Over the last year, the City has heard from thousands of community members who want more facilities and opportunities in Kirkland’s beloved parks system and recreation programs. The City’s soon-to-be adopted PROS Plan, as well as the City’s capital improvement plan, together outline a path for the City’s continued investment in parks and recreation. However, the City Council has heard that many in our community want the City to accelerate the timeline on delivering on what the community is asking for.
Therefore City Council adopted Resolution 5514(PDF, 642KB) at its March 1, 2022 meeting directing staff to:
explore potential comprehensive Parks ballot measure options to be placed before Kirkland voters in 2023 for the purpose of maintaining and expanding natural areas, open spaces, aquatic and recreational facilities, and program opportunities that enhance the health and wellbeing of the community to further the goals of abundant parks, open spaces, and recreational services.
The City will lead the community through an inclusive process to determine the highest priorities for a citywide parks and recreation ballot measure in 2023. There will be many steps in this process for community involvement including a Parks Funding Exploratory Committee made up of representatives from across Kirkland that is anticipated to meet from roughly October 2022 through January 2023. The intention of the Funding Exploratory Committee will be to provide recommendations to the City Council on whether and how to best proceed with a ballot measure in 2023.
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What is the Parks 2023 Ballot Measure?
Exploring a potential Parks 2023 Ballot Measure is part of the City's 2021-2022 Work Program.
This project will consist of many phases and include opportunities for community engagement.
- Summer 2022: Feasibility study and costing analysis for potential ballot measure investments
- Summer 2022: City Council to establish a Parks Funding Exploratory Committee made up of representatives from community groups and at-large community members
- September 2022 - February 2023: Parks Funding Exploratory Committee to gather community input and review information about potential investments
- Spring 2023: Parks Funding Exploratory Committee to make recommendation of potential ballot measure investments and size of ballot measure to City Council
- Summer 2023: City Council to decide what ballot measure to bring to voters and to pass a resolution to initiate the public voting process
- Fall 2023: City to provide educational information about the ballot measure
- November 2023: General election
What might the measure include?
The Kirkland community will be pivotal in determining what to include in the Parks 2023 Ballot Measure.
We expect that City Council will request the creation of a Parks Funding Exploratory Committee to help determine what items to include on the measure. This Parks Funding Exploratory Committee will be made up of 30-40 members from various Kirkland community groups as well as at-large members to ensure representation for the breadth of the Kirkland community. We anticipate that the committee will meet regularly starting in September 2022 through February 2023. The Committee will make recommendations to City Council in the spring of 2023 regarding what the ballot measure should include. Then based on input from the Committee and other community feedback, City Council will make a final decision on the ballot measure in the summer of 2023.
Community feedback over the past few years, including over 4,700 Kirkland community members who provided input as part of the 2022 Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan update, has shown a strong desire to add an aquatic center and additional indoor recreation space in Kirkland. Community and aquatic centers contain different types of amenities and features. Here are some inspirational images. Photos are credited as listed.
How can I get involved?
We are still in the early stages of exploring a potential Parks 2023 Ballot Measure.
- One of the first ways to get involved is to sign up for our mailing list to learn about project updates and opportunities.
- We also encourage you to attend Park Board public meetings and provide public comment about park-related issues that are important to you.
- You can also email feedback and input to playitforward@kirklandwa.gov.
- Or you can call to leave feedback and input at 425-587-3315
Request a speaker
Thank you for contacting us to request a City of Kirkland staff speaker to talk about the potential 2023 Parks Ballot Measure. Use this
form to request a staff speaker at least 4 weeks prior to the event date. Please provide as much detail as possible so we can do our best to meet your needs.
Background & Milestones