Staff outlines state housing-law changes and early code amendments the city will study

A city staff presenter briefed the Planning Commission on several recent state statutory changes tied to 2024 legislative enactments that will require municipalities to update local code provisions affecting conversion of nonresidential buildings, co-living housing, affordable housing on religious land and parking requirements near transit.

The presenter said one cited statute (noted in the packet as "RCW 35 A 21 4 40") pertains to conversions of existing nonresidential buildings to residential uses inside commercial or mixed-use zones and that the conversion must occur entirely within the existing building envelope. The presenter said the city will need to review how its municipal code addresses that allowance and where guardrails remain permitted.

The presenter described a second change requiring cities to allow co-living housing (shared facilities such as kitchens, laundry and other shared amenities) and called this a tool to reduce housing costs. A third statute referenced would require the city to allow certain affordable housing developments on land owned by religious organizations, including density bonuses when developments meet defined affordability requirements. The presenter acknowledged that the exact percentage thresholds and statutory definitions of affordability will be clarified in staff's next report.

On parking, staff reviewed two RCW citations (summarized in the packet as RCW 36 70 A 6 20 and RCW 36 70 A 6 22) that limit how cities may require off-street parking for new housing and that would permit an affordable-housing bonus for projects within a specified proximity to a qualifying transit route. The presenter said that, at present, "there are no transit routes within the city that currently meet this standard of qualifying transit route" and that the standard would require transit service at a high frequency (the presenter described the threshold as "service occurring 4 times per hour, 12 times 12 hours per day") and that the city will incorporate the rule now in case service levels change in the future.

Staff emphasized the work is at an early stage: no strikethrough code language was presented and staff will return with draft amendments in the coming months and more detailed analysis of which Snoqualmie zones these changes will affect. The presenter noted that some provisions are limited in scope under state law (for example, conversions are limited to commercial or mixed-use zones) but that the city cannot outright prohibit the allowed uses.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about affordability levels, where co-living could be allowed, and whether the new rules require the city to adopt transit-oriented development; staff responded that the immediate statutory changes focus on parking and allowance for certain housing types, not broad mandatory transit-oriented density changes.

Ending: Staff will return with proposed code text, legal citations and zone-specific analysis at a future meeting; no formal amendments were adopted at this session.