Committee to pursue PSRC conditional certification while updating zoning and housing capacity
Loading...
Summary
The Community Development Committee agreed to place a resolution on the council consent agenda that signals the city's intent to meet conditions of a Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) conditional certification allowing continued eligibility for transportation funding while the city updates its comprehensive plan, buildable lands analysis and zoning map to document capacity for assigned housing targets.
The Community Development Committee opened a discussion Tuesday on a conditional certification letter from the Puget Sound Regional Council that asks the city to revise its 2024 comprehensive plan, update its buildable lands analysis and show zoning capacity to meet reconciled growth targets while preserving eligibility for transportation funding.
Director Davis told the committee that PSRC "is granting us a conditional approval, which still allows us to be able to apply for our transportation funding while we go through and address all the conditions of their certification." She said the city routed its comprehensive plan to PSRC, reconciled growth targets with King County and now must adjust the zoning map, including rezoning Snoqualmie Ridge to match the built environment.
The reconciled target was reduced from about 1,500 units to 719 units, Director Davis said. Under PSRC's conditions the city must show capacity for 374 units of nonpermanent supportive housing, 244 units of permanent supportive housing, 117 units at 30–50% area median income (AMI), 16 units at 50–80% AMI and 269 emergency beds. The director said the city will need public outreach and a consultant to complete zoning-map revisions and expects to issue an RFQ in December or late January.
Council member Waddell raised concerns about local capacity and services, noting the region's allocation of emergency beds and saying, "I I think that we need to go back and and refine that." He questioned how the city could accommodate a large share of county-level needs without additional services and funding.
Director Davis acknowledged the challenge for smaller jurisdictions: "A lot of the small rural cities are really grappling with this," she said, and flagged House Bill 5148's workforce housing definition as relevant to local policy discussions. She also said the city received a Department of Commerce grant to work on a climate element but that some funding and data timing have delayed final incorporation; the climate element is not due until 2029, though the city may try to accelerate work in 2026–27.
Committee members also questioned transportation-related findings in PSRC's letter, including suggested work on multimodal standards and funding analyses. Director Davis advised the committee to address those comments in upcoming plan updates and to demonstrate good-faith progress to PSRC ahead of the 2029 Growth Management Act implementation report.
Rather than vote on a final resolution at the committee meeting, members agreed to place a resolution on the full council's consent agenda next week that would state the council's intent to complete the specified work and provide the commitment to PSRC by Nov. 30. Director Davis said the city would aim to have zoning-map revisions and necessary code amendments in place by 2026; she warned that if the city fell short PSRC could reconsider transportation funding eligibility for 2027, but that agencies typically work with cities showing good-faith progress.
The committee did not take a final vote on the certification acceptance at the meeting. The committee chair moved to adjourn and the meeting ended at 6:33 p.m.
