Lakewood planning commission delays action on RTA/MFTE expansion after mixed-use, traffic and affordability concerns

At its March 5 meeting, the Lakewood Planning Commission agreed to defer action on proposed expansions to the Residential Target Area (RTA) and changes to the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program after public comment and extended discussion by commissioners.

The delay means commissioners will revisit the RTA/MFTE proposals at a later meeting (the commission discussed bringing items back to the March 19 packet). Planning staff also confirmed that the public hearing on the MFTE/RTA docket closed at noon on March 5 and that staff will provide a table summarizing testimony and city responses to commissioners in the next packet.

The items under consideration include a proposed expansion of the RTA to cover parts of the Central Business District (CBD), a request to extend an existing MFTE on a privately owned property, and a proposal to grant an additional 12-year tax-exemption extension for projects that include at least 20% affordable housing.

In public comment, Christina Kloss, who identified herself as a Lakewood resident and small-business owner, urged commissioners to require mixed-use development where the city would permit MFTE incentives. “We will never achieve any of the above if we do not force mixed use development,” Kloss said, adding that without a requirement the city will “only end up with more big box apartment complexes.”

Commissioners debated whether the commission should require mixed use or rely on incentives. Several commissioners said the downtown is already zoned for mixed use and that the question is whether the city should attach conditions to tax incentives to secure ground-floor commercial or other desired community outcomes.

“I think somewhere we’ve got to find a way to explicitly state that intent of the mixed use environment,” one commissioner said, and suggested tabling the expansion until the commission can define what a requirement or incentive would look like. Other commissioners warned that strict requirements can make some projects infeasible: one cited a nearby jurisdiction where a requirement for ground-floor commercial space left a parcel vacant for years because developers could not economically secure a tenant.

Commissioners also raised concerns about transportation impacts and mitigation. Planning staff told the commission that the city has changed its administrative policy for transportation mitigation to use a one-year net change for trip generation rather than relying on decades-old use assumptions, and that a broader downtown transportation analysis funded by a federal grant is pending and would inform future mitigation policy.

On the proposed 12-year MFTE extension, staff explained the draft program would allow an extended exemption in certain areas when at least 20% of the project is affordable housing. Commissioners were split: some supported the extension as a straightforward incentive to preserve or add affordability; others questioned the fiscal impact and suggested options such as a phased reduction of the abatement to avoid a sudden revenue loss when the exemption ends.

Commissioners directed staff to include public-comment summaries and city responses in the March 19 packet and discussed but did not take formal action tonight. The commission closed the public-comment period for this meeting, and staff confirmed the MFTE/RTA public hearing closed earlier that day at noon per the previous extension of the hearing record.

Looking ahead, commissioners said they want more information on how an RTA expansion would be paired with design standards or overlays to achieve mixed-use outcomes and on whether transportation mitigation and impact-fee frameworks need updating before incentives are expanded.

Minutes and procedural notes: The commission approved meeting minutes at the start of the session. Public comment was closed during the meeting and staff confirmed the MFTE/RTA public hearing had closed at noon on March 5; no substantive votes on the RTA or MFTE proposals were taken tonight.