Meetings for the week of March 23rd

Nicole Myers

— 29 min read

Monday, March 23rd 

Project will add astroturf, stormwater treatment improvements, a gravel path and discus field, and impact wetland buffers 

Refreshments available starting at 6pm. 

Tuesday, March 24th 

Oral Communications: There will be 30 minutes for public comment; speaker sign-up starts at noon (link) 

Council Liaison recommendations for commission reappointments: Arts, Erika Enomoto and Joydeep Hazra; ESC, Kenneth Wan; Human Services, Delfina Gonzalez and Mwanafitri Rashid, Parks & CS, Rowena Clima; Planning Mariah Kennedy  

Consent Calendar: 

- Claims and Payroll for February: $29.9M and $19.6M  

-Reject bids and bid protest and award the Kelsey Creek Culvert and Lake Hills Blvd. Water/Sewer Replacement project to Pivetta Brothers, not to exceed $10.6M plus tax  

- Authorize professional services agreement with Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure, LLC to administer an e-bike rebate program in Bellevue, Redmond, and Issaquah in 2026, not to exceed $519k. $338k came from Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE’s) Transportation Emissions Reduction Project Grant, and Bellevue's contribution is $100k, with Redmond putting in $50k and Issaquah $31k. This is expected to fund over 250 e-bikes, and 75% will be reserved for low-income households. It is modeled after the WSDOT program that offered $300-$1200 depending on income level. The efficiency of this program cannot be determined from the information provided. 

- Telecom Right-of-Way Use agreement with Hyper Fiber of Washington, LLC dba Ripple Fiber - 5 year, non-exclusive agreement with a possible extension, copy is available in the Council Library 

-Release a Slope easement and a portion of a Utility Easement located at 633 110th Ave NE and 640 108th Ave., where two office towers just north of the Bellevue Transit Center are being built by Acorn Development. The city will receive $77k. 

- Set a public hearing to release a water easement located at 12835 NE Bellevue Redmond Road. E-P Development will be placing 31 townhomes there, and the water line has been rerouted and they are trying to minimize impacts on the wetland and buffer (wetland and buffer are not shown on the maps). A public hearing is planned for May 5th.

- Interlocal agreement for $153k of cost sharing with Redmond for the addition of intersection improvements and buffered bike lanes on Bel-Red Road in the vicinity of NE 30th where resurfacing is due. Most of the work falls within Redmond, so Redmond is leading this project. 

-  Authorize Housing Stability Program capital funding in the amount of $14.5M and operations, maintenance, and services funding in the amount of $518k per year for five years, for the Altaire at East Main Project - 145 affordable rental apartments and one on-site manager unit, with a mix of one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom homes affordable to households earning 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% AMI. Project must have at least 37 HSP units for families at-risk or exiting homelessness.

-  Authorize an Affordable Housing Fund capital award in the amount of $3.5M for the Altaire at East Main Project

- Authorize Housing Stability Program capital funding in the amount of $6.1M, and operations, maintenance, and services funding in the amount of $120k per year for five years, for the Forest Edge Project by Imagine Housing. Approx 100 studios, one bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom homes affordable at 60% AMI. Includes 25 units dedicated for households with disabilities. 

- Authorize an Affordable Housing Fund capital award in the amount of $6.1M for the Forest Edge Project

- Authorize $542k for Bothell Urban - 201 permanently affordable rentals at 30%, 50% and 60% AMI

- Authorize $2M of  Housing Stability Program capital funding for the Bellwether Housing - Bellevue TOD Project -  a 127-unit, 8-story residential building, at 120th Ave NE and Bel Red Road in Wilburton on city-owned land. The majority of units serve residents earning less than 50% and 60% AMI, and must have at least 13 HSP units for families at-risk or exiting homelessness. Bellwether is collaborating with Bellevue Boys & Girls Club and WheelLab to create a community-focused space.

- Authorize an Affordable Housing Fund capital award in the amount of $1,715,400 for the Orchard Gardens Project - 25 new permanently affordable ownership homes for households earning up to 80% of the area median income. Each home will have three bedrooms with on-site parking. Habitat for Humanity purchased the 3.13 acre property from the Holy Cross Lutheran Church in December 2024.

Public hearing on release of an easement on the east side of the Bellevue Golf Course, which would be used for the new Parks & Community Services Operations Facility.

Public Hearing on Ordinance 6903 for the IOC with facade preservation in Old Bellevue along Main Street 

2026-2032 Affordable Housing Strategy (link) - This is intended to provide permanent housing solutions (shelters, supportive housing, and assistance for people experiencing homelessness are not the focus but will also be addressed in this strategy). This strategy is expected to double the number of affordable housing units created by 2036 to 4,000, with a significant shift to under 50% AMI units. The priorities are Creating or preserving under 50 percent AMI units, Remedying or addressing inequitable outcomes or results, and Improving the effectiveness of existing tools. Some changes have been made since the Feb 3 council meeting. Since rental registration may increase costs, a change has been made to instead monitor healthy housing reports for further interventions. 

     It's good to see action HS.2.4 for a centralized, user-friendly hub for affordable housing seekers, with a search tool, application guide, and language access is a high priority (I advocated for this during my campaign). Also good to see that seniors are included in HS.3.2, since projects targeted at them have been left in the cold during recent funding rounds. The strategy does a good job of identifying ways various city departments can support these housing goals.

