October 10, 2024              

City of Kenmore Communications
communications@kenmorewa.gov
425-398-8900

Hottest of the Hot: Are You Still On Board?

An update from Kenmore City Manager Rob Karlinsey

Well, it’s been a few months since our last Hot Topics update, but I hope you’re still buckled in. Some of you may have taken a pit stop along the way, but here at City Hall we’ve stayed in high gear throughout the summer and now into the fall. Just for starters, we’ve been preparing the preliminary budget for the next two years, and the Planning Commission has been going at full speed working on updates to the Comprehensive Plan. Here’s a brief update on the hottest of the hot topics in Kenmore:

Middle Housing
Remember all the controversy this topic stirred up a couple of years ago? Well, it’s back—in fact, it’s been back for a while. Why? This time it’s different because we’re being mandated by a 2023 state law to allow for “middle housing” throughout the city, including duplexes in the single family zones and fourplexes in areas closer to transit stops. The Planning Commission has been tackling this issue for several months now, and they are close to making a recommendation on middle housing policies (including accessory dwelling units). Middle Housing has been incorporated into the Planning Commission’s discussions on the Comprehensive Plan’s Housing Element and Land Use Element. 

The Planning Commission will be finalizing their recommendations at the October 15 meeting, and on October 28, the Planning Commission will be presenting its recommendations to the City Council.  After the high-level Comprehensive Plan middle housing policies are adopted this year, in early 2025, the Planning Commission will bring forward recommendations on more nuts and bolts zoning regulations on middle housing for City Council consideration and adoption before the state mandated June 2025 deadline. For more information check out the City’s middle housing webpage.

Lakepointe
We’ve been in negotiations with the property owner, and I believe we’re getting close to a deal (though at any time, the whole thing can fall apart). In the meantime, we’ve prepared a “due diligence” budget that puts money down to potentially purchase a portion of the Lakepointe property and provides funding for preliminary shoreline restoration and park design, testing for contaminants, among other things. Here’s a link to an article from Mayor Herbig on this topic. Go to our Lakepointe webpage for the latest updates.

Imagine Housing Proposal
On September 30, the City Council approved a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Imagine Housing to purchase and develop the city-owned vacant lot on the north side of 181^st Street behind Safeway. This LOI outlines key deal points, including purchase price of the land, number and mix of affordable units, and timelines. Go to the Imagine Housing webpage and the City’s webpage to get more details on the latest iteration of this proposal.

Financial Sustainability Plan (FSP)
In May, the FSP task force presented their recommended financial sustainability plan to the City Council. Taking in the Council’s feedback on the proposed plan as well as what’s transpired with the development of the 2025-2026 biennial budget, we will be presenting a modified FSP to the City Council next month. This modified plan will include actions to take on both sides of the ledger and incorporates most of the task force’s recommendations. Stay tuned—and watch for this topic to come back to the Council in November in parallel with the 2025-2026 budget discussions.

2025-2026 Biennial Budget
We presented the 239 page budget to the City Council on Monday, October 7. This two-year budget is packed with a ton of cool things, including a plan for spending the remaining $2 million of the one-time “Special Projects” funding made possible by the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act. Starting next week (October 14), the City Council will have a series of budget discussions on most Mondays through November, with final adoption of the 2025-2026 budget expected on November 25. Click here to view what’s inside the proposed budget and to keep up on the latest conversations.

For the sake of brevity, that’s latest for now. This update is just the tip of the iceberg—there is so much going on for a city of our size.  We’d love to hear from you—feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. You can also attend “Coffee with Council” at the Hangar on the first Mondays of the month at 7:30 a.m. or the third Saturdays of the month at 9:30 a.m. for casual conversations with your city councilmembers.

In the meantime, we hope you stay with us on this ride—these issues directly affect all of us not only here and now, but also for generations to come.

-- Rob Karlinsey, City Manager

See more City of Kenmore news: www.kenmorewa.gov/news

Si gusta communicarse con la ciudad de Kenmore o revisar un documento en otro idioma, envíe su solicitud con su información de contacto a cityhall@kenmorewa.gov o llame al 425-398-8900.