The Lakewood City Council opened a public hearing Oct. 20 to set the city's 2026 comprehensive plan amendment docket and zoning-map amendments, a first procedural step that begins a multi-step review through winter, the planning commission and back to council for adoption in 2026.

Planning Manager Tiffany Spear told the council the docket contains 12 potential amendments, including city-initiated items (nine), two private rezones and one council-directed review of an existing land-use policy on nonconforming uses. The proposed topics range from lot-splitting and transit-oriented housing to revisions to minimum parking requirements and historic landmark designation language. Spear said staff will perform substantive reviews through winter and bring proposals forward in spring and summer 2026.

During public testimony, multiple speakers raised environmental and preservation concerns tied to the docket and proposed state housing laws. Christina Manetti, representing the Gary Oak Coalition and identifying herself as a former member of the city's landmarks and heritage advisory body, urged the council to reinstate Fort Steilacoom as a legislative priority and re-establish a public preservation advisory body. Manetti and other speakers warned that recent state laws (she cited HB 1576 and ESB 5559 in public remarks) weaken local preservation authority and increase development pressure that threatens mature trees, Garry Oaks (also called Oregon white oak), Douglas firs and bigleaf maples. She recommended a ‘‘no-net-loss of tree canopy' standard, full mitigation for tree removal, prioritizing native and drought-tolerant species, and cumulative canopy analysis in environmental reviews.

Sue Peterson, president of the Carp Lake Improvement Association, told council members Carp Lake has been nearly dry since June 2023 after a nearby stormwater and roadway project; she said the city's prior assurances that the lake would return had not materialized and asked the council and new public works leadership to investigate the lake's altered water regime. Multiple commenters urged the city to incorporate stronger protections for mature canopy and to account for hydrologic impacts of development as staff reviews docket items.

Spear and staff did not adopt or certify any substantive amendment at the hearing; the hearing was limited to setting the docket. Spear confirmed that two private applications were included: a proposed rezoning at 3615 Silicon Boulevard SW from Commercial 2 to Neighborhood Commercial 2, and a proposed rezoning at 14511 West Thorne Lane SW from Residential 3 to Mixed Residential 2 related to an in-home daycare request. The council did not take final action on any amendment during the hearing.