Lake Forest Park planning commission begins middle-housing code updates; commissioners ask for options on scope, parking and incentives

The Lake Forest Park Planning Commission on Tuesday opened a multi-meeting effort to update development regulations for so-called "middle housing," hearing presentations from SCJ Alliance and Leland Consulting Group and debating how far the city should go beyond the minimum requirements of state law.

Kirsten Peterson, a planning consultant with SCJ Alliance, told the commission, "we reserve most of the time, 2 hours tonight, to really kick off middle housing." She and consultants from Leland Consulting Group presented a technical memo, a feasibility analysis of neighborhood "opportunity areas," and a gap analysis of the city code that consultants said must be revised to comply with House Bill 1110.

The discussion matters because House Bill 1110 and related guidance require jurisdictions to adopt updated development regulations for middle housing by the end of June this year. "As required by House Bill 1110, we need to have adopted development regulations updates by end of June this year," Leland consultant David (last name not specified in transcript) told the commission.

Consultants showed two tiers of "opportunity areas" for middle housing: a high-opportunity band near the future bus rapid transit and the town center along Bothell Way, and a moderate-opportunity area along Ballinger where larger lots and lower critical-area constraints could allow additional units with less environmental impact. Their dimensional feasibility work examined lot sizes, nonconforming lot coverage, critical-area buffers and walkability to retail and transit.

Commissioners debated the appropriate policy approach. Commissioner Melissa (last name not specified) said…