      Still part of the vision: Rent stabilization, more zoning changes, lot size reductions (to enable lot splitting and also smaller homes, as high priority action SD.1.1), an updated land code to streamline development of affordable, middle, supportive, and homeless housing, city involvement in land acquisition and financing, exempting projects from review and waiving fees, technical support to lower development costs and speed timelines, tax incentives, tenant services and protection, improve navigation of the affordable housing system, expand rental assistance and vouchers, promote universal and accessible design (and visitability), family-sized units (prioritized for local funding in action UN.2.1), and pre-approved plans for middle housing. There is an action plan item HE.1.4 to create educational materials about restrictive covenants, and SD.3.1 is to inventory the CC&Rs. HE.3.3 says a high priority is to allow additional density in exchange for on-site affordable homeownership.

      I am not sure what specifically is meant by insurance reform to support affordable homeownership and addressing condo restrictions to support middle housing (like HB 2304? some of these items may be advocacy at the state level). Some aspects are also being addressed in the Utilities' cost allocations; as changes are implemented to reduce the water bills for multi-family properties by shifting costs to single family homes, that will increase the amount of rent that can be charged by the affordable housing providers.

     Typos? Page 20 says affordable homeownership may help families making up to 120% AMI ($181,725 for a family of four), while above that amount, people are expected to afford homes on the open market (I think there is a big donut hole here in reality). Page 29 makes it appear that white residents are much less likely to own their home than the Latino, Black, and Other categories, but it also says the latter categories are more cost-burdened (page 35). An ownership gap in the other direction is also cited on page 31 for the overall Puget Sound area. Page 46 says an ADU may be attached to a townhome (current policy is to attach up to 2 ADUs to a group of townhomes). Disparities don't count if they are due to "needs, eligibility, or preferences"? This definition of equity includes gender, while the Comp Plan does not.

     See also the HOMA incentives for affordable housing that passed at the last City Council meeting, the initiation of work on pre-permitted plans for DADUs and cottages, and Parking Reform which will lower costs associated with providing parking to new homes.

     See also the Newport residents' concerns (public comment on 3/10) about the safe parking facility coming to Newport Presbyterian Church (link), which was formerly on a city owned lot in Wilburton, but in early 2025, City staff identified that the building that the program was using was no longer safe for use. 4 Tomorrow has since operated the program exclusively on the parking lot, with no interior facilities available (!!!). Reducing barriers for safe parking is a high priority action on page 10 of the Action Plan. I think this is separate from another high priority action on page 17 for tax exemptions for utilization of vacant parking lots for affordable housing, since the latter sounds more permanent, but I'm not completely sure.

     The outreach summary includes work that started in January 2025, and it shows community support for housing for unique needs. There are lots of personal statements about the difficulty of finding or continuing to afford housing.  One particularly troubling comment was from a LIHI tenant (page 27 of 121). Some respondents seem unaware of the $ already being generated for affordable housing from the sales tax. Comments from developers and industry are mixed in with those from advocates, homeowners, renters, and non-residents. 

2026 State Legislative Session Wrap-Up - "The biggest cuts are to how daycares are reimbursed for providing childcare to low-income families and reducing the number of students who can participate in the transition to kindergarten." SB 6026 ended up being more problematic than I'd anticipated.

Solid Waste Contract Procurement The city will issue a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) to procure its next solid waste services vendor. Includes solid waste collection/processing, customer service, and billing for over 30,000 single-family households and nearly 2,000 multi-family and commercial properties. The current contract began in July 2014 and has an annual value of $37 million. The sole contract extension was exercised in 2021. The contract will expire in June 2028. List of accepted recyclables may change, and the city can specify other things about how they should run the service and set rates, etc. 

Wednesday, March 25th 

Great Neighborhoods Update for Eastgate and Factoria: Information only project update   

Thursday, March 26th 

Project to be located at 96th Ave SE and SE 7th St includes a 178' diameter, 6M gallon underground tank, pump station, and a 20" main that will travel over a mile to NE 4th and Bellevue Way. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2028. There will be extensive excavation on-site and for 15,700 linear feet of water main, with thousands of truckloads of cut and fill (page 6, truck routes not specified), but the eventual result will be a nice open space rather than an above-ground tank. Environmental report from last fall predated the CAO update in December, but it has extensive wetlands analysis. A street light will be added on the corner. 

Upcoming meetings:      

3/30 Transit Town Hall: The Future of Light Rail on the Eastside event at Bellevue City Hall, 6-7:30pm 

4/1 Arts Commission

4/2 Bellevue Network on Aging 

4/2 School Board Meeting 

4/2 ESC: 2025 Financial Performance, review of CIP, and Solid Waste Contract Procurement

4/4 New to Bellevue sustainability tour, 10am-noon (link) - visit Bellden Cafe, ride the 2 Line, and see BelRed Artist Studios, coffee and snacks provided

4/6 Human Services Commission 

4/8 Bellevue Development Committee meeting 

4/8 Planning Commission: Omnibus LUCA, High density residential LUCA, Affordable Housing Strategy post-adoption update

4/9 Transportation Commission will continue to discuss TIP if this time is needed 

4/18 Earth Day cleanup at Wilburton Hill Park

4/20 Parking Reform Data Walk at City Hall, 5:30-7:30pm, also 5/6 at Crossroads and online 5/8 (link)

4/22 Planning Commission: BelRed LUCA, MFTE Study Session 

4/22 Virtual Briefing on the Tax Increment Financing for the Grand Connection Crossing. 6-7:30pm (link)

4/23 Public Briefing on the Tax Increment Financing for the Grand Connection Crossing at City Hall, 6-7:30pm (link) - a virtual session is 4/22 

4/25 Open House for the new Fire Station 10 

5/7 ESC Rates forecast/Community Outreach, Water System Plan draft review 

5/13 Planning Commission: Public Hearing on the Omnibus LUCA and Introduction of Downtown Livability 2.0 

5/14 TC: Public Hearing on TIP, and Comp Plan Amendments 

Opportunities:

The best way to submit a comment about Affordable Housing is to email it directly to council@bellevuewa.gov by March 24th.

