EXPLAINER · PROCESS

How to Comment in Writing

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Where to send a written comment to the City of Kirkland, when it counts most, and how to find open comment periods near you.

You don't have to go to a meeting to be heard. A written comment reaches the same people who make the decision, and you can send it on your own schedule. This guide covers who to write to, how to time it, and where the city posts deadlines for projects in your neighborhood.

Where to send it:

  • City Council: CityCouncil@kirklandwa.gov (reaches all seven members)

  • Planning Commission: PlanningCommissioners@kirklandwa.gov

  • A specific development project: the project planner named on the city's notice

  • Open comment periods: the city's Planning Public Notices page

Step by step

  1. Figure out who decides. The City Council sets policy, passes laws and adopts the budget. The Planning Commission reviews zoning and land-use changes and makes a recommendation before they reach the council. A specific development project, such as a new subdivision, is handled by city planning staff, and some go to a hearing before the city's Hearing Examiner. Write to whoever is making the call at that stage.

  2. Find the deadline. For a council or commission item, send your comment before the meeting where it's decided. The council packet posts the Friday before, so the weekend and Monday are the best time. For a development project, the city's notice lists a comment deadline. For a public hearing, comments are taken until the hearing closes.

  3. Write a subject line that does the work. Before a big vote, councilmembers may see a long list of emails, and the subject line is often the first thing they read. Put the item, the date and your position right there. The tips below show what that looks like.

  4. Say what you want and why. Keep it to one topic. Say what you'd like decided, give your reason, and mention that you live in Kirkland and which neighborhood. A short, specific note is easier to act on than a long one.

  5. Send it. Email works best. You can also mail a letter to City Hall, 123 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland, WA 98033. Address it to the City Council, or to the project planner for a development project.

  6. Expect it to be public. Comments sent to the city become public records. They may appear in a council packet or be released to anyone who asks. Our guide on how to request public records explains how that works.

Writing an email that gets read

This part is our advice, not city rules. It comes from reading a lot of public comment in council packets.

  • Make the subject line your message. "Item 9.b, Oct. 6: Please delay the parking code changes" tells a councilmember what you want before they open it. "Concerns" or "Please read!" tells them nothing. For a development project, include the file number, such as "File SUB26-00421: drainage concerns."

  • Put your ask in the first sentence. Say what you'd like decided, then explain why. Don't save the point for the last paragraph.

  • Say who you are. Use your full name, say that you're a Kirkland resident if you are, and name your neighborhood. For a project near you, mention how close you live to it.

  • Keep it short. A few short paragraphs is plenty. If you have more to say, a second email on a second topic is better than one long one.

  • Point to the record. If you're responding to something in the packet, cite it, such as "page 112 of the October 6 packet." It shows you've done the reading and makes your point easy to check.

  • Write it in the body of the email. An attachment may not get opened. If you attach a photo or a document, sum it up in the email itself.

  • Make a form letter your own. If you're using a template from a group, add a sentence or two about your own street or situation. Identical emails tend to be counted rather than read closely.

  • Stay courteous. Your email is a public record and may be printed in a council packet. Write it so you'd be comfortable seeing it there.

  • Say thank you, too. Councilmembers hear mostly from people who are unhappy. A short note after a decision you agree with is noticed and remembered.

Finding open comment periods

  1. The city posts notices for development projects and hearings on its Planning Public Notices page, listed by neighborhood. The main kinds are:

  • Notice of Application: a proposed project, such as a new subdivision or short plat, with a deadline for public comment.

  • SEPA notices: the city's environmental review of a project, which often has its own comment period.

  • Notice of Hearing: an upcoming public hearing before the Planning Commission, the Hearing Examiner or the council.

  • Notice of Decision: a project that has been decided, which may start a window for appeals.

Each notice names the project, its file number and the planner assigned to it, along with the deadline. The city also offers email alerts for new notices, with a sign-up link at the top of the same page. For a weekly view of upcoming meetings, see our Meetings & Deadlines page.

Why timing matters most for project decisions

Some decisions about a single site or project are quasi-judicial. That means the council, or the Hearing Examiner, has to decide based only on the official record, a bit like a judge. The record includes testimony from the hearing and written comments submitted on time. It doesn't include emails that arrive after the comment period closes, and the council won't take public comment on these items at its own meeting.

So for a project near you, the comment period on the notice is the moment that counts. Send your comment to the project planner named on the notice, so it goes into the official record. Don't write to councilmembers privately about these cases. Washington's appearance of fairness law (chapter 42.36 RCW) bars them from private contact about a pending quasi-judicial matter, so a councilmember who receives your email has to disclose it publicly rather than simply weigh it.

What to expect after you hit send

  1. For policy questions, the budget, or anything on a council agenda, one email to CityCouncil@kirklandwa.gov reaches all seven councilmembers. Our page on how to contact the Kirkland City Council lists every member's own address and has more advice on writing a note that gets read.

The city's council page says written communications to the council or the city manager will be answered. Don't expect a reply from the whole council, though. Under Washington's open meetings law, a majority of the council can't discuss city business outside a public meeting, and that includes a group email thread. Replies, when they come, come from individual councilmembers or from city staff.

For the same reason, if a councilmember answers you and other councilmembers are copied, don't hit reply all. Answer just the person who wrote to you.

Your email may be included with the meeting materials, and anyone can request it as a public record. That's part of how the system stays open, and it's a good reason to write the way you'd speak at the podium.

Have you written to the city about something and want to compare notes? Neighbors share what's open for comment, and what they've learned from writing in, in our Facebook group.

Sources & city records

Last updated: October 2026.

Want to talk about this with neighbors? Join the Cherish Kirkland Facebook group. It’s a private community of Kirkland residents; request to join, answer the membership questions, and an admin will approve you.