Council hears staff briefing on zoning-code updates: middle housing, critical areas, co-living and design standards

Planning Manager Katie Baker gave the City Council an extended presentation on proposed zoning and code amendments on Sept. 23, describing work to implement changes required by recent state legislation and the city's adopted comprehensive plan.

Baker told the council the updates aim "streamlining, clarifying, and modernizing" zoning rules that in some cases have been in place for decades. She said many amendments respond to state laws designed to increase housing options, including the requirement to allow middle housing in all single-family zones (House Bill 1110). "This is an allowance," Baker said, adding the city is drafting permanent regulations after adopting an interim middle-housing ordinance in June.

Other state-directed changes Baker outlined include stricter standards that design regulations be clear and objective and not reduce density (House Bill 1293) and a new requirement to allow "co-living" housing in zones that permit multifamily uses. Baker described co-living as a format of small, lockable sleeping units with shared common areas; the draft provisions discussed in the meeting would allow up to four sleeping units per dwelling unit and include parking rules: no parking requirement within a half-mile of the Sounder station and one parking space per four sleeping units outside that area. Baker said examples of co-living already exist in King County and other regional cities.

Councilmembers asked multiple questions about potential neighborhood impacts and implementation. Councilmember Dean Johnson urged staff to scrutinize critical areas updates and buffer expansions, noting public comments at the meeting raising concerns that a generalized 100-foot buffer would render some properties effectively unbuildable. "If they're looking to remove barriers to housing ... increasing buffers around existing neighborhoods and creeks would be counterproductive," Johnson said. Baker replied that critical areas rules are part of the comprehensive-plan compliance process and that property-level review and additional timeframes apply.

Other topics Baker covered included consolidating downtown design guidelines into a single objective design chapter, revising storefront and block-frontage standards by street classification (primary pedestrian corridors vs. secondary streets), reworking multifamily open-space requirements to allow a per-unit square-foot metric, scaling back an older 30-foot commercial-to-residential landscape buffer to a more flexible approach, and drive-through orientation standards that favor internal circulation in pedestrian corridors. She also discussed building-material limits in light of state law that bars outright bans on materials allowed by the building code; staff proposed requiring multiple material types and limiting certain lower-quality materials to secondary uses only.

Baker said the planning commission will hold a public hearing the next day on the co-living ordinance and final review on the proposed critical areas ordinance; staff anticipated bringing both items to council in October. Several council members asked for maps and data on where co-living and other changes would apply, evidence from other jurisdictions on operational impacts, and clarity on sound/noise and buffering approaches. Baker said staff will return with draft code language and additional analysis.

No formal council votes were taken on these code amendments at the Sept. 23 meeting.