Engaging Bellevue has a map for residents to pin the kinds of community features they'd like to see in different parts of BelRed, as part of the BelRed Look Forward LUCA.   https://www.engagingbellevue.com/belred-luca There are 20 responses so far, about community and art space, bike connections, streams, traffic and parking, and small businesses. 

King County Parks is building an improved process to award $117 million in new grants, and the survey closes on March 26th. (link) 

The BSD Family Engagement Survey has been extended until March 27th. Families should have received a text message, or can find information in their school's newsletter.  

The Safe Speeds Bellevue Survey is open until March 31. The city wants to hear from you about the streets where speed limits were reduced and evaluated in 2025, streets where lower speed limits should be prioritized and how you would like to stay informed of the project. There are 10mph reductions proposed for W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy, part of Northrup and NE 20th, BelRed Rd, part of Kamber and SE 26th, Factoria Blvd, part of Newport Way, maybe others, and 5mph reductions in many places such as downtown, LWB, part of 114th,120th, 124th, 132nd, 148th, 140th, part of the Lake Hills Connector and many more. Background info here.

Safe Routes to School Survey and Interactive Map The city would like to hear from parents, students, teachers, administrators, bus drivers and neighbors about their experience walking, biking, rolling and driving near schools. Please complete this four-question survey and tell us about things you like, as well as things you see that could improve safety near your neighborhood school. Your feedback will be incorporated into the Safe Routes to School Action Plan.

Shape the future of utility services in Bellevue by taking a quick 3-minute survey by April 30th. When it comes to drinking water, wastewater disposal, stormwater flood management, surface waterways protection, and garbage / recycling / composting management, what’s working and what can be done better?

Medic One is offering a free program to introduce women to careers in EMS/FIRE, with a hands-on experience on April 25th and 26th; the application deadline is March 30th. bit.ly/PSRFAFWIEF

Energize - Community Spaces is taking applications for heat pump and weatherization upgrades that may be funded 100% by King County through April 20th (link) - places in Bellevue that are eligible include Crossroads, part of Lake Hills (Samena and south), and a chunk of Wilburton/Kelsey Creek south of Bel-Red, and community spaces that serve residents from those areas are also eligible. About 40 projects will be selected.  

PSRC is offering a Summer Planning Academy program for high school students that will meet on four days during the summer; apply through May 18th. After completion, students will be eligible for a $500 scholarship (link)

Cultural Conversations Facilitator Course: From May to August, participants will receive a two-hour training each month on group facilitation, cultural competency, language access and best practices for participatory engagement. They will identify relevant community themes for the 2026-2027 Cultural Conversations season, which runs from September to May, and practice new skills during real-world Cultural Conversations events. Applications are due by 5pm on Sunday, April 12th. 

Vendor and performer application is now open for the BelRed Arts Night Market. The event will take place on September 19, 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM at the BelRed Light Rail Station, featuring artist and cultural businesses/organizations booths, food trucks, arts activations,  live music and more. 

Fun and Educational Events: 

See the latest at https://newbellevue.com/?page_id=82 - it's updated several times a week. 

Not included in this calendar: KCLS' classes and events at local libraries, the cooking classes that Whisk and PCC offer multiple times per week, and many additional recreational classes, playtimes, hikes, adaptive classes, etc., offered by the city of Bellevue. Crossroads Mall has tons of live music performances.

Registration is now open for BSD Elementary Schools' before- ($175/$150 monthly for PreK/K-5) and after-school care ($595 monthly) for the 2026-2027 school year, which will be provided by Boys and Girls Club (link) - After the first day of signups, Bennett and Enatai are full for K-5, a couple other elementary schools had just a handful of spots left, and none of the preschool programs were more than half full.

If you would like to sign up to have a booth at the Spring District Line 2 celebration on 3/28, there are no booth fees.

3/20-4/4 photos with the Easter Bunny at the Bellevue Square Flower Patch; there is a free coloring tote while supplies last

3/23 Toddler Story Time at the Bellevue Library, 10:15 and 11:15am (link)

3/23 Meaningful Movies Project in partnership with Fix Democracy First invites you to the screening of The Inquisitor, about Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, online, 3pm (link)

3/23 Bellevue Teacher Night at Mercer Slough, 5-7pm - learn about NatureBridge outdoor education at Olympic National Park

3/23 Seattle Java Users Group meets at VMware in Bellevue for The Reputation Formula: Turbocharge Your Developer Career, 5:30-7:30pm (link)

3/23 Public meeting on the Sammamish HS Baseball Field renovation, virtual, 6pm (link) - project will add astroturf, stormwater treatment improvements, a gravel path and discus field, and impact wetland buffers

3/23 BSD Grading Practices Family Information Session, virtual on Teams, 6-7pm (link)

3/23 Rhetoracles Toastmasters at Bellevue City Hall, 6-7:30pm (link) - meets weekly

3/23 Sustainable Bellevue Town Hall, 6:30-8pm (link) - refreshments available starting at 6pm 

3/23 Bilingual Language Development talk hosted by Kindering on Zoom, free (link) 

3/24 Bellden Kickstarter ends just after noon - coffee, candles, granola, afternoon tea, experiences, VIP dinner, social club dinners, tea party, and more. The rewards for backers are very generous, you should check it out!

