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KIRKLAND
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WATER FRONT | Kirkland office building sold for $31 million [2]
Assistant city manager | Beard named new FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014 WCMA president [7]
A DIVISION OF SOUND PUBLISHING
Math | Kirkland resident to compete in Olympiad [6]
Appeals court reverses decision on Potala Village, sides with city BY TJ MARTINELL AND MATT PHELPS Kirkland Reporter
T
he Washington State Court of Appeals unanimously reversed a previous court ruling siding with Path America and Dargey En-
terprises, the developers of Potala Village in Kirkland, in its battle with the city of Kirkland as to how many residential units would be allowed in the development. Potala Village is to be built along Lake Street near 10th Avenue South on the
Kirkland waterfront. “We are very happy with the decision,” said Karen Levenson, who has helped spearhead the neighbors’ fight against the development during the past three years. “The judge did a very thorough job.”
The ruling overturned a previous order granting Path America’s motion for a summary judgment and dismissal. It also substantially cut the number of residential units allowed on the properties from what was planned. Path America was pre-
paring for a structure with 88 residential units. In its 25-page ruling, the court of appeals concluded that while Path America did complete the filing of a shoreline substantial development permit before the city of Kirkland imposed a mor-
atorium on the issuance of permits in November 2011, it did not file an application for a building permit until afterwards. During the moratorium, which the council extended numerous times, it eventually amended [ more POTALA page 9 ]
Limited parking at Juanita Village causing problems for employees Summer months at Village and Juanita Beach Park brings business and tickets BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Kirkland’s Demetrious Johnson fights Ali Bagautinov during the Flyweight Championship bout at UFC 174 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images
This Mighty Mouse packs a big punch Kirkland fighter holds UFC Flyweight Championship BY TJ MARTINELL tmartinell@kirklandreporter.com
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson has earned his nickname. The five-foot-three, 125-pound UFC flyweight champion successfully defended his title in June for the fourth time in his career. In December of last year, the 27-year-old knocked out his opponent during the first round, earning
a $50,000 bonus and fighters he sparred with “Knockout of the Night” at the gym. But as his reaward. cord shows, his “How much work fighting abiliA Puyalyou put in is how ties are nothing lup resident, much you get out. to joke about, Johnson trains out of the AMC Nothing dictates with a total of Martial Arts 20 wins out of what’s going to gym in Kirkhappen. It’s all my 23 professional land. Johnson fights, four of work and I love first acquired working hard ...” those won by the “Mighty knockout. Demetrious Mouse” name A wrestler “Mighty Mouse” Johnson due to his at Washington smaller stature High School in compared to the other Parkland, Johnson won
third and second place at the state championship meet the Mat Classic. Although he said he doesn’t employ wrestling in his strategy, he said the training regimen of cutting weight to remain in the right weight class, fighting in a confined area and taking instructions from coaches, laid the groundwork for when he began fighting professionally. “It’s almost identical,” he said of the training [ more UFC page 3 ]
A combination of limited parking and time restrictions at Juanita Village has led to conflict as employees struggle to find a place to park without getting ticketed. While patrons of Juanita Beach Park have complained to the city of Kirkland that Juanita Village employees are parking in the park’s parking lot, the employees have argued that not only are the parking spots in Juanita Village restricted to two hours, but they are intended for customers. Although there is underground parking, it is only free for two hours. Kristin Hoeks, a supervisor at the Starbucks in Juanita Village, said people like herself who work there have struggled to find permanent parking for their eight hour work shifts. At first, many workers parked in the Juanita Beach Park parking lot, but she said the city restricted their use to four hours. The city opens up lawn space in the north half of Juanita Beach and employees do park there, she said, but it is only used during the busiest times for the park
during the summer. Also, Hoeks said the time restrictions in Juanita Village means even if they find appropriate parking they still must move it in-between their lunch breaks. The lack of parking also means many customers will choose to go elsewhere if they can’t find parking. “It’s been a problem since I got here,” she said. Even then, it’s not always easy or convenient for some employees to move their vehicle. Angela Fackler, a supervisor at Edible Arrangements, said she has received eight tickets since she first started working there a year ago. Because it is a small business, she said, she usually works alone, and therefore would have to close it up temporarily to move her car, something which is not always practical. When she does move it, she said it can take a long time just to get out of the parking lot and find a new place, especially if traffic is bad. “It’s several hours of work,” she said. Online reviewers on Yelp have also discussed the parking issue. Numer[ more PARKING page 3 ]