Lake Forest Park council adopts ordinances to align local code with new state middle‑housing and ADU laws

Lake Forest Park City Council on Thursday unanimously adopted two ordinances to update the municipal code so it conforms with recent Washington state legislation on lot subdivision, middle housing and accessory dwelling units.

The ordinances, 25-13-09 and 25-13-10, were moved by Deputy Mayor Fioritani and approved without roll-call opposition after a presentation from Mark Hoffman, the city’s community development director. “This is the fifth event in the last month and a half at council specific to these 2 ordinances,” Hoffman said, describing the packet before council as “actionable” and noting the text reflects clarifications directed at previous meetings.

The measures implement statewide requirements labeled in the packet as the legislative changes the staff aimed to address, including references staff summarized as “house bill 1110,” a middle‑housing cleanup bill “13 37” (for accessory dwelling units) and another bill referenced as “52 58” related to unit lot subdivision. Hoffman said the adopted language establishes a policy and implementation backbone that the city will refine: “This is new for every jurisdiction in Olympia, and we intend to modify it, as the community demands going forward.”

Council members repeatedly thanked the volunteer Planning Commission, city staff and consultant SCJ, with councilors saying the work was a heavy lift following the city’s recent comprehensive plan and other code updates. Deputy Mayor Fioritani and Vice Chair Goldman each praised commissioners’ deliberations and the staff’s long hours. Kirsten Peterson of SCJ was available to answer questions during the discussion, staff said.

Several councilors emphasized that the adoption addresses the “base guidance” required by state law while leaving more complex local topics—most frequently called the “parking lot” items— for future code amendments. “We do have more work to do, and we, as a council, are going to be addressing these in future sessions,” Deputy Mayor Fioritani said.

The council made the code changes effective by adopting the ordinance numbers as read into the record. The votes were recorded as unanimous among members present.

The adopted ordinances are intended to create zoning and subdivision rules that comply with new state mandates while preserving local priorities such as tree protection and other community standards; staff flagged that additional amendments are expected as jurisdictions statewide and the city learn how the state law is implemented.

Council members said they would continue to review and refine the code changes through subsequent Planning Commission and council sessions.

The council returned to other agenda business after the votes.