Duvall planners outline comp‑plan updates, say capacity meets state target

Morgan Garner, the city's principal planner, opened the workshop portion of the meeting with an overview of the comprehensive plan and zoning updates the city has prepared to meet state compliance.

"Tonight, we're gonna go, kind of like a little walk through of comp plan and Title 14 update," Garner said, framing the update around three priorities: revisions to the future‑land‑use map, completing the transportation analysis tied to the land‑capacity work, and aligning Title 14 code to the map changes. Garner told the council staff had focused on map clarity and readability to make the policies easier for residents and applicants to use.

Staff reviewed recent capacity work that followed a third‑party land‑capacity analysis and the city's Housing Action Plan. Council was told the 2044 target assigned to Duvall was 890 housing units and staff's capacity calculation was 939 units — “exceeding, but only by 49 units,” staff said — a margin staff described as modest.

Garner and other staff emphasized that "middle housing" (the so‑called "missing middle" forms such as duplexes, townhouses and small multiplexes) is not currently mandatory for Duvall but can increase options for workforce and senior housing. Garner described the proposed approach as incremental: allow limited middle‑housing types in targeted zones and keep other development standards and design controls in place.

Why it matters: the planning updates are intended to keep the city in compliance with state reviewers while preserving neighborhood character where possible. Councilmembers pressed staff on which specific middle‑housing types they would accept and whether the city's draft would earn credit with the Department of Commerce. Staff asked the council for direction and for comments on design‑standard language by Sept. 25 so a revised draft could go back to the planning commission and council.

Next steps: staff will post the presentation materials online, revise draft code language based on council direction and return with an updated package in October.