City planning staff on May 21 briefed the Everett City Council on the draft Everett 2044 comprehensive plan and related development regulations, laying out a schedule for a May 30 final package and subsequent public hearings before the Planning Commission and the council.

Planning Director Yorick Stevens Wodgert and Long Range Planning Manager Alsand Wetzel summarized the update as the city’s 20‑year framework for land use, transportation, housing, public facilities and related rules. “The comprehensive plan is the long range 20 year, overarching plan for the city,” Wodgert told the council, and staff pointed residents to the project website for the April 7 draft materials and a draft environmental impact statement.

Why it matters: the update would change zoning and development standards across much of Everett to comply with state requirements for “middle housing” and to allow limited neighborhood commercial uses on selected corner parcels. Those changes affect neighborhoods’ scale, parking demand and infrastructure needs and could change where duplexes, triplexes, accessory dwelling units and small multifamily buildings are allowed.

Most important details

- Timeline and process: Staff said the formal public comment period on the April 7 draft closes May 26; the city will publish a final package on May 30 that includes the final draft plan, zoning map, development regulations and final environmental impact statement. The Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for June 3, with a council public hearing on June 11 and council action set for June 18.

- Scope: Wodgert said roughly 30 chapters of the Everett Municipal Code would be amended and that staff and the Planning Commission have conducted roughly 70 public and neighborhood meetings since late 2022. “All of the materials, the draft materials, the regulations, the plan, and everything else are dated April 7,” he said.

- Zoning map changes: Staff described targeted revisions in Boulevard Bluffs (near Soundview Deli and Mukilteo Boulevard) and in the Legion Park / Mount Baker View area, removing some earlier Urban Residential 4 (UR‑4) designations after neighborhood feedback and proposing a new neighborhood residential category in many single‑family areas.

- Middle housing and neighborhood residential zone: To implement state middle‑housing rules, the city proposes a new neighborhood residential zone that would allow duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, courtyard apartments and accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Staff emphasized they are seeking a “do no harm” approach to ADUs so that “if you could build it before you can build it now” under similar fees and standards, while the new middle housing standards would include adjustments to height, lot coverage and setbacks.

- Design trade‑offs and standards: Staff and council members said the update would allow the city to set design standards for front doors, yards, driveways, garages and facades, while still complying with state requirements to allow middle housing. Wodgert said staff and the Planning Commission were working to find compromises on these site‑planning questions.

Public comments and neighborhood concerns

Residents from Boulevard Bluffs, Mukilteo Boulevard and other neighborhoods voiced concerns about parking, traffic, emergency access, drainage and impacts to views. Kyle Shepherd asked rhetorically of the council, “What would you do with $6,100,000?” while urging the city to consider rezoning underused public land such as municipal golf courses to fund other projects. Several commenters from Boulevard Bluffs said recently built townhomes had blocked views, produced parking spillover into bike lanes and created retaining‑wall construction that neighbors said harmed property values.

Gordon Benson said the neighborhood faces landslide and drainage risk and asked how infrastructure would be upgraded to handle increased density. Gary Coker said nearby small businesses such as Soundview Deli are already strained and that a rental tenant in the area has been told by a landlord he may be displaced by redevelopment. Jeffrey Godfrey urged the council to address late‑night speeding and safety along Mukilteo Boulevard and to ensure emergency‑vehicle access.

Supporters of more housing also spoke: Maureen Malley, a longtime volunteer with local shelters, told the council she supported zoning changes that could expand housing options and help shelters, saying she had “always been able to go home to a door that locked and a roof that kept the downpour out, and left behind people who didn’t have that.”

Council response and next steps

Council President Schwab and Council Member Zarlingo both described continuing, small‑group work with staff and fellow council members to refine maps and allowed uses. Zarlingo said the council had formed a subcommittee to work on neighborhood business‑area policies and that the group would try to identify locations and uses that balance neighborhood benefits and local impacts. “What do you allow or promote and where do you allow it?” Zarlingo asked, summarizing the two central questions the group is debating.

Council members repeatedly noted trade‑offs between increased housing capacity and neighborhood character, tree canopy and infrastructure strain. Planning staff said they will publish the May 30 final draft and the comment database, and that the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on June 3 and then forward a recommendation to the council.

Decision vs. discussion

No final council action on the comprehensive plan or zoning map occurred at the May 21 meeting; the session was a staff briefing and public comment. Staff presented proposed changes and scheduling; the council discussed policy directions and signaled areas for further refinement but did not adopt ordinance text or a map at this meeting.

Clarifying details

- Public engagement: staff reported about 70 public and neighborhood meetings since late 2022 and said they had received comments from “a couple hundred” individuals and organizations; staff said they will publish a raw comment database and a comment report.

- Deadlines and hearings: public comment period closes May 26; final draft and FEIS to be released May 30; Planning Commission public hearing June 3; council public hearing June 11; council vote anticipated June 18.

- Middle‑housing design parameters discussed: existing single‑family height limits cited as about 28 feet; neighborhood residential options would permit up to about 35 feet in some cases; lot coverage ranges discussed in the presentation: roughly 35–40% for detached houses vs. 50–60% for multiunit middle housing (staff attributed these figures to the draft development regulations discussion).

- Mobile home park policy: staff added a policy (HO‑550 in the housing element) to protect manufactured/mobile home parks from redevelopment and said a separate ordinance and overlay mapping process would be an early implementation action after adoption.

What’s next for residents

Staff encouraged residents to review the April 7 draft materials (with book 2 of the development regulations posted May 10) at everettwa.gov/2040four, submit comments by May 26, and attend the Planning Commission public hearing on June 3 and the council public hearing on June 11. The council will consider adoption the week of June 18, staff said.

Ending note

Council members said they will continue work in small groups with staff to refine maps, uses and development standards and urged neighbors to provide specific feedback on locations, desired uses and concerns so the final draft can reflect trade‑offs the community is willing to accept.