Lake Stevens planners debate draft STEP housing rules, including 500-foot spacing, public notice and two-year renewals

The Lake Stevens Planning Commission spent much of its Aug. 18 meeting reviewing draft code language to implement STEP housing requirements from the Washington Legislature.

Principal Planner David Levitan told commissioners the draft responds to House Bill 1120 from the 2021 Washington Legislature and the state Department of Commerce guidance. Levitan said the draft would treat permanent supportive housing and transitional housing as permitted where hotels or residential units are allowed, and would place supplementary use regulations—including a Type 1 permit, a site management plan and modest public notice—on emergency housing and shelters.

The code draft proposes a 500-foot spacing requirement between individual emergency housing or shelter facilities, a two-year renewal for the emergency facility permit, and public-notice requirements similar to Lake Stevens’ short-term rental rules. Levitan said the 500-foot figure was meant to “bridge the gap between the difference in opinions” the commission raised at earlier study sessions, and that staff looked at other cities such as Redmond, Edmonds and Lynnwood for examples.

Why it matters: the state requires cities to allow certain STEP housing types; local code choices determine where shelters can operate, what community notice neighbors receive and what operational safeguards are required. Commissioners said the choices could materially affect siting, neighborhood impacts and whether the city can support services for residents.

Commissioners debated several main issues:

- Buffers between similar facilities. Several commissioners expressed support for a buffer to avoid concentrating multiple emergency shelters in a small area.…