Planning Commission

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The Planning Commission advises the City Council on all matters relating to the Kirkland Comprehensive Plan and land use regulations. The seven members are appointed by the Council to four-year terms. The Commission meets regularly on the second and fourth Thursday of the month at 7 PM in the City Council Chamber. It uses the professional staff services of the Planning and Building Department.

 


The next meeting of the Planning Commission is scheduled for March 28, 2024.

The virtual meeting audio will be recorded and posted on the City's website.

Public comments will be accepted during the Requests From the Audience portion of the meeting.  Written comments will be accepted by emailing the project planner associated with each project.  More information can be found on the Public Comments Procedures page.

Date: March 28, 2024
Time:  7:00 PM
Location: Council Chambers, City Hall, 123 5th Ave 

Join the meeting webinar at 7:00 PM:
https://kirklandwa-gov.zoom.us/j/84346039816?pwd=VWNmM1laaWVLSUZPa0NGanFtbnpTQT09
Passcode: 047168
Or Telephone: +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Webinar ID: 843 4603 9816

View Meeting Agendas and Packets

If you have any questions regarding the meeting, please contact Deputy Director Allison Zike at azike@kirklandwa.gov, or call 425-587-3259.

The administrative support staff for the Planning Commission is Program Specialist Bryan Cole. He can be reached at 425-587-3236, or bcole@kirklandwa.gov.


 

Past Meeting Archive      Past Minutes & Recordings      

Note: The City of Kirkland appreciates the interest of our community members and values public involvement. We make every effort to make the recordings of our meetings available soon after each meeting is completed. However, due to technical difficulties that may occur with our digital recording system it may take up to four days for a recording to become available online. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

 

Subscribe to Planning Commission E-mail List

 

Meet the Planning Commission

Scott Reusser, Chair - (term expires 03/31/2027)

Scott Reusser Planning Commissioner October 2019.jpg Scott Reusser, Chair, Highlands Neighborhood 

Joined the Kirkland Planning Commission effective April 1, 2019. He previously served for eight years on the Design Review Board from 2010 - 2018.

Seattle native, grew up in Shoreline and attended Kings Highschool. Studied Business Administration and Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington.  Graduated from the University of Washington Foster School of Business with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree. He purchased his first home in Kirkland in 1990, and is a 30-year resident of the Kirkland Highlands Neighborhood. Scott has been the owner and operator of a local landscape, construction and nursery since 1984, and has worked on projects throughout Kirkland and the Northwest. 

Scott served on the Kirkland Design Review board for eight years prior to being on the Kirkland Planning Commission and helped review large projects from the new Kirkland Urban project to the Totem Lake Mall project.   

Currently, Scott is a figure skating instructor with the Kirkland Parks Department's "Learn to Skate" program at the Kingsgate SnoKing Ice Arena.  



Rodney Rutherford, Vice-chair - (term expires 03/31/2024)

Rodney Rutherford Planning Commissioner October 2019.jpg Rodney Rutherford, Vice-chair, Rose Hill Neighborhood

Rodney joined the planning commission in October 2019. He has resided in Kirkland’s Rose Hill with his wife and two kids since 2008, and has always lived within four miles of Lake Washington.

Rodney loves to learn how we can enable small incremental changes in every neighborhood to address the multi-faceted challenges of our city. Since moving to Rose Hill, he has served on his neighborhood association board for eight years, represented neighborhoods on Kirkland’s Housing Strategy Plan Advisory Group in 2017, and influenced the update of neighborhood plans in 2018. While living in Seattle in the mid-2000s, struck by the frustrations of commuters stuck in traffic, he previously volunteered on projects that would ensure easier mobility for all, most notably serving with the Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board.

Rodney volunteers as a weekly host at the Safe Parking Program in his neighborhood, providing homeless women and families a safe place to sleep in their cars, since 2013. This experience has inspired him to raise awareness of housing models that can better meet the changing needs of our community. To this end, Rodney co-founded Liveable Kirkland to collaboratively envision places for everyone in our community, while also advancing the sustainability and quality of our neighborhoods.

Rodney has worked at Google Kirkland as a systems engineer since 2007. Outside work, Rodney loves to learn about the systems that shape our community. To deepen his knowledge and broaden his perspective, he reads the works of authors such as Jeff Speck, Jane Jacobs, Alain Bertaud, and Andrew Heben, as well as research from organizations like Sightline Institute and Strong Towns.



