A. Plan Applicability and Consistency

The Comprehensive Plan serves as the guiding policy document to attain the City’s vision of the future over the next 20 years or longer. This means that decisions and actions in the present are based on the adopted plan. One of the central tenets of the Growth Management Act is to require consistency in planning.

Consistency is determined in a number of ways. The following represent those areas where “consistency” must be achieved:

♦    The Comprehensive Plan must comply with the Growth Management Act.

♦    The Plan must be consistent with the Shoreline Management Act (adopted under the authority of Chapter 90.58 RCW and Chapter 173-26 WAC).

♦    The Plan is to be consistent with the regional plan – the multicounty planning policies adopted by the Puget Sound Regional Council in VISION 2040.

♦    It must be consistent with the adopted Countywide Planning Policies as well as coordinated with the plans of adjacent jurisdictions.

♦    State agencies and local governments must comply with the Comprehensive Plan.

♦    The various elements of the Comprehensive Plan must be internally consistent.

Vision 2014 cover

VISION 2040 Regional Planning Statement

The Comprehensive Plan has been updated based on residential and employment targets that align with VISION 2040. Residential and employment targets have also been identified for the entire City and for the designated regional growth center in Totem Lake. Through a development capacity analysis, the City determined that it has the land capacity and zoning in place to meet the City’s assigned housing and employment targets for the year 2035.

The Comprehensive Plan addresses each of the policy areas in VISION 2040 that will make Kirkland livable, sustainable and connected. The plan advances a sustainable approach to growth and future development and incorporates a comprehensive approach to planning and decision-making.

♦    The Environment Element contains policies that address maintaining, restoring and enhancing ecosystems through habitat protection, water conservation, and air quality improvement. Environmentally friendly development techniques, such as low-impact landscaping, are also supported in the plan. Both the Environment and Transportation Elements have policies to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to reduce Kirkland’s impact on climate change. The plan includes provisions that strive to ensure that a healthy environment remains available for current and future generations.

♦    In response to other policies in VISION 2040, the Comprehensive Plan encourages more compact urban development and includes design guidelines for mixed-use, transit-oriented, walkable and bikeable development. The plan includes directives to prioritize funding and investments in Totem Lake regional growth center.

♦    The City has established an affordable housing goal in the Housing Element for this planning period. The Housing Element commits to expanding housing production for all income levels to meet the diverse needs of both current and future residents.

♦    The Economic Development Element supports a sustainable and environmentally friendly economy, diverse, livable wage jobs, and local innovative businesses.

♦    The Transportation Element advances cleaner and more sustainable mobility options with provisions for complete streets that include multimodal improvements and streets integrated with low impact, green, context-sensitive design. The City supports programs and strategies that advance alternatives to driving alone. Transportation planning is coordinated with neighboring jurisdictions through the Bellevue Kirkland Redmond transportation forecast model. The City is committed to conservation methods in the provision of public services.

♦    The Public Services and Utilities Elements assure infrastructure and services that support existing and future residents and businesses with level of service standards and funding of projects to achieve these standards established in the Capital Facilities Element.

♦    The Community Character Element contains goals that protect and enhance our neighborhoods, overall local identity and historic resources.

♦    The Human Services Element has goals to support organizations and programs that provide for those in need, youth and seniors.

The Comprehensive Plan also addresses local implementation actions in VISION 2040, including identification of underused lands and development trends for the buildable lands report, tracking of housing and employment growth, implementation strategies for its goals and policies, and monitoring mode-split goals for the City’s growth. In addition, the plan also addresses updating capital projects to ensure that provisions for adequate public facilities and services are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and VISION 2040.

Implementing the Plan

The City’s legislative and administrative actions and decisions must be in compliance with the adopted plan. To accomplish these actions and decisions, a number of tasks need to be completed. The Implementation Strategies noted in Chapter XIV list those steps. As the City updates the plan, some of its development regulations may need to be revised to be consistent with and to implement the plan. The Zoning Map needs to be updated to be consistent with and implement the Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan.

The Comprehensive Plan is the policy basis for the development regulations. The goals and policies in the plan themselves are not regulatory, but are general guiding principles. Development regulations are the tools to be used in reviewing development applications and must be consistent with the Plan. In instances when the regulations appear to be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the regulations shall nonetheless govern. However, any inconsistencies must be resolved either by amending the regulations or revising the Plan.

Along with development regulations, the City may use the Comprehensive Plan as the policy basis for decisions and determinations under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Even so, the City has strived to integrate SEPA into the zoning permit review process as much as possible rather than using a separate environmental review process.

The plan contains subarea plans for each neighborhood or business district. These subarea plans contain goals and policies important to each neighborhood. However, if there are conflicts or inconsistencies between the Comprehensive Plan Elements and a neighborhood plan, the general Plan Element goals and policies apply.

The Comprehensive Plan will also be used to guide the City in developing its Capital Improvement Program and in the preparation or update of the various functional plans and programs.

The goals of the General Element are as follows:

Goal GP-1: Cooperate and coordinate with all levels of government to achieve effective, efficient, and responsive governance for Kirkland’s citizens.

Goal GP-2: Promote active community participation in all levels of planning decisions.