Council approves infrastructure-improvement exemptions for small-scale infill

Kent — On Dec. 9 the Kent City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4530 to amend Chapter 6.02 of the Kent City Code and add infrastructure-improvement exemptions intended to facilitate small-scale infill development.

Planner Matthew Chastain told the Council that the change aims to reduce development costs for projects of four or fewer residential units per lot, improve the completion rate for small infill projects and avoid incentivizing larger, denser redevelopment solely to spread infrastructure costs. Chastain said analysis of 15 years of data shows roughly 68% of small-scale projects that reach a preliminary permit stage do not complete construction, a dynamic the ordinance seeks to address by removing certain upfront improvement requirements when the city has no planned infrastructure investment on the block.

The ordinance retains mandatory improvements where the site abuts a roadway on the city’s six-year Transportation Improvement Program or where the street is classified as a principal or major collector. It also preserves the director’s discretion to require improvements in cases such as filling sidewalk gaps or other site-specific public-safety needs. To address council concern about street trees, the updated ordinance requires an equivalent number of street trees to be planted off-site when on-site right-of-way improvements are waived; the proposal also includes a no-protest agreement tied to future infrastructure districts so that property owners must meet any later infrastructure obligations.

Councilmember Larimer moved the ordinance; the motion was seconded and the measure passed by voice vote.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 489; topfinish SEG 667