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Council briefed on STEP housing code amendments and buffer mapping ahead of public hearings
Summary
City planners presented draft STEP housing regulations required by state law, showing maps of 300‑, 500‑ and 1,000‑foot protected buffer options; staff will issue a 60‑day Commerce notice and return to planning commission and council for public hearings.
City planners brought draft STEP housing code amendments to the Lake Stevens City Council on Sept. 23, describing required changes for emergency shelters, transitional housing, emergency housing and permanent supportive housing and presenting buffer‑mapping scenarios to inform local regulations.
Principal planner David Levitan said the STEP regulations stem from state implementation requirements and require that emergency shelters be permitted where hotels are allowed while transitional and permanent supportive housing must be allowed in zones that permit residential units. The draft ordinance proposes supplementary use regulations for emergency shelters (site management plans, parking, security) and explores protected‑use buffers measured from parks, schools, childcare centers and libraries.
Levitan presented maps that show a 300‑foot buffer would exclude much of downtown Lake Stevens from potential emergency‑shelter siting, a 500‑foot buffer would eliminate most of downtown, and a 1,000‑foot buffer would further expand restricted areas. Planning commissioners generally recommended a middle approach to balance health and safety protections with the statutory requirement not to effectively prohibit siting of required uses.
Council members asked whether emergency housing inherently posed dangers that justify buffers and requested comparative data and experiences from other jurisdictions; planners said empirical data are limited, that robust site management plans are a key tool to manage risks, and that local economic realities and funding constraints already make siting these uses difficult. Staff will issue the 60‑day notice to the Department of Commerce, return the draft to the planning commission for public hearing in late October or early November, and then schedule the council’s required public hearing.
Next steps: 60‑day Commerce notice, planning commission public hearing (late Oct/early Nov), council public hearing and adoption before statutory deadlines.
