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Lynnwood advances Unified Development Code draft to implement middle‑housing and align parking rules
Summary
City planners presented a draft Unified Development Code that consolidates multiple titles, implements middle‑housing standards (duplexes through stacked flats), proposes a 45‑foot baseline height in RM‑45 with bonuses up to 75 feet for affordable or family‑oriented housing, and aligns parking rules with recent state legislation.
City planning staff presented a draft Unified Development Code (UDC) to the Lynnwood City Council on April 21, describing how the consolidated code will implement the city’s housing action plan, middle‑housing objectives and new state parking rules.
The draft combines existing chapters of the municipal code into a single title, clarifies lot and density rules, and updates development‑ and design‑standards. Planning Manager Carl Almgren said the UDC aims to make permit rules clearer and to tie new requirements to the scale of work proposed. He told the council the draft includes a user‑friendly table that shows which standards apply to subdivision, new construction or site modifications.
Middle housing and density: staff said the RN (residential neighborhood) zone will allow up to three units per lot as a matter of right and will allow an additional unit when a project includes an affordable unit or is within a quarter‑mile of a major transit stop. The RN zone will also explicitly permit a range of middle‑housing types — duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage‑style housing, townhomes and stacked flats — to implement state middle‑housing requirements.
RM‑45 and height incentives: planners proposed a default 45‑foot height limit in the RM‑45 multifamily zone. Additional height up to 75 feet could be achievable through performance bonuses tied to family‑size units, senior housing or affordable units. Almgren said the approach creates predictable floor‑area and height expectations while preserving incentives for projects that provide public benefit.
Open space, building footprint and parking: staff are still finalizing some design controls. The draft calls for minimum open space requirements, and planning staff said they are exploring maximum building footprint controls to discourage oversized single‑story “McMansion” footprints and to encourage cottage‑style design where appropriate. The draft also proposes bicycle parking requirements and seeks to align vehicle parking minimums with the state’s recent parking‑reform legislation.
Process and schedule: staff will host an online open house in eight days for developers and the public and said the UDC is scheduled to go to adoption hearings in May–June, with a target city‑council adoption date of June 20, 2025. Almgren said some UDC sections will be marked “reserved” while staff completes additional topics; if finalization is delayed, the city will adopt a compliant alternative and bring the remaining sections forward later.
Why it matters: the code changes are intended to increase housing supply and choice by making middle housing easier to build in appropriate neighborhoods, while giving the city tools to manage scale, design and neighborhood transitions. Council members asked clarifying questions about lot coverage, the proposed 1,000‑square‑foot per‑unit footprint limit under consideration for some housing types, and how buffers and setbacks will mitigate height transitions next to single‑story neighborhoods.
Next steps: staff will refine open‑space, footprint and buffer language based on public input and return with revised drafts before final hearings.
