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Duval outlines work plan to resolve Commerce appeal, warns of broad code rewrites and Dec. 2026 deadline
Summary
City staff told the Duval City Council they must revise zoning, municipal code and elements of the comprehensive plan to resolve an appeal with the Department of Commerce; staff said many changes are required by state guidance and case law and must be adopted by December 2026.
City staff told the Duval City Council on Dec. 2 that an ongoing appeal with the Washington State Department of Commerce will require extensive code and comprehensive plan amendments and that the city has roughly a year to produce a work plan and implementing ordinance changes.
City administrator Cynthia McNabb said staff submitted a draft land capacity analysis and are coordinating a peer review memo from BERC to present to King County; if King County agrees to revised percentages the Commerce work plan can move into its next phases. McNabb told council the city "is kind of in a holding pattern until that work with King County is done," and that staff will bring a formal work plan back to council once county concurrence is received.
Staff described a package of required updates tied to recent Growth Management Act and case law developments: rezoning to support new land‑capacity calculations, municipal code changes, amendments to capital facilities and transportation analyses, updates to design standards and parking rules, a manufactured home park designation, revision of infill development rules, permit processing rewrites and an affordable housing incentive program to allow permanent supportive and emergency housing. McNabb summarized the legal change in Commerce guidance since Kitsap and Mercer Island decisions: jurisdictions must not only identify barriers to affordable housing but must adopt code changes to cure them.
Officials flagged options if King County declines a reconciliation request, including the risk that the county could refuse redistribution of housing targets; staff advised that to pursue reconciliation Duval would need to show unexpected circumstances or mathematical errors. Council members pressed staff on whether the appeal concerns the overall housing target or the affordability (0–80% AMI) component; staff clarified the current appeal centers on affordable housing allocations rather than market‑rate targets.
Staff said most of the technical work — zoning map updates, sewer and transportation recalculations, EIS amendments and code text changes — must be completed and adopted to meet Commerce’s expectations, with much of the substantive drafting occurring in 2026 and subject to public hearings. The city will continue to seek grants and remain eligible for certain funding while under appeal as long as it demonstrates progress on the work plan.