Angela Rozmyn - (term expires 03/31/2026)

Angela Rozmyn Planning Commissioner October 2019.jpg Angela Rozmyn, Finn Hill Neighborhood

Angela was born in Kirkland and is a graduate of the Lake Washington School District public schools.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Willamette University and a graduate certificate in Sustainable Built Environment. As a former park ranger and current builder of affordable housing, her lifelong passion is in creating sustainable, affordable, livable communities and making an impact on her local city.  She lives with her husband and son in the Finn Hill Neighborhood.




Aaron Jacobson - (term expires 03/31/2025)

 Aaron Jacobson, Lakeview Neighborhoodaaron-jacobson-planning-commissioner-december-2023.jpg

Aaron Jacobson joined the planning commission in December 2023. He has served as the Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods Representative for the Lakeview Neighborhood Association, Co-Chair of the Kirkland Alliance of Neighborhoods, as well as Vice Chair of the ARCH Community Advisory Board. 

Aaron has a BA in Law, Economics, and Public Policy and BS in Computer Science and Software Engineering from UW-Bothell as well as a MS in Data Science from UW. Aaron currently works as a Data Scientist at a real estate start up and has previously worked at Microsoft and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

A renter, Aaron is focused on easing the cost of living.




Katya Allen - (term expires 03/31/2025)

Katya-Allen_1.jpg Katya Allen, Moss Bay Neighborhood

Katya Allen moved to Kirkland in 1978.  She is a 4th generation Washingtonian and her great grandfather was the Chief Engineer for the Juanita Bay Bridge built in 1932.  Katya is a graduate of the Lake Washington School District and has a BA in Business from Washington State University.  After 20 years in Bellevue, Katya recently returned to Kirkland moving to Moss Bay with her husband David. They are fully embracing the 10 minute neighborhood downtown Kirkland offers, -so much so that they went from three cars to one.  

Katya owns a boutique executive recruiting firm where she works with venture capitalists to build start-up leadership teams.  She also manages single family and multi-tenant properties.  Recently Katya and her husband started a Bike Friendly Driver Training company educating commercial drivers on bicycle infrastructure and cyclist behavior.  Her volunteer experience dates back to candy striping at Evergreen Hospital and includes founding an annual charity auction for pediatric cancer patients which has raised more than $5,000,000 to date. 

Katya is interested in transit oriented development and safer streets for all Kirklanders.  Her favorite movie remains Star Wars Episode IV.


Sandeep Singhal - (term expires 03/31/2024)

Sandeep Singhal Planning Commissioner October 2019.jpgSandeep Singhal, Market Neighborhood

A sixteen year resident of Kirkland's Market Neighborhood, Sandeep Singhal has served on the Market Street traffic task force, Transportation Commission (both as Vice Chair and Chair), Park Bond working group, and is currently on the Planning Commission.  Sandeep is passionate about safe and walkable neighborhoods and sustainability.  On the Planning Commission, he seeks to preserve Kirkland's quality of life while supporting responsible growth.  Sandeep is an Engineering Director at Facebook and has previously worked at Google, Microsoft, and IBM.

Bria Heiser - (term expires 3/31/2026)

Planning Commissioner Bria Heiser Bria Heiser, South Rose Hill Neighborhood

Bria joined the Planning Commission in April 2022.  She is a Seattle native and second generation homebuilder in Kirkland.  

In 2014, Bria and her husband started their own homebuilding company located in Kirkland.  During the past decade, their company has built a wide range of housing in Kirkland, from low density projects to urban townhomes and ADU's.  Additionally, the company worked with the Seattle Housing Authority to build over 40 townhomes in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle.  Bria remains very interested in the advancement of missing middle housing.

Previously, Bria worked for an Eastside-based brokerage focused on land and commercial projects.  She received her B.A. in Public Relations from Pepperdine University and is a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish County.

Bria and her husband, Adam, are long-time Kirkland residents.  They reside in the South Rose Hill Neighborhood with their son AJ and daughter Margot.  They enjoy biking on the Cross Kirkland Corridor and are busy with Kirkland Little League.