Central

Houghton

Neighborhood

Association

 

Central Houghton Neighborhood Association

 

Key Dates:

Wed, April 16 - Open House for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Downtown Area

Sat, April 19 - Earth Day at Cotton Hill Park

Thurs, April 24 - Park Place Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)

Sat, April 26 - Totem Lake Community Celebrate

Tues, April 29 - Jim Diers, Author of “Neighbor Power Building Community the Seattle Way”

Wed, May 7 - May CHNA Meeting

Sat, May 17 - Walk Houghton

Wed, June 4 - June CHNA Meeting (BNSF rail line purchase focus)

 

Minutes from April 2, 2008 meeting:

 

Float Planning – we need to set up work dates and do some planning/design for our surely award winning entry this year. Please contact Lisa McConnell at 827-4642 or email kirby994@verizon.net if you are interested in participating.

 

Walk Houghton – Saturday, May 17th is the Walk Houghton event from 9 - noon.  Get out of your car for one day and walk to our nearby shopping “district”.  There’ll be food, fun, and prizes.  We also could use some volunteers for the day of the event. Look for an upcoming mailer.

 

Transit Oriented Development – at South Kirkland Park and Ride.  File No ZON08-00002.  The creation of affordable housing at this site through transit-oriented-development was among the top two strategies supported by the Council.  The site is within the corporate limits of Kirkland and Bellevue and both cities would need to amend their respective Comprehensive Plans and zoning to allow housing on the property. The City has received a letter from the King County Department of Transportation which describes their interest and general intent to move forward with the development of a TOD project at the South Kirkland Park and Ride site. Members of Kirkland planning staff have met several times with the City of Bellevue, King County and ARCH, to discuss the best way to move forward with a coordinated approach to the study of possible land use and zoning changes at the South Kirkland Park and Ride. This project is still well within the “let’s see” phase. There will be plenty of discussion of this possible project before the process to make the necessary Comprehensive Plan changes are even begun.  We’ll keep you updated.

 

Metropolitan Market is coming! – Metropolitan Market has purchased the lease from Houghton Market.  The owner of Houghton Market intends to run out the last 18months of the lease, so Metropolitan Market will not begin remodeling until then.  But they may be going through the permitting and design process before then.  CHNA has invited Metropolitan Market to come and introduce themselves to the neighborhood.  We are looking forward to the future with our newest neighbor.

 

Google is coming! – Rumor has it that the first of the Google employees might be starting work as early as this summer.  Unfortunately look for more traffic on 68th and 108th.

 

Art is already here! – We finally got our first piece of public art installed at Carillon Woods Park. The sculpture is from local artist John Hoge.  Check it out and look for an unveiling ceremony sometime in early June.

 

Neighborhood Update to the Comprehensive Plan should start this summer – just what is the Neighborhood Plan? And why should you care about the Update? The Neighborhood Plan and the Update is vital to the future of our neighborhood, determining what it will be allowed to be developed and just what the character will be.  I hope you all will be a part of this important process.

 

BNSF rail line purchase – you are probably aware of this complicated issue.  It is something we need to discuss and it will take at least one meeting to go over.  It was decided to dedicate our June 4th meeting entirely to this issue. Also I’d recommend visiting the Eastside Trail Advocates website www.eastsidetrailadvocates.org or join their email list to keep updated on this rapidly changing issue.

 

Plus, as always, events in Houghton and Kirkland.

 

  • We encourage all Kirkland residents to attend the Open House for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for this project on April 16th in City Council Chambers from 6PM - 8PM. The Draft EIS is available to view at City Hall, the Kirkland Library, or online at http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/__shared/assets/Environmental_Impact_Statement_Draft8338.pdf
  • Kirkland Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Park Place DEIS on April 24th.  This is the only meeting dates for citizens to speak to planning commissioners about the new 8-story, 1.8 million SF (from 235,000 SF),  reduced-parking-space (from 3.16/1000 SF to 1.93/1000 SF), zero-foot-setback  Park Place proposal by Touchstone, before the commission gives its recommendations to the city council, which will vote on this issue soon.
  • Earth Day Saturday, April 19th at Cotton Hill Park: TV and goats included! Please join Green Kirkland Partnership volunteers, EarthCorps, and Kirkland Parks and Public Works Departments on Saturday April 19 to celebrate Earth Day at Cotton Hill Park (110th Av. NE & NE 98th St.), from 9 a.m. until Noon (or any part thereof). Directions are given below. The Kirkland Highlands Neighborhood has arranged assistance by a herd of 60 goats to eat invasive plants. Let's see if human volunteers can remove more invasive plants than the fenced goats can eat! We are expecting King 5 News and the City's TV crews to film volunteers and goats in action!
  • Check out the Houghton display in the City Hall lobby.  Kirkland Heritage Society has done a wonderful job showcasing our neck of the woods with wonderful old photos and memorabilia.
  • Totem Lake Community Celebrate Saturday, April 26, 2008
    11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. with a speaking program at noon
    Kingsgate Park-and-Ride lot
    13001 116th Way N.E., Kirkland
  • Sound Transit, the City of Kirkland, and the Washington State Department of Transportation would like to invite you to a special event celebrating the new Totem Lake freeway station, overpass, and access ramps at NE 128th Street. This will also be a great opportunity to learn about transportation improvements and other projects underway in your community!  Event information: www.soundtransit.org/totemlakeevent
  • The City of Kirkland Neighborhood Services Program presents:
    Jim Diers, Author of “Neighbor Power Building Community the Seattle Way”
    Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 7 p.m.  City Hall Council Chambers

Hope to see you at the next CHNA meeting on Wednesday, May 7th at 7pm!