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City staff outlines major update to Title 12 and Engineering Standards Manual; stormwater, sewer and ADU rules in focus
Summary
Staff and consultant Keller Associates presented an introductory briefing on a comprehensive update to Title 12 and the Engineering Standards Manual to modernize technical standards for public works, stormwater and utilities and to improve clarity for applicants and staff.
City planning and public-works staff, supported by consultant Keller Associates, briefed the Planning Commission on a comprehensive update to Title 12 (public works, rights-of-way, stormwater and utilities) and the Engineering Standards Manual (ESM). The presentation was introductory; no action was taken.
Angie Silva, who led the briefing, said the goals are to modernize technical standards, improve predictability for applicants and align local rules with state and federal requirements. The project began in August and the schedule includes a planning commission study session on draft code amendments in early November, a public hearing late in November, and a hoped-for council ordinance adoption in the first quarter of 2026.
Key findings and proposed areas of revision included: updating street templates, sidewalk widths and ADA standards; clarifying multimodal design guidance for bikes and pedestrians; stormwater updates to align with Ecology’s Phase 2 stormwater permit and add design guidance for linear bioretention in rights-of-way; review of sewer chapter content to relocate technical material to Title 13 for consistency with Pierce County; and revising low technical thresholds that currently trigger engineered reviews (staff noted one current trigger is 25 cubic yards of earthwork).
On stormwater, staff noted Lakewood relies heavily on underground injection control (UIC) systems (staff cited about 1,700 registered with the Washington State Department of Ecology) and proposed targeted exemptions and clearer low-impact development (LID) guidance. On trip generation and frontage improvements, staff reported peer-review results showing ADU trip generation ranges of four to six daily trips and recommended six trips as the trigger for frontage improvements while asking the commission whether to consider an alternate threshold.
Commissioners asked for easier-to-read redline materials that collect changed pages, jurisdictional comparisons on stormwater and separation practices, and clearer guidance on TMF (traffic mitigation fee) implementation tied to the Downtown Plan Action EIS. Staff said an environmental (SEPA) threshold determination would be prepared as part of the packet when draft code amendments are delivered to the commission.
Next steps: staff and consultant will draft code amendments (redline strikeout and add versions), prepare the SEPA analysis and return for study sessions, public hearing and decision.
