Bellevue Planning Commission recommends HOMA LUCA with height, grocery covenant and office incentive amendments

The Bellevue Planning Commission on Jan. 28 recommended that City Council advance the Housing Opportunities in Mixed Use Areas (HOMA) land use code amendment, sending the mandatory-affordability option (attachment A) to council with three substantive changes the commission adopted during deliberations.

The commission voted to (1) revise the draft so the mixed-use ‘‘MU7’’ category can allow up to 85 feet (effectively permitting an eight‑story podium form where appropriate); (2) limit grocery‑store FAR covenants tied to bonus floor area to 25 years while allowing a post‑term transition to other exempt uses or a compensation mechanism (such as fee‑in‑lieu) to recoup public benefit; and (3) direct staff to include a modest 3% floor‑plate increase for nonresidential downtown projects to offset affordability fees and encourage office participation. Those amendments were incorporated into the recommendation the commission forwarded to council.

Why it matters: the LUCA is the city’s primary land‑use tool to unlock housing in neighborhood mixed‑use centers and downtown while trying to preserve ground‑floor amenities and grocery anchors. Staff told the commission the draft HOMA balances housing production goals with design and infrastructure limits and that the draft represents the sixth major iteration of the proposal since March 2025.

‘‘The proposed affordable housing requirement is well calibrated,’’ said Brady…