A. Introduction

The City of Kirkland’s Shoreline Master Program consists of shoreline goals and policies contained in this chapter, shoreline regulations contained in Chapters 83 and 141 KZC and the Kirkland Shoreline Restoration Plan. The program is adopted under the authority of Chapter 90.58 RCW and Chapter 173-26 WAC.

Statutory Framework

The City of Kirkland manages the shoreline environment through implementation of the Shoreline Master Program. The Washington State Shoreline Management Act (SMA) provides guidance and prescribes the requirements for locally adopted shoreline master programs. The goal of the SMA, passed by the Legislature in 1971 and adopted by the public in a 1972 referendum, is to “prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the State’s shorelines.” The SMA establishes a broad policy giving preferences to uses that:

•    Protect shoreline natural resources, including water quality, vegetation, and fish and wildlife habitat;

•    Depend on the proximity to the shoreline (i.e., “water-dependent uses”);

•    Preserve and enhance public access or increase recreational opportunities for the public along shorelines.

The SMA establishes a balance of authority between local and State government. Under the SMA, Kirkland adopts a shoreline master program that is based on State guidelines but tailored to the specific needs of the community. The program represents a comprehensive vision of how shoreline areas will be used and developed over time.

The Department of Ecology has issued State guidelines for shoreline master programs in Chapter 173-26 WAC. The guidelines are intended to assist local governments in developing master programs, which must be accepted and approved by the Department of Ecology as meeting the policy objectives of the SMA established under RCW 90.58.020 as well as the criteria for State review of local master programs under RCW 90.58.090.

Vision

The City of Kirkland’s identity is strongly influenced and defined by its waterfront setting. Views of Lake Washington give Kirkland its sense of place and the City’s integrated network of trails, parks, and open spaces along the shoreline provides abundant opportunities for public access to the shoreline. The City’s waterfront parks provide places and host events where people can gather and interact. Kirkland’s shoreline commercial districts also provide opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the City’s unique natural setting along the shoreline. The waterfront provides many varied recreational opportunities to meet the needs of Kirkland citizens and provides a gateway to the City. It also provides vital habitat for fish and wildlife and the natural systems within the shoreline serve many essential biological, hydrological and geological functions.

The shoreline zone is one of the most valuable and fragile of Kirkland’s natural resources and, as a result, the utilization, protection, restoration, and preservation of the shoreline zone must be carefully considered.

The City developed its first Shoreline Master Program in 1974 as a component of the Comprehensive Plan. Key considerations within this plan and subsequent amendments included conservation, public access to the shoreline, and the guidance for water-oriented recreational uses to locate along the Kirkland shoreline. These initial policy objectives are reflected in today’s protection of the City’s significant natural areas as open space, as well as the extensive shoreline trail system and network of shoreline parks which have been established over time.

Over the significant time that has spanned since the original adoption of the City’s first Shoreline Master Program, there have been substantial changes to the lakefront environment. Industrial uses, such as the shipyard previously located at Carillon Point, have left Kirkland’s shoreline. The City has added significant publicly owned properties to our waterfront park system, most significantly the Yarrow Bay wetlands, Juanita Bay Park, Juanita Beach Park, and O.O. Denny Park. Water quality within Lake Washington, once severely impacted by nutrient loading from sewage, has remarkably improved since regional wastewater treatment plants were constructed and the final plant discharging directly into the lake was closed in 1967.

The lake environment has also been impacted by new challenges. The shoreline character has continued to change over time, as additional piers and bulkheads have been built, contributing to a loss of woody debris and other complex habitat features along the shoreline. Impervious surfaces have increased both within the shoreline area and in adjacent watersheds and this, together with consequent reduction in soil infiltration, has been correlated with increased velocity, volume and frequency of surface water flows. These and other changes have impacted the habitat for salmonids. In 1999, Chinook salmon and bull trout were listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The region’s response to this listing has resulted in new scientific data and research that has improved our understanding of shoreline ecological functions and their value in terms of fish and wildlife, water quality, and human health.

To address these changes, comply with the mandates of the Shoreline Management Act, and enable the City to plan for emerging issues, the City did an extensive update of its Shoreline Master Program that was adopted in 2010. The program responds to current conditions and the community’s vision for the future.

In updating the program, the City’s primary objectives were to:

•    Enable current and future generations to enjoy an attractive, healthy and safe waterfront.

•    Protect the quality of water and shoreline natural resources to preserve fish and wildlife and their habitats.

•    Protect the City’s investments as well as those of property owners along and near the shoreline.

•    Have an updated Shoreline Master Program (SMP) that is supported by Kirkland’s elected officials, citizens, property owners and businesses, the State of Washington, and other key groups with an interest in the shoreline.

•    Efficiently achieve the SMP mandates of the State.

The Shoreline Master Program was again updated in 2019 through a periodic review process.

The City of Kirkland, through adoption of the Shoreline Master Program update, intends to implement the Washington State Shoreline Management Act (Chapter 90.58 RCW) and its policies, including protecting the State’s shorelines and their associated natural resources, planning for and fostering all reasonable and appropriate uses, and providing opportunities for the general public to have access to and enjoy shorelines.

The City of Kirkland’s Shoreline Master Program represents the City’s participation in a coordinated planning effort to protect the public interest associated with the shorelines of the State while, at the same time, recognizing and protecting private property rights consistent with the public interest. The program preserves the public’s opportunity to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of shorelines of the State and protects the functions of shorelines so that, at a minimum, the City achieves a ‘no net loss’ of ecological functions, as evaluated under the Final Shoreline Analysis Report issued in December 2006. The Program also promotes restoration of ecological functions where such functions are found to have been impaired, enabling functions to improve over time.

The goals and policies of the SMA constitute one of the goals for growth management as set forth in RCW 36.70A.020 and, as a result, the goals and policies of this SMP serve as an element of Kirkland’s Comprehensive Plan and should be consistent with other elements of the Comprehensive Plan. In addition, other portions of the SMP adopted under Chapter 90.58 RCW, including use regulations, are considered a part of the City’s development regulations.

Organization

The policies are grouped under eight sections:

•    Shoreline Land Use and Activities

•    Shoreline Environment

•    Parks, Open Space and Recreation

•    Shoreline Transportation

•    Shoreline Utilities

•    Shoreline Design

•    Shoreline Archaeological, Historic and Cultural Resources

•    Restoration Planning

The Land Use section works together with other policies contained in this chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. The Land Use section addresses the general distribution and location of shoreline uses, the Shoreline Parks, Open Space and Recreation section more specifically addresses issues of public park operations and maintenance and standards for private shoreline recreation uses and modifications. The Environment section more specifically addresses shoreline critical areas, water quality, vegetation, and shoreline modifications such as filling and dredging. The Transportation section addresses both public access and circulation within the shoreline area. The Utilities section addresses utilities within the shoreline, while the Design section addresses public view corridors and designing for orientation to Lake Washington. The Archaeological, Historic and Cultural Resources section addresses identifying important sites and preventing destruction of the sites, and having educational projects and programs to appreciate the importance of the shoreline history. The Restoration section addresses the City’s adopted Restoration Plan for restoring the shoreline areas to achieve net benefit in ecological conditions.