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. Commissioner Nathan Packard said he favored “separation between temporary housing and temporary housing, not temporary housing and school.” Commissioner Bruce Morton asked whether 500 feet is sufficient; some commissioners said 500 feet is not a large distance but preferred some limit. Commissioner Matz (written comment) said she was “100% in favor of a buffer” though she did not specify a distance. Levitan noted Redmond’s half-mile requirement as “incredibly excessive” and said staff proposed a significantly shorter distance.

- Distinguishing STEP categories. Staff proposed treating permanent supportive housing (PSH) and transitional housing (TH) like other residential uses (allowed in residential zones) and placing supplementary use regulations only on emergency housing and shelters (allowed in commercial/mixed-use zones where hotels are permitted). Some commissioners asked whether the categories blur in practice—examples discussed included shelters for domestic violence survivors versus longer-term supportive placements—and whether that ambiguity argued for fewer distinctions. Commissioner Michael Dewar and several others supported treating PSH and TH similarly and treating emergency shelters differently.

- Public notice and permit type. The draft makes emergency housing and shelters subject to a Type 1 administrative permit with supplemental notice to adjacent and across-the-street properties (similar to short-term rental notice). Commissioners asked whether emergency shelters should instead be subject to a Type 2 or higher land-use process with wider notice. Commissioner Jennifer Davis said she was “comfortable with the separate approaches” but recommended a Type 2 for emergency housing and shelters so nearby residents would be notified and could comment. Levitan cautioned that expanding notice beyond the short-term rental-style buffer could mean the city should treat the application as a Type 2, 3 or 4 land-use action instead of an administrative Type 1.

- Renewal, revocation and oversight. The draft requires a two-year renewal for emergency housing permits. Some commissioners questioned whether routine renewals are needed if operators comply; Commissioner Morton called routine renewals “unnecessary government overreach” if they are merely paperwork. Others argued renewals provide a timely check if a facility’s operations deteriorate. Commissioner Jennifer Davis said the idea behind renewal was to “revisit the representations” operators made about operations, parking and populations served. Staff offered an alternative approach: keep a modest renewal process but build clearer revocation criteria and stronger operational requirements so the city can act quickly if problems arise.

- Occupancy, parking and traffic. Staff recommended relying on building and fire codes for maximum occupancy and on standard trip-generation and parking analysis for traffic impacts. Levitan described the city’s existing traffic-impact and concurrency processes and said the city can require traffic worksheets and mitigation; he noted that fee waivers or reductions for public-benefit uses would require City Council budgeting. A mitigation example mentioned during the meeting was an illustrative $3,300 per peak-hour trip fee for traffic impact mitigation; staff said policy decisions about waivers would be a council-level financial decision.

Next steps and staff requests: Levitan said staff will refine code language, prepare an operations-plan template and provide maps showing how various buffer distances would affect potential sites. He also said staff will circulate the draft for public review after incorporating commissioner feedback.

Quotations in context

"We are coming back before you... it's been a couple of months since we introduced the topic of what's called step housing," Principal Planner David Levitan said as he opened the discussion. Levitan later noted that 500 feet "doesn't seem like a huge distance between uses." Chair Janice Hexford called the discussion "good" and urged commissioners to continue refining their positions.

What the draft would and would not do

- Treat permanent supportive housing and transitional housing as permitted where hotels or residential units are allowed; no supplementary use regulations for those categories as drafted. - Subject emergency housing and emergency shelters to a new Chapter 14.44 supplementary regulation, including a Type 1 permit, a site-management and operations/safety plan, minimal public notice to adjacent and across-the-street properties, spacing between facilities and a two-year renewal for the emergency permit.

Limitations: Commissioners did not adopt the draft during the meeting; the items discussed are staff proposals and commission feedback. No formal vote was taken on the code text itself; staff will revise the draft and return it for additional commission review and public outreach.

Looking ahead: staff said they will prepare maps and a clearer operations-plan template, and that the commission will see refined language in coming weeks. The Planning Commission’s next regular meeting was announced for Sept. 3, 2025.