Planning commissioners debate step-down and inclusionary housing levels for Marymoor in Redmond 2050

The Redmond Planning Commission spent its Jan. 8 study session debating whether a temporary "step-down" to the proposed 15% inclusionary housing requirement in the Marymoor subarea would materially increase near-term development and how many affordable units might be lost or delayed.

Commissioners and staff discussed a staff analysis that proportioned a step-down by growth allocation and tested two scenarios: a one-step reduction affecting 171 units and a three-step phase-in that would ramp set-asides back to 15%. Becky Fry, a city staff member, explained the analysis and said the difference in yield on cost from the step-down was small — about 0.1 percentage points in the study areas — and “it seems unlikely” that the modest change would be enough to “kickstart development.” Ian Lefkort, a staff presenter, added the analysis used conservative baseline development capacity rather than assuming additional incentive-driven capacity.

Why it matters: Marymoor and the urban mixed-use zones are forecast to take a larger share of the city’s future housing growth, so staff proposed higher inclusionary set-asides in those places tied to the size of the zoning change. Commissioners and stakeholders said the proposal…