Kent planners outline Phase 2'3 updates to Recode Kent, emphasizing middle housing, historic preservation and unit-lot changes

Dasia Mitchell, Long Range Planner for the City of Kent, told the Committee of the Whole that Recode Kent is a multiphase effort to update the city's housing code, permitting processes and development standards to align with state law and the 2044 comprehensive plan. "Recode Kent is a multiphase project, to update our housing code, our permitting processes, and our development standards," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said Phase 1 was adopted June 30, 2025 under ordinance 4517 and included zone consolidation, new permitting processes and the city's middle-housing regulations. She said two Phase-2 ordinances were adopted last year: ordinance 4529 (communal-living regulations) and ordinance 4530 (an exemption on new infrastructure improvements for developments of four units or fewer in certain zones). The department expects to finish the remaining Phase-2 work in the first quarter of 2026.

The unfinished Phase-2 items Mitchell listed were: strategies to balance middle housing with historic preservation; formally incorporating the Mill Creek Historic District into city code; and small amendments to design guidelines and CC/CCMU (Community Commercial and Community Commercial Mixed Use) zones to increase feasible homeownership and mixed-use housing opportunities. Mitchell noted that the Mill Creek Historic District is not new: "This district isn't new. It was approved as a landmark designation nomination in 2013 and then adopted by King County shortly after," she said; draft code will explicitly provide preservation language for the area.

Mitchell also summarized state requirements the city must implement. She cited State House Bill 1576 and described the requirement that properties outside designated historic districts generally cannot be designated historic without written owner consent under certain age thresholds. She also described House Bill 1293 (2023), which requires clear and ascertainable design guidelines that do not reduce the bulk, height, density or scale allowed by the underlying development code. "You can't reduce height, bulk, or scale beyond what's already allowed in that zone," Mitchell said in response to a council question.

Looking ahead to Phase 3, Mitchell said staff will develop site-design standards for middle housing (parking access, landscaping, open space), update residential design standards for both single-family and new middle-housing types, and consider expanding unit-lot subdivision caps beyond the current nine-unit cap to allow more homeownership options. She described unit-lot subdivision as an ownership option that keeps a parent lot's exterior and allows smaller interior lots to be individually owned.

Council members asked about public use of the department's quick guide and interactive mapping tool; Mitchell said internal staff and some developers use those tools frequently and that staff will continue to solicit public feedback as phase work continues. Mitchell said the planning director will retain limited authority to interpret or waive design requirements in order to conform to state law where necessary.

The department plans further public outreach concurrent with Benson Corridor and other area planning, and expects to return to council with draft code amendments and design standards in subsequent meetings. "We do intend to come back when we do the Benson corridor plan also, to fine tune our changes," Mitchell said.

The next procedural step is for staff to finish the three remaining Phase-2 items in Q1 2026 and then continue the Phase-3 engagement and code-drafting process.