3/24 Family Story Time (various ages) at Bellevue Library, 5:30-6:15pm (link), recurs weekly

3/24 Books and Bites: A Gathering Celebrating Resident Authors at The Gardens at Town Square, 2pm - free event for seniors

3/24 Community chat with Bellevue College's VP of Administrative Services, room U208, 5-6pm

3/24 City Council meeting, 6pm (link) - a public hearing on the Downtown Old Bellevue IOC and  legislative session wrap up presentation have been scheduled, and the rest of the agenda will be announced in the week before the meeting. With this IOC, there may be facade requirements when properties along Main are redeveloped.

3/24 Intro to 3D printing at the Bellevue Library Makerspace, 6-7pm (link) - registration opens 3/17

3/24 Corks and Canvas napkin painting at Suite, 6-8pm (link)

3/25 Autism - a family affair: From Wondering to Diagnosis and Beyond with Kindering, free online talk, 1-2pm (link)

3/25 PuPPy & WiDS Python talk night at GitHub Bellevue, 5:30-8pm (link) - first talk will be about open source maintainers and contributors, food provided, afterparty will be at Lucky Strike

3/25 Seattle Agent Magazine's Accelerate Summit at InterContinental Bellevue, 10am-5pm (link)

3/25 Seattle Climbing meets at Edgeworks Bellevue, 4:30-7:30pm (link) - repeats 4/1

3/25 PuPPY and WiDS Python talk night at GitHub, 5:30pm (link) - Talk #1: Making a Match: How Open Source Maintainers and Contributors Can Find Each Other Better; Lightning talk: The Human Skills Behind GenAI Impact; Talk #2: To Vibe or Not To Vibe: Lessons from Vibe-Coding Small, Imperfect AI Projects

3/25 Greener Living Class: How to reorganize and declutter, virtual class, free, pre-register, 6-7pm (link)

3/25 Community Dinner to raise money for the Big Picture prom, $15 suggested donation, 6-7:30pm

3/25 WA Real Estate Investing meetup, 6-9pm (link)

3/25 Pajama Story Time at Lake Hills Library, ages 0-5, 6:15-7pm (link) - recurs weekly

3/25 Planning Commission meets at City Hall, 6:30pm (link) - Great Neighborhoods Update for Eastgate and Factoria

3/25 Board Games at Applebee's in BelRed with the Millenial Social Club, 6:30-8:30pm (link), recurs on Wednesdays

3/25 Premiere of Mavka:The True Myth at Cinemark Lincoln Square, 6:30pm (link) - English subtitles

3/26 Founders Monster Meetup Day at Venture Mechanics Launchpad, 9am-6pm (link)

3/26 Preschool (ages 3-5) Story Time at the Bellevue Library, 10:30-11:15am (link) - recurs weekly

3/26 Mending Circle at the Bellevue Library, 11-1pm (link) 

3/26 Baby Story Time at the Bellevue Library, 11:30am-12:15pm (link) - recurs weekly

3/26 Leadership Eastside's LE 101 Learning Event for CORE Experience at GIX, 11:30am-1pm - hear from alumni and get an overview of the program

3/26 Memory Cafe at The Inn at Belle Harbour, 12:30-2pm, RSVP by 3/23

3/26 Nowruz celebration at First Fed Bank, 3-6pm

3/26 Medic One presents free CPR, AED, and first aid classes at Bellevue Fire Station #9 in Newport Hills, 5-9pm (link) - a similar event will be held at the foundation offices on 4/2

3/26 Drop-in Art Activities at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, 5-7:30pm, repeats on second and fourth Thursdays

3/26 Thursday Evening Climb at Edgeworks, 5:30-7:30pm (link) - repeats weekly until 4/26

3/26 Beginner Hiking Workshop at NBCC, free, 6-7:30pm - what to wear, how to stay dry, and gear to bring

3/26 Cooking with Beer class at PCC, 21+, 6pm (link)

3/26 Meydenbauer South Reservoir Public Meeting, 6:30pm (link)

3/26-3/27 Title Nine annual bra fit fest, reserve a time in advance, discounts

3/26 Sip and Stitch at Rain City Needlepoint, 4pm

3/26 Studio Wax Esthetics HydraFacial Happy Hour event, 4-7pm

3/26 Silent Book Club Bellevue at Third Culture Coffee, 5:30-7:30pm

3/26 Group exhibition for ten artists: Four Orbits Around the Sun at the Toloka Cultural Center in BelRed, 6-8pm (link)

3/26 Cultural Conversations: Loneliness and Belonging at BBG, 6:30-8pm (link) - RSVP, light refreshments provided

3/26 Dinner with Sagebreaker x Trothe wines at La Mar, $165, 6:30-9:30pm (link)

3/26 Bellevue Womens' Book Club discusses Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei, 6:30-8pm (link)

3/26 A Garden of Useful Spaces talk with BBG, virtual, 7pm (link)

3/26 In-person Paint Night with Maxine Jung at Tapster, 21+, 7-9pm (link)

3/27 Deadline for the BSD Family Engagement Survey has been extended to 3/27; families should see a text message from the district or info in your school's newsletter.

3/27 Schools Out Day at Boys and Girls Club - Downtown Clubhouse is full for K-5, but there are still spots for Grade 6-8 (free). Eastside Terrace, Hidden Village, SBCC, and Spiritwood Manor still have openings for K-5 ($50), and Grades 6-12 are welcome at the Lake Hills and South Bellevue locations, 8am-6pm

3/27 Bellefield Office Park Open House, 9-10am (link)

3/27 Transform Your Greenery Copper Plant Stick Workshops, 10am and 1:30pm, (link) Classes Full

3/27 Pilates for Gardeners, 2-3pm (link)

3/27 Intro to Sergers at Bellevue Library Makerspace, 3:30-5:30pm (link) - registration opens 3/20

3/27-3/28 Evergreen Dance Festival in Renton - masterclasses in partner dance, ballet, jazz, Classical Indian dance, ages 8+ (varies), with a performance at 7pm on Saturday (link)

3/27 Board Game Bonanza at SBCC, 1-3pm, free, drop-in, recurs on Fridays until April 24th.

