Commission debates housing action plan code changes: duplex lot sizes, Old Town rules, ADUs, minimum density and design standards

Anacortes Planning Commission members on Feb. 12 continued a detailed line-by-line review of draft municipal-code changes prompted by the 2023 Housing Action Plan (HAP) and City Council referrals. Commissioners discussed residential lot-size minimums for duplexes and small duplexes, whether Old Town zoning should match nearby zones, how accessory dwelling unit (ADU) state mandates intersect with local lot-size rules, minimum-density proposals for the R4 zone, and several design and definition clarifications.

Staff planning manager Libby Grama reminded the commission the HAP was adopted in 2023 and that city council’s planning committee selected a subset of strategies to forward to the planning commission for code-change recommendations. Grama said staff prepared draft code amendments (strike-through/underline version) and cross-referenced HAP strategy numbers to help commissioners track proposed edits.

Lot sizes and ‘‘small duplex’’ carve-outs: Commissioners discussed a recommended reduction in duplex minimum lot sizes. The packet showed an R2 duplex minimum of 9,000 sq ft in one table, while another zone-specific standard referenced 7,500 sq ft; staff explained the intention is to retain a larger-lot threshold for a regular duplex but to add an explicit “small duplex” category with a 6,000 sq ft minimum in Old Town (mirroring R3-style standards). Commissioners suggested inserting the adjective “small” where relevant (for example, in zone-specific standards) to avoid confusion between a regular duplex and a small duplex and agreed to the following working directions: keep the standard duplex lot-size row as shown, add a separate “small duplex” row set to 6,000 sq ft in Old Town, and set the additional lot size needed for each additional attached dwelling unit beyond a duplex to 1,500 sq ft for Old Town.

Old Town questions and design standards: Commissioners debated whether Old Town should continue to be treated differently from R2/R3 zones. Staff noted Old Town is subject to design/modulation standards adopted more than a decade ago and that parts of Old Town are platted on small historic lots (often ~3,000 sq ft). Commissioners asked staff to research and report back on (a) whether Old…