Port Orchard planning commission forwards coliving code changes to council to align with state law

The Port Orchard Planning Commission voted to forward proposed amendments to the city's development regulations implementing Washington State House Bill 19-98, a 2024 law that defines and requires jurisdictions to allow "coliving housing." The commission moved to recommend the draft ordinance to the City Council after a staff presentation and limited discussion.

Jim Fisk, the city's principal planner, told commissioners the legislation requires cities to treat coliving equitably in development standards and review procedures and prevents cities from imposing requirements beyond state building codes for sleeping-room sizes or unit configurations. "House Bill 19-98 requires that cities permit coliving housing on any lot that allows six or more multifamily units," Fisk said, describing parking limits and how sleeping units are counted for density and sewer fees.

Fisk said the draft code revisions clarify definitions (including removing location-based criteria from the existing congregate living definition), lower the apartment unit threshold from seven to six for consistency with the bill, and add a new use category for coliving in the parking and circulation chapter. He said the city's September/October packet and Department of Commerce guidance informed the draft, and the city received one comment from Commerce requesting a reference to the state's definition of a major transit stop.

Under the draft language as presented, parking is limited by the statute: no off-street parking is required within a half-mile of a major transit stop and elsewhere no more than 0.25 spaces per sleeping unit. Density rules treat each sleeping unit as one quarter of a dwelling unit for unit-count calculations and as half of a dwelling unit for sewer connection fees, Fisk said. He noted Port Orchard must adopt conforming regulations by Dec. 31, 2025, or state law will supersede conflicting local rules.

There was no public testimony at the hearing. After brief commissioner discussion and questions, Commissioner Wayne Wright moved to "accept it as proposed and prepared and send it on to the city council." The motion was seconded; the commission approved the recommendation by voice vote with all members present voting in favor. The commission staff indicated the item is tentatively scheduled for City Council consideration on Nov. 18.

Planning staff said the packet will include the specific code sections to be amended (for example, POMC 20.32, 20.39, 20.124 and related definition chapters) and noted the city issued a Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) on Oct. 8. Staff also transmitted the amendments to the Washington State Department of Commerce.