3/27 Pour-over Coffee Tasting at Capital One Cafe, 2-4pm - recurs on Fridays, and the March theme is Women's Month *This space also has very nice meeting rooms that non-profits and students can reserve

3/27 Korean Story Time at Newport Way Library, ages 0-8, 4:45-5:30pm (link) - recurs weekly

3/27 Evening with Damon Huard, former NFL quarterback and winery co-founder, at Valentina's Wine Bar, 5-7pm

3/27 Teen Art Studios by Gage Academy at HCC. Free drop-in class on Fridays with dinner and materials provided, and new mediums are taught each month. 6-9pm (link) - will not meet on 5/8

3/27 Community Bingo Night at Crossroads Community Center, 6-8pm, please pre-register

3/27 Crossroads Community Room Board Game meetup with Japan Seattle ABC Network, 6-8:30pm (link) - Japanese and English language learners welcome, may go to Applebee's afterward - recurs 4/24, 5/22, and 6/26

3/27 Valeriia Vovk Solo Tour, at Toloka in BelRed, 6-10pm (link)

3/27-3/29 Opening weekend for BYT's The Princess from the Moon, $13, performances at 7pm on Fri/Sat and 2pm on Sunday

3/27-4/19 Ханума at Theatre33

3/27 Open Mic Night: Lessons Learned at Third Culture Coffee, 7pm (signups at 6pm)

3/27 Paint and Sip at NWAC: Cherry Blossom Breeze, 7-9pm (link)

3/27 Millennial Social Club Board Games and Boba at Lincoln Square South, 7-10pm (link), recurs Fridays

3/27 Bolly Tolly Party at Mirra, 10pm

3/28 Eastside Runners meets at Medina Park, 8:30am - their weekly runs are often in Redmond, Kirkland, etc. See event on Strava

3/28 Summer Camp Open House for Bellevue Parks programs at Crossroads Community Center, 9am-1pm - help with registration and financial assistance is available

3/28 Dave and Busters Bunny Bash, 9-11am (link) - breakfast buffet, photo op, egg hunt, and game play packages

3/28 For cycliststs, Eastrail Partners is meeting at Feriton Spur Park in Kirkland to ride to the Spring District celebration (coffee at 9am, wheels turning at 9:20), please RSVP (link), and the BelRed Run/Walk Clubs have a 3 & 7 mile run or 30 minute walk that will start at South Bellevue Station at 10am, followed by a Social/Party at the Spring District (RSVP on Strava)

3/28 Link light rail Crosslake Connection opens, connecting Bellevue to Mercer Island and Seattle. BelRed's celebration will be noon-4pm (art, drumming, pottery painting, etc). Spring District will have a petting zoo, food trucks and vendor booths from 10am-3pm. Bellevue Downtown Station will have live music, food trucks and community booths (10am-2pm). South Bellevue's celebration (10am-2pm) will include live entertainment, food, children’s activities, community booths and a firetruck.  Mercer Island's new station has an opening celebration from 10am-2pm, and there are shuttles starting at 7am from South Bellevue that can get you to the ribbon cutting and street fair at Judkins Park* in Seattle, and there will also be celebrations at International District/Chinatown in Seattle. There will be live music at Symphony and a library-hosted stop in Lynwood. In Redmond, there will be food provided by Microsoft and a cricket demonstration and chai truck at Marymoor. There will be a bucket hat prize for the first 1000 people who collect stamps at four new stations along the line. (The article at this link says the Judkins Park celebration starts at 9am, but the SoundTransit IG post says 10-2pm. Cascade Bicycle Club will be providing a bike valet at Judkins Park from 8am-2pm)

3/28 Seed Starting Tips and Techniques from BBG, 10-11:30am (link)

3/28 Spring into Adventure Festival at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, 10am-1pm (link) - movement, arts, wellness, STEM, and gardening exhibitors, suggested donation $5, and you can also get $5 tickets for the kids yoga, forest bathing, sculpt and sweat, and drawing class

3/28 Tech Tutor at Bellevue Library, 11:30am-1:30pm, recurs on Saturdays

3/28 Future Aviator Pilots one-day camp for 3rd-12th grade at Museum of Flight in Seattle, $49 (Eventbrite)

3/28 Youth Workshop at BBG: Fairy Gardens, 1:30-3pm (link) - Class Full

3/28 The Wedding Edit 2026: South Asian Wedding Showcase at Embassy Suites, 2-10pm (link) - floral mandaps, fashion show, cuisine, and DJ

3/28 Math Club at Bellevue Library features Tangrams and Fractals - Grades K-5, 2-4pm

3/28 Queer Creative Connections at the Bellevue Library (link)

3/28 Reduction Linocut printing art workshop inspired by native plants at Happy Time Studio in Issaquah, 4pm

3/28 Zerno Spring Collection with music and cinema at Toloka in BelRed, 5-8pm (link)

3/28 Community Dinner with the IMAN Center of Kirkland and St. John's Episcopal Church in Kirkland, 6-7pm

3/28 For The Birds Concert at Eastshore Unitarian, 7-8:30pm, $20 (link)- Nelda Swigget Quintet performs original music and spoken words, with images

3/28 Newcastle Arts Council screening of All is Lost at Aegis Gardens in Newcastle, featuring Robert Redford, 7pm

3/28 Story Coffee Open Mic hosted by XAMA

3/29-5/16 Weekly discounts from local businesses for Link riders - sign-up for an email with the deals (link)

