Keeping Kirkland quaint | Letter

Published 12:46 pm Wednesday, May 29, 2013

We applaud Chuck Pilcher and his recent letter to the editor. He captured the essence of what is positive about the waterfront area and the desire to retain it as “our greatest asset,” while not compromising it with over-development.

Kirkland’s waterfront is truly unique. It’s what makes our community one of the most livable in the state.

His point that the true “Central Business District” has moved geographically north and east to center on Totem Lake is correct. With a world class hospital anchoring the area and the renewed development that will result from the addition of city facilities, Totem Lake really does resonate as Kirkland’s core.

This frees the Central/Market/Lake/Kirkland avenues to refocus on the village atmosphere that attracts visitors, shoppers and residents. Zoning regulations need to celebrate this difference.

This causes us to rethink what we are doing in Moss Bay and surrounding areas. It seems as though the city supports construction projects whether they fit into the neighborhood environment or not.

Traffic problems and safety issues are neglected or hide behind calculations that do not reflect the true impact of proposed construction. The infrastructure simply cannot take all of the developments that are being passed by the city development teams.

We see regulations bent and developers coddled in pursuit of the tax dollar, but this is short-sighted.  Remember, once a building is built, it changes the character of an area forever. Zoning needs to better reflect the impacts of development in different Kirkland neighborhoods.

We applaud everyone who is taking time to revisit the goals and wording in the Comprehensive Plan. It is an important document that could set the stage for our approach to growth over the next decades.

At the same time, we need to push on our elected officials to make sure that the tenets of this plan are coded in zoning and regulations and that we do not accept empty promises by developers who try to skirt the desires of the people.

Lisa and Brian Rohrback, Kirkland