Lacey Planning Commission reviews state‑mandated co‑living, middle‑housing and ADU code updates; staff to revise draft for Dec. 10 hearing

City of Lacey planning staff presented a suite of state‑mandated housing code changes at the Planning Commission’s November meeting, focusing on a proposed co‑living chapter and related updates to middle housing, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and unit‑lot subdivisions.

Jennifer (city planner) told commissioners the state defines co‑living housing as “independently rented lockable sleeping units that provide space for living and sleeping” with shared kitchen facilities; the RCW is silent on bathrooms. She said the law requires jurisdictions to allow co‑living wherever multifamily housing of six or more units is permitted and that each co‑living sleeping unit counts as 0.25 of a dwelling unit for density purposes. Jennifer said staff’s draft proposes a sleeping‑unit cap of 250 square feet and, initially, shared facilities only (shared kitchens and bathrooms) with a proposed kitchen ratio of one standard kitchen per six sleeping units and a kitchen‑rounding rule for fractional kitchens.

The presentation flagged technical differences between statutory density, parking language and utility billing: staff explained sewer connection calculations use equivalent residential units (ERUs) and treat co‑living sleeping units as 0.5 ERU (studio+ multifamily currently pay ~0.7 ERU), while parking and density language in statute reference a 0.25‑unit equivalency and limit local requirements to no more than 0.25 parking space per sleeping unit. Ryan (city staff) said the two metrics stem from separate statutory provisions and utility practice and noted the city’s sewer fee model uses…