3/29 Orienteering Egg Hunt in Kirkland for ages 0-5 and 6-12 with Toloka Cultural Center, 9am-2pm (link)

3/29 Crafts at Crossroads, 10:30-12:30pm (link) - Crochet, Knitting, and more

3/29 Bellevue Book Club discusses The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, at Bellevue Library 11am-1pm (link)

3/29 Easter Puppy Pawty at Pickles Playhouse in Kirkland, noon-2pm (link) - dog friendly 18+ event with an egg hunt (for one dog at a time) and photo booth

3/29 Crochet and Chat at Woods Coffee by Hotel 116, 1-3pm (link)

3/30 Bellevue College Golf Scramble and Athletics Fundraiser, noon (link)

3/30 City of Bellevue Summer Camps Registration opens at noon (link) - see guide here

3/30 Transit Town Hall: The Future of Light Rail on the Eastside event at Bellevue City Hall, 6-7:30pm - Claudia Balducci, Angela Birney, and Kelli Refer and Sound Transit staff and board members will be there

3/31 Deadline for responding to The Safe Speeds Bellevue Survey There are 10mph reductions proposed for W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy, part of Northrup and NE 20th, BelRed Rd, part of Kamber and SE 26th, Factoria Blvd, part of Newport Way, maybe others, and 5mph reductions in many places such as downtown, LWB, part of 114th,120th, 124th, 132nd, 148th, 140th, part of the Lake Hills Connector and many more. 

3/31 BDA Downtown Talks, 8am-9:30am

3/31 Coffee with a Cop in Lakemont, 5-7pm

3/31 Leica Connect SL Experience with Gajan Balan, 5:30-6:30pm (link)

3/31 SheLeadsTech and ISACA Puget Sound Chapter meets at Bake's Place for a Women's History Month Social Mixer, 5:30-8pm (link) - sign up by 3/25

3/31 Bedtime Stories at the Newport Way Library for ages 0-5, 6:30-7pm (link) - recurs 4/28, and 5/26

4/1 Small Frye Storytime and Art at the Frye Museum in Seattle, 10:15am - repeats on first Wednesdays

4/1 BDA Urban Forum: Downtown Bellevue Business Improvement Area and Next Steps, noon-1pm (link) - free to BDA members and partners, registration required

4/1 Art Cart at Newport Way Library for ages 6+ to teens, 3-5pm (link) - recurs 5/6

4/1 Admin Fest at Hyatt Regency, 4-7pm (link)

4/2 Bellevue Network on Aging meeting at NBCC and virtual, 8:30-10:30am

4/2 Bellevue Chamber's Eastside Real Estate Symposium at Hyatt Regency, 7:30-10am

4/2 Medic One presents free CPR, AED, and first aid classes in Wilburton, 4-8pm (link) - another class will be held on 4/20

4/2 First meeting of the Spanish Practicing Meetup at Bellden Cafe, 5:30-6:30pm (link) - recurs every other Thursday through early summer

4/2 Free Washington Native Plant Society talk at BBG, 7-8:30pm (link) - Western Cape of South Africa

4/3 Deadline for K-12 BSD students to submit art for the Earth Month Art Contest

4/3 Storytime at BBG for Preschoolers, 10-10:30am (link)

4/3 Western Washington ASME presents Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab Tour in Redmond, 3-4pm (link)

4/3-4/5 Bellevue International Theater Festival (BITFest) (link) performances of Constellations, The Case of the Crushed Petunias, Pillows / Подушки, Island / 島，與, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, The Secret of the Chest / Тайна Сундука, and My Grandfather Was a Cherry Tree / Мой дедушка был вишней

4/3 Japanese English Language Exchange at Meet Fresh, 6-8pm (link) - repeats on first Fridays

4/3-4/4 BYT's The Princess from the Moon

4/3 Family Chess Night at Crossroads Mall, 7-8:45pm (link)

4/3 Middle School Flashlight Egg Hunt in Issaquah, 7-9pm, tickets required (link)

4/4 Global Security Tour: Security and AI Networking and Mixer at Bellevue City Hall, 8:30-9:15am (link) - event continues until 6pm

4/4 Journaling the Garden at BBG, free, 9-11am  (link)

4/4 New to Bellevue sustainability tour, 10am-noon (link) - visit Bellden Cafe, ride the 2 Line, and see BelRed Artist Studios, coffee and snacks provided - open to all who have moved to Bellevue in the last year

4/4 U-District Boardgames Social meets at Mox in BelRed, 10am-1pm (link) - repeats on first Saturdays

4/4 Eggstravaganza at Aldergate United Methodist Church, 10:30am-noon - event will have cookies, crafts, and more (allergen-friendly)

4/4 Big Playdate at Newport Way Library for ages 0-5, 11:30am-1pm (link) - recurs 5/2

4/4 Youth Nature Journaling Club at BBG, free, for kids age 6-14, noon-1pm (link) - ages 6-12 must be accompanied by an adult, repeats 5/2 and 6/6

4/4 Spring Family Festival at Samena, with toddler and underwater egg hunts, noon-2:30pm (link)

4/4 Women in Tech: Leading in the AI First Era panel at City Hall, noon-2pm (link)

4/4 Hop to Old Bellevue OBMA family event, 1-3pm - photo booth, Easter Bunny, and over 16 local businesses participating.

