1. Introduction

The Totem Lake Business District is located in the northeastern part of the City, south of the Kingsgate Neighborhood, east of Juanita, and north of North Rose Hill and Highlands. The district encompasses about 1.3 square miles, generally bounded by NE 132nd Street on the north, Slater Avenue and Willows Road on the east, and the boundary created by established single-family residential areas on the south and west. The boundaries of the business district and urban center are very closely aligned.

Totem Lake is designated as a regional “Urban Center.” The Totem Lake Urban Center boundaries incorporate the entire Totem Lake Business District with the exception of the light industry/office area north of NE 124th Street and east of 128th Lane NE and the wetland areas along the center’s western boundary, and the addition of land east of Slater and north of NE 116th Street that is included in the North Rose Hill Neighborhood (See Figure TL-1).

This chapter addresses goals and policies for both the business district and the designated urban center. The Urban Center designation was approved by King County in 2003, based on standards in the adopted Countywide Planning Policies, in recognition of the City’s Comprehensive Plan policies directing the majority of the City’s employment and housing growth to this area.

The Totem Lake Urban Center is also a designated Regional Growth Center within the Puget Sound Regional Council policy framework. Both the King County Countywide Planning Policies and the PSRC’s VISION 2040 envision cities with designated regional centers as playing an important role in shaping future growth patterns through accommodating a significant portion of the region’s employment and residential growth.

Throughout the region, Centers designations are part of a growth management and transportation planning strategy to provide for greater intensity and density in areas of compact development where housing, employment, shopping and other activities are close together in proximity to transit. These centers form the backbone of the transportation network, linking communities to reduce the rate of growth in vehicle miles travelled and greenhouse gas emissions by expanding transportation options.

This Plan for the Totem Lake Business District will also serve as the plan for the Totem Lake Urban Center, and the general goals and policies contained in this Chapter apply to both geographic areas. Centers plans must conform to the requirements of the Puget Sound Regional Council. Many of those requirements are addressed in this Chapter, while other issues, such as those related to capital facilities, public services and the multi-modal transportation system, are addressed in other Comprehensive Plan elements.

Kirkland has also signed the Growing Transit Communities Compact, providing a commitment to work in partnership with other communities in the Central Puget Sound region to address the objectives of this effort through including strategies in our Comprehensive Plan. This Plan for Totem Lake includes policies aimed at achieving these goals of attracting more residential growth and employment to areas served by high capacity transit, providing affordable housing choices near transit, and increasing access to opportunity for existing and future residents of the community served by high capacity transit.

Consistent with the Comprehensive Plan planning period this plan for the Totem Lake Business District addresses future land use through 2035. Growth targets for Totem Lake, as required for Regional Growth Centers, are provided in this Chapter. Development capacity for the Totem Lake Urban Center is not time-bound, and therefore, allows levels of development above the growth targets.

The last update to the Totem Lake Business District Plan occurred in 2002, adopted by Ordinance 3825, with an update in 2015 as part of the Citywide Comprehensive Plan update as required by the Growth Management Act (GMA).