station area and through the University district
• End of August/early September 2019 – Montlake Triangle improvements are to be finished. Bus stops will be consolidated in front of UW Stadium and the Link Station. This should make for much easier and safer connections to and from Link. 
• March 2020 - route 255 will most likely be rerouted to terminate at UW/Husky stadium. You will need to transfer to Link Light Rail to continue to downtown Seattle.

• More information on these changes can be found on King County Metro's website

           - Find out more details about how routes would change, including new options for routes recommended for deletion, on Metro’s North Eastside Mobility Plan website.  
          - Information about the King County Council’s process, including where to direct comments, can be found on the Mobility & Environment Committee’s website.    



As always, please let us know if you have any questions or if you have ideas for future meeting topics.
 
Larry Toedtli, President
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association
centralhoughton@gmail.com
 

​The notes from our May 23, 2019 Central Houghton Neighborhood Association (CHNA) are attached.
 
A couple of dates for upcoming events to be aware of (more detail is in the meeting notes):

• June 11 (7pm at City Hall) - Northwest University Master Plan Joint Hearing Continuance - you can still provide written or oral testimony at least through that evening's meeting
  
  
• June 15 (9am to 11am at City Hall)- City Connections Workshop - review and discuss potential new local roadway and pathway connections in the City.
  
  
• June 22 (9am-12pm at City Hall) - Sustainability Master Plan Forum - learn about and provide input as this new Plan is getting underway
  
  
• September 7 (11am to 3pm on the Cross Kirkland Corridor) - Crossing Kirkland Event - Join in the fun or volunteer to help out with City wide block party 
  
  

Our next regularly scheduled meeting will be Tuesday September 10 at 7:00 PM at Fire Station 22 (on 108th Avenue NE). If you have ideas for the meeting please let us know - centralhoughton@gmail.com
 
We also have a couple of Board positions open - vice president and Treasurer - these do not take much time, but will help us out immensely - Please contact us if you want to learn more.
 
Thanks
 
Larry Toedtli, President/Chair
Central Houghton Neighborhood Association 
email centralhoughton@gmail.com
web site - houghtonlives.com