4/4 Spring Eggstravaganza at Kelsey Creek Farm, 1pm - event spots will fill up

4/4 Math Club at Bellevue Library features Connect Four, Checkers and Chess - Grades K-5, 2-4pm

4/4 Integirls Math Competition, virtual, 3pm (link)

4/4 Symphonic Fantasia performed by the Redmond Tech Orchestra at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, some free tickets are available, 4-6pm (link)

4/4 West Coast Swing Beginner Bootcamp at the Hyatt Regency, free, 4-8pm (link) - lesson followed by 1 hour social dance

4/4 Theatre33 presents The Case of the Crushed Petunias by Tennessee Williams at Meydenbauer Theatre as part of BITFest, 4pm

4/4 Bellevue Healthcare Professionals Meetup, 7pm (link) - recurs 5/2 and 6/6

4/4 Mike Wayock at Jocovine Bistro, 8pm (link)

4/5 Easter Bottomless Brunch at Central Bar & Restaurant, 10am-4pm

4/5 Bellevue 60+ meetup at the Bravern, noon-2pm (link) or 50+ (link)

4/5 Spring Afternoon Tea at R+ M Dessert Bar, reservations required

4/6 Opening week of Oxygen Yoga Fitness with heated studios - they have a new member special before 4/6 and free classes all week, signups have just started.

4/6 Intermediate Ceramics at Eastside Pottery, 10am-12:50pm First session of a six-week workshop (link)

4/6 Startup425 Startup and Small Business Coworking at Bellevue City Hall, 10:30am-2pm (link)

4/6 Build your own superhero art series at Samena, ages 10-14, 1-2pm, also on Wednesday and Friday, (link)

4/6-4/10 Spring Break Camp at Bellevue Youth Theatre (link)

4/6-4/10 Spring Break Camps at BGC

4/6-4/17 Kidsquest has additional activities for Spring Break included with admission - active painting, games and gadgets, stories and Simon Says, circuits and tinkering, and clay creations. See website for schedule.

4/6 Hand building Fundamentals at Eastside Pottery, 6:30-9pm First session of a six-week workshop (link)

4/6 Introduction to Ceramics at Eastside Pottery, 10am-12:50pm First session of a six-week workshop (link)

4/7 Introduction to Ceramics at Eastside Pottery, 6:30-9pm First session of a six-week workshop (link)

4/7 Dienstag Bier German Language Meetup at Applebees in BelRed, 7pm (link) - repeats 5/5

4/8 All Ages Boardgame Afternoon at the Newport Way Library, 3:30-5:30pm (link) - recurs 5/13, and 6/10

4/8 Seattle Women in Machine Learning and Data Science, Seattle PyLadies, Seattle Spark + AI, and Seattle AI Workshops meet for Women+ AI: Inventing Tomorrow! in Bellevue near Northrup Way, 5:30-8:30pm (link)

4/8 Reading with Rover for elementary students at the Bellevue Library, 6:30-7:30pm (link) - kids read aloud to a certified therapy dog, recurs 5/13

4/9 TEKKY European Style Academy Training 1-Day Camp in Newport Hills, 9am-noon (link) - ages 11-16, $110, includes the ball

4/9 Bellevue South Asian Women Entrepreneurs Coffee Meet, noon (link)

4/9 Preschool (ages 3-5) Art Cart at the Newport Way Library, 4-5:30pm (link) - recurs 5/14

4/9 Packing with Sarah Murdoch event at Title Nine, 6:30-8pm

4/9 Introduction to Ceramics at Eastside Pottery, 6:30-9pm First session of a six-week workshop (link)

4/11 Foraging for basketry and wild crafts at BBG, 10am-noon (link)

4/11 Black Girl Scout Magic Volunteer and Caregiver meetup, 11:30-1pm (link)

4/11 Seattle Code and Coffee meets at Lincoln Square in Bellevue, noon-3pm (link)

4/11 Introduction to Cordage at BBG, 1-4pm (link)

4/12 Deadline to apply to Bellevue's new Cultural Conversations Facilitator course (link)

4/12 Bellevue Classical Piano Meetup Group at Northwest Pianos in BelRed, 10am-noon (link) - listeners do not need to RSVP

4/13 Monday Night Networking at 13 Coins, 6-8pm (link) - recurs monthly

4/14 Bellevue Fiber Arts Club meets at NBCC

4/15 After School Story Hour at Newport Way Library with games, crafts, and a read-along for ages 5 and older, 4:30-6pm (link) - recurs 5/20

4/15 Networking After Hours with the Chamber and Akopyan Group, 5-6:30pm (link)

4/15 Greener Living Class: Repair and renew everyday items at the Lake Hills Library, free, pre-register, 6-7pm (link)

4/15 Big Data Bellevue Meetup at Bellevue Library, 6:30-7:30pm (link) - also 5/20 and 6/17

4/16 OBMA monthly meeting at 520 Bar & Grill, 8:30-9:30am - local residents, employees , and business owners in Old Bellevue are welcome to attend, free

4/16 Audubon Bird Walk, 9-10:30am, $5 (link) - this event will fill up

4/16 Chamber Lunch, 11:30-1pm (link)

4/16 Bright Horizons' Artsy Thursday - 3:30-5pm at the Spring District location, 4-6pm at the main Bellevue location

4/16 Cloud Native Seattle meets at the Bellevue City Center building, 5-7:30pm (link)

4/17 PNW Accessibility Professionals meets at SeaTac for networking and a presentation on the airport's SEA Access program, 10am-noon (link)

4/17 Pilates for Gardeners, 2-3pm (link)

4/17 BYT's Storybook Series: The Boy Who Cried Monster, 7pm - this performance is mostly sold out, but there are additional performances on 4/19, 4/24, 4/25, and 4/26

4/18 Volunteer with the City of Bellevue to do an Earth Day cleanup at Wilburton Hill Park

4/18 EarthFest 2026 at Bellevue Botanical Garden, 11am-3pm (link)

