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Council sets March 19 public hearings for ADU, daycare and warehouse code changes
Summary
The council set public hearings for March 19 on three growth-management ordinances: accessory dwelling unit regulations, day care facility regulations, and allowing warehouses in a planned community business zone under constraints.
Snohomish County Council members voted Feb. 26 to set public hearings for March 19, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. on three proposed code amendments affecting accessory dwelling units, day care facilities and warehouse uses in a planned community business (PCB) zone.
Ryan Ketcherman, council staff, summarized Ordinance 25-014 on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The proposal would implement mandatory state-driven changes (including expanded ADU configurations in urban zones and removal of an owner-occupancy requirement so ADUs could be sold as condominiums) and discretionary incentives (allowing duplexes and attached single-family dwellings to have ADUs, a possible increase to 55% lot coverage on parcels with ADUs, and more flexible setbacks from road rights-of-way in older neighborhoods). Ketcherman said the Department of Commerce identified that existing architectural-design requirements could conflict with new state limits on local aesthetic requirements for ADUs; the proposed ordinance removes those architectural-design provisions to comply with state law.
Ordinance 25-015 would revise development regulations for day care centers. Ketcherman said the planning commission recommended allowing stand-alone day care centers in urban residential zones if they have arterial road frontage; the ordinance also addresses family day care homes (providers with up to 12 children) and updates the county definition to reflect that the Department of Children, Youth and Families may grant waivers increasing capacity at some sites.
Ordinance 25-016 would allow warehouse uses as a permitted use in the PCB zone for certain parcels in the Mulvey urban growth area and would apply specific limitations and bulk regulations. Ketcherman said the planning commission recommended approval and that the ordinance affects 16 parcels in Mulvey. He also noted a technical point: the warehouse ordinance assumes the daycare ordinance will pass first and that clerks would fill cross-references after ordinance numbers are finalized.
Why it matters: Each ordinance would change local land-use rules that can affect housing supply (ADUs), child care availability (day care regulations) and industrial/commercial land use (warehouse allowances). The hearings give the public, stakeholders and jurisdictions a formal opportunity to comment.
Council action: The council set the time and date for public hearings on all three ordinances for March 19, 2025, at 10:30 a.m.
