8. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

Perhaps the most important environmental contribution of this Subarea Plan is leveraging the Station Area as a transit-oriented, walkable, bikeable community with the potential for significant vehicle trip reduction. Single-occupancy vehicle trips are a significant generator of emissions for the City, and concentrating growth in an area with robust transportation choices will reduce these emissions on a per capita basis.

Natural Environment

The Subarea straddles two primary watersheds roughly divided by I-405: the Moss Bay and Forbes Creek drainage basins. Moss Bay waterways consist of short stretches of open channel separated from Lake Washington by long piped sections. The Forbes Creek watershed includes Forbes Lake and associated wetlands and creeks.

The Forbes Creek watershed is a salmon bearing habitat. It also includes dense areas of existing vegetation interspersed through neighborhoods. To support the goals of enhancing urban ecology, biological diversity, and tree canopy within the station area, existing patches and corridors of vegetation should be protected, restored and enhanced, and gaps filled. To support citywide goals around tree canopy and habitat, policies build on Kirkland’s existing urban forestry plan to incentivize integrated green infrastructure project contributions at the site scale, leveraging new buildings, sites, frontages, open spaces, and streets. These green infrastructure strategies can create multiple benefits across ecosystem functions such as: improving mental and physical health; cleaning water and air; increasing biodiversity; and making Kirkland more resilient to the impacts of urbanization and climate change impacts, including increased frequency and intensity of rainfall and warmer temperatures.

The citywide Environment Element (Chapter V.) shows the citywide wetlands, streams, and geologically hazardous area maps for the Subarea and discusses environmental quality, natural amenities and function, environmental hazards, and stormwater management policies.

The following goals and policies are natural environment priorities for the Subarea and supplement citywide policies.

Natural Environment Goals and Policies

Goal SA-33:

Enhance urban ecology, biological diversity, and tree canopy within the Subarea.

Goal SA-34:

Protect and enhance critical areas, natural systems, and habitat.

Policy SA-35:

Adopt regulations that encourage the built environment to incorporate functional green infrastructure elements that enhance efforts to improve the natural environment of the Subarea.

Policy SA-36:

Contribute to in-watershed habitat connectivity, tree canopy, and stream health goals that connect natural systems within the Station Area to the broader community.

Policy SA-37:

To enhance stormwater quality, explore partnership opportunities to treat stormwater from the public right-of-way on project sites with shared facilities that contribute to a district-wide green infrastructure program.

Policy SA-38:

To support ecosystem health, pursue enhanced stormwater treatment for water quality pollutants, with a priority on the Forbes Creek watershed.

Policy SA-39:

To support urban habitat, consider design and management practices that provide dark sky environments, bird-safe construction, and adaptive management of landscapes.

Policy SA-40:

To reduce potable water needs and address droughts, encourage water use efficiencies and support rainwater capture, harvesting, reuse, and on-site treatment.

Policy SA-41:

Explore public/private partnerships that advance integrated and interdisciplinary approaches for environmental planning (systems approach).

Policy SA-42:

Explore opportunities to utilize WSDOT right-of-way for open space benefits such as stormwater treatment, managed natural areas, and canopy restoration.

Sustainability, Climate Action, and Resilience

The Station Area Subarea is envisioned as a demonstration district that maximizes opportunity for innovation and community benefits around climate action, resilience, and quality of life. The scale and unique opportunities of a mixed-use, transit-oriented district provide a tangible way to advance the City’s broad sustainability and resilience goals that are also articulated in the Sustainability Master Plan. The Station Area Subarea envisions a ‘future-ready’ district that is responsive to quickly changing climate conditions, that takes advantage of the scale and unique opportunities of a mixed-use, transit-oriented district, recognizes the pace of market transformation, and does not preclude future innovations.

Because vehicular trips are one of the major drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, shifting towards more transit and active transportation options will play an important role in reducing emissions. Beyond these fundamental strategies that have sustainability co-benefits, a Green Innovation Strategy for the Station Area supports innovation in building performance, ecosystem/green infrastructure, and energy/decarbonization to maximize community benefit for Kirkland’s residents and employees.

The Plan supports growth through a mix of land uses and transit-oriented development, along with improved biking and walking connections and an enhanced open space network. With the planned growth, there will also be an increased demand for resources including energy, water, and open space. However, a more compact, urban development pattern affords the potential to improve upon community resilience as a part of this planned growth, with strategies including shared resources, a more distributed, flexible approach to infrastructure, and enhancing ecosystem performance. Many sustainability co-benefits will accrue through the fundamentals of these smart growth concepts represented in the Station Area Plan – particularly by integrating land use, transportation, and open space.

The following goals and policies support Subarea objectives for an inclusive district that supports community benefits and quality of life around the thematic areas of ecosystems, green infrastructure, and energy and decarbonization.

Sustainability Goals and Policies

Goal SA-43:

Prioritize opportunities to create multiple benefits across ecosystem functions such as: improving mental and physical health; cleaning air and water; increasing biodiversity; and making the City more resilient to the impacts of urbanization and climate change impacts.

Policy SA-44:

Implement the City’s Sustainability Master Plan goals at a local and district scale, leveraging the unique opportunities created by the BRT Station and transit-oriented development.

Policy SA-45:

Integrate strategies into sustainability regulations for the district that “future-proof” the plan to ensure development and regulations are not precluding future innovation in the field.

Policy SA-46:

Develop a “Future Ready” district framework guide to align development in the Station Area with the City’s Sustainability Master Plan policies and performance targets. Specific areas of focus should be: energy and decarbonization; habitat/ecology; and green infrastructure.

Policy SA-47:

Identify programs that:

○    Recognize the role of land use, development, and transportation on greenhouse gas emissions.

○    Support achievement of state and regional greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.

○    Reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by increasing alternatives to driving alone.

○    Expand electric transportation infrastructure.

○    Promote innovative green building practices in design, materials selection, construction, and maintenance.

○    Encourage retrofitting of existing buildings to reduce building energy use.

○    Promote wise use of services and resources (including conserving water and energy, reducing waste, treating stormwater).

Policy SA-48:

Establish a Green Factor code that encourages visible, functional, green spaces and high-quality habitat. For example, these multi-benefit strategies can be achieved at the ground plane by establishing healthy tree canopy and rain gardens, on the vertical plane by establishing green walls, and on the roof plane by establishing green roofs and pollinator gardens.

Policy SA-49:

Identify long term opportunities that consider the shift from high temperature, centralized generation plants to a more distributed, multi-source approach to generation, transmission, and storage of energy.

Policy SA-50:

Explore long term strategies including shared and distributed systems, like purple pipes, district energy, and on site black and gray water treatment in collaboration with partner organizations and local utilities.