4/18-4/19 International Children's Friendship Festival in Seattle at the Seattle Center, 11am-6pm

4/18 Woodinville Spring Market Fair, 10am-4pm

4/18-4/19 Town Hall Seattle's Night of Ideas 2026 in Seattle (link)

4/18 Math Club at Bellevue Library features Logic Puzzles - Grades K-5, 2-4pm

4/18 Lego Block Party at Newport Way Library, ages 4+, 2-4pm (link) - recurs 5/16

4/18 Cebiche & Pisco Workshop at La Mar, 4-5pm (link)

4/18 Bellevue College Diamond Jubilee 60th Anniversary Gala, 5:30pm (link)

4/19 Scout Day at the Garden, K-3rd grade Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts, 12:30-3pm (link)

4/19 BYT's Storybook Series: The Boy Who Cried Monster, 2pm - additional performances on 4/24, 4/25, and 4/26

4/19-5/2 Seattle Restaurant Week includes many Bellevue restaurants

4/20 Medic One presents free CPR, AED, and first aid classes in Wilburton, 4-8pm (link)

4/20 Open House about parking requirements changes coming to Bellevue, 5:30-7:30pm (link) - there will also be a 5/6 event in Crossroads and a virtual lunchtime event on 5/8

4/21 Quiet Reading Party at Bellevue Library, 5:30-7:30pm (link) - pizza will be provided

4/21 Greener Living Class: 3D printing replacement parts with the Bellevue Library Makerspace, free, pre-register, 6-7pm (link)

4/22 Earth Day Forest Bathing in the Garden at BBG, 10:30am-12:30pm (link)

4/22 Virtual Briefing on the Tax Increment Financing for the Grand Connection Crossing. 6-7:30pm (link)

4/23 Seattle/Bellevue Apache DataFusion meetup at Databricks, 5:30-8pm (link)

4/23 Public Briefing on the Tax Increment Financing for the Grand Connection Crossing at City Hall, 6-7:30pm  (link) - we recently received federal funding to cover about 1% of the project cost - find out how the rest of the funds will be obtained.

4/23 Bellevue Womens' Book Club discusses  I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue, 6:30-8:30pm (link)

4/23 Singing Circle at Toloka in BelRed, free, 6:30-8:30pm (link)

4/24 First session of Leadership Eastside's Executive Insight workshop for senior leaders, 9am-4pm, second session is 5/1

4/24 Make Your Own Recycled Artwork at the BelRed Arts Studio, free, 4-6pm - artist-in-residence Fred Lisaius will be guiding this event.

4/24-4/26 BYT's Storybook Series: The Boy Who Cried Monster, 2pm and 7pm performances

4/24-4/26 Kodachrome performance by Technically Thespians in Redmond, $25 (link)

4/24 Paint and Sip at NWAC: Hearts and Roses, 7-9pm

4/25 Open House for the new Fire Station 10 

4/25 Master Gardener Foundation class: Fire Prevention for Your Yard at the Lake Hills Greenbelt, free, 10-11:30am (link)

4/25 Native Plant Sale at BBG, 10am-2pm

4/25 Sheep Shearing at Kelsey Creek Farm, 11am-4pm, free (link, link) - shuttles from Wilburton P&R and Bannerwood will be provided

4/25 Math Club at Bellevue Library features Origami - Grades K-5, 2-4pm

4/26 All In For Autism 5k at Downtown Park, family friendly, dogs welcome (link)

4/26 NPA Spring Plant Sale at BBG, 10am-1pm (link)

4/28 Bellevue LifeSpring's Step Up to the Plate benefit luncheon, 11am-1pm (link)

4/29 Leadership Eastside's LE 101 Learning Event for CORE Experience at GIX, 11:30am-1pm - hear from alumni and get an overview of the program

4/29 KCLS Board of Trustees Meeting, 5pm

4/30 Greener Living Class: Swap Single Use Plastics, virtual class, free, pre-register, 6-7pm (link)

4/30 Be a Garden Nurturer BBG class, 7-8:30pm, virtual (link)

5/1 Storytime at BBG for Preschoolers, 10-10:30am (link)

5/1-5/3 The Little Mermaid Jr at Theatre 33, performances at 6:30pm, 12pm, and 4pm (link)

5/1 Teen Lifeguard Skills Clinic with SPLASHForward, 8-9pm (link) do an endurance test and learn basic rescues, followed by a pizza social

5/2 Fuchsia and Daylily sale at BBG, 9am-2pm

5/2 Carnation Farms Spring Market in Carnation, 10am-3pm (link) - over 20 local artisan vendors, hourly crop and livestock tours, pizza oven, live music

5/5 PEPS Benefit Luncheon at Seattle Center, 11am-1pm (link)

5/6 Walk and Roll to School day (there will be events all week)

5/6 Info Session for the RSVP volunteer matching program from Solid Ground (ages 55+), virtual, 10am-12pm

5/6 Open House about parking requirements changes coming to Bellevue, 5:30-7:30pm (link) - there will also be a virtual lunchtime event on 5/8

5/6 Seattle Adult Casual Baseball starts season at Wilburton Hill Park, $99 for the 16 game season - every Wednesday from 6-8:30pm, registration is open now

5/9 and 5/10 Alice In Wonderland, an IBT For Children production at Meydenbauer Center Theatre, 1-5pm

5/13 Bike Everywhere Day

5/16 Lego Block Party at Newport Way Library, ages 4+, 2-4pm (link)

5/16 Champions of Youth Gala to support Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue

5/23 Basics of Successful Vegetable Growing at the Bellevue Demonstration Garden, 10-11:30am (link)

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