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Planning commission votes to send Monroe 2044 citywide rezone findings to council
Summary
The Monroe Planning Commission on March 24 voted to direct staff to prepare findings recommending City Council approve the Monroe 2044 comprehensive plan citywide rezones and implementing code changes that move many R4 zones to R7 and adjust selected commercial and overlay zones.
At its March 24, 2025 meeting the Monroe Planning Commission voted to direct staff to prepare findings and conclusions recommending that the City Council approve the Monroe 2044 comprehensive plan citywide rezone and related amendments to Title 22 of the Monroe Municipal Code.
Kate Turlington, a staff member who presented the proposal, described the rezone as Phase 1 of implementing the Monroe 2044 comprehensive plan adopted in December 2024. She told commissioners that the citywide rezone would convert areas now designated Residential‑4 (R4, four dwelling units per acre) to Residential‑7 (R7, seven dwelling units per acre) in order to increase density and meet the plan’s housing and employment capacity without expanding the urban growth area.
Turlington said the rezone also includes targeted changes: returning a Smith property on North Kelsey to General Commercial (bringing an existing State Farm use into conformance), converting specific parcels along the south side of 170th and between SR‑522 and Main Street to Mixed Use General, and removing the City’s Transportation overlay that applies to rights‑of‑way such as US‑2 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe corridor. She also noted the City Council excluded certain proposed changes — specifically a Strawberry Hill neighborhood proposal near the hospital and five parcels on Chain Lake Road — from the rezone package under consideration.
On annexations and timing, Turlington said the Conner pre‑annexation remains pending; a project planner will present to City Council the following evening, after which the matter would go to the Snohomish County Boundary Review Board if council approves. She said the city’s zoning map and Title 22 code chapters targeted for amendment include Chapter 22.14 (zoning maps and districts), Chapter 22.16 (single‑family residential standards) and Chapter 22.30 (being eliminated as part of the changes).
After staff closed the hearing and public testimony was complete, the commission approved a motion directing staff to prepare findings and conclusions recommending City Council approval. The motion passed on voice vote; the transcript records only an affirmative voice vote. Staff said the next step is to bring prepared findings to the commission and forward them to the council’s P3 committee and full council for public hearing and final action.
