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Senate committee hears bill to allow housing in commercial and mixed‑use zones
Summary
A governor-request bill (SB 6,026) would require larger cities and counties to allow residential uses in areas zoned commercial or mixed-use, limit mandatory ground-floor retail outside station areas to 20% of a jurisdiction's zoned area, and offer limited height incentives where commercial requirements remain; supporters call it urgent to add housing capacity, opponents warn about local planning and commercial tax base impacts.
Trevor Press, staff to the committee, told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that substitute Senate Bill 6,026 would require cities and counties planning under the Growth Management Act with populations above 30,000 to allow residential uses in areas zoned for commercial or mixed use, with enumerated exceptions. Under the bill, local governments may not require ground-floor commercial or retail as a blanket condition for permitting residential housing; where jurisdictions do require mixed use or ground-floor commercial, they must allow height increases and other concessions.
“Under this bill, cities and counties…
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