On Nov. 19 the Newcastle Planning Commission opened a review of nonconforming-use rules and reached a preliminary consensus to limit the first phase of updates to single-family residential issues, including homeowner renovations, disaster recovery, accessory structures and measures that help residents remain in their homes.

Staff presented examples from Kirkland, Renton and Seattle and highlighted common approaches such as value-based triggers (for example, 50% of assessed value) and time limits on discontinued uses. Commissioners favored a narrow, pragmatic approach: address problems that have arisen (notably critical-area constraints and natural-disaster exceptions), adopt clearer definitions and avoid making sweeping commercial nonconformance changes that would expand the project scope.

Commissioner comments included support for allowing reuse of an existing footprint and potential exceptions for force-majeure events such as fires or earthquakes, and suggestions to develop clearer property-maintenance and enforcement references tied to immediate health-and-safety standards. Staff said some options could include changing the 50% value trigger, using appraisal values rather than assessed value, or allowing new additions to meet the new code while preserving the existing nonconforming portions.

Next steps: commissioners asked staff to return with comparative charts, model language and focused recommendations on residential nonconforming issues for subsequent meetings; commissioners agreed to postpone broader commercial nonconformance work until the downtown design/code updates are advanced.