Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Action Plan topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning staff preview Housing Action Plan update; schedule, outreach and state requirements discussed
Summary
At a Jan. 15 briefing, staff described Bothell’s Housing Action Plan update to align with recent state housing laws and the city’s 2040 comprehensive plan, outlined a four-phase schedule through summer 2026, and detailed community-engagement goals to reach renters, mobile-home residents and underrepresented groups.
Senior Planner Ray Sosa briefed the Bothell Planning Commission on Jan. 15 about the Housing Action Plan update, explaining the plan’s scope, schedule and outreach approach as the city aligns code and programs with recent state housing legislation.
Sosa said the update follows Bothell’s 2018 housing strategy and legislative changes including House Bill 110 (middle-housing provisions). He told the commission the city adopted an ordinance amending the Imagine Bothell comprehensive plan to allow middle housing and that the Housing Action Plan will examine existing housing policy and design strategies to address the local housing crisis.
Sosa described a four-phase project schedule — scoping, preliminary community engagement, drafting and finalization — and said the team aims to complete the Housing Action Plan by summer 2026. He said preliminary community engagement will start in midwinter and run through subsequent project phases.
Staff emphasized outreach to underrepresented and difficult-to-reach groups. Commissioners asked how staff will reach renters, mobile-home residents and working-age adults (often ages 18–35) who live outside the city or cannot afford to move to Bothell. Sosa said the team is identifying community groups and regional partners to reach those populations and that staff have already met with ARCH (the regional housing coalition) and plan to expand outreach to nonprofit developers and county and federal partners such as King County and the Department of Housing and Urban Development when appropriate.
Commissioners and staff also discussed market signals: staff said the city has received increased developer interest in middle-housing and multifamily options since recent code updates and density changes, and that tracking actual built units and the pace of development will be important to evaluate plan effectiveness.
Sosa said staff will coordinate survey timing and outreach with other planning efforts to reduce survey fatigue and will report back to the commission on advisory-committee composition and survey demographics so commissioners can help target outreach to groups that are underrepresented.
No formal actions were taken; the briefing was presented for feedback and to inform subsequent engagement and drafting.
