Planning commission debates middle-housing fronting, shared yards and garage rules

The Everett Planning Commission on May 20 continued its multiweek review of the Everett 2044 development regulations, focusing on middle-housing design rules that would require new duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and small detached homes to meet objective standards for how buildings face streets, drives and shared yards.

The commission heard staff explain that the neighborhood residential chapter (19.08) is intended to implement the state-required middle-housing code and to keep development “clear and objective.” Planning Director York Stevens Wojd told commissioners, “This is the last great opportunity for the public to come speak to this to the planning commission.” Long Range Planning Manager Lisonbee Wetzel led the technical discussion of options on orientation, yards and garage rules.

Why it matters: the rules determine whether middle-housing can be built in ways that prioritize street-facing front doors and “eyes on the street,” or whether more interior-facing, driveway-oriented layouts with rear garages remain permissible. Commissioners and staff framed the debate as a tradeoff between walkability,…