Planning Commission asks staff to schedule public hearing on 2026 omnibus land-use code amendments, adds East Main fee option

The Bellevue Planning Commission on April 8 voted to ask staff to schedule a public hearing on the city’s 2026 omnibus land-use code amendments, a package staff described as a mix of code cleanups, state-law compliance updates and narrowly scoped policy changes.

Staff said the omnibus — which planners call the LUCA and BCCA in materials — consolidates permit-process language, clarifies extended-vesting rules, implements several state-law compliance items and proposes modest policy edits such as how property-line trees are credited and whether single-family homes remain a permitted use in some higher-density districts. Staff recommended moving the package to a public hearing and tentatively targeting council action in July to meet several state compliance deadlines.

“The goal here is to get ahead of the state compliance timeline and tidy up a number of cross-references and small policy items,” said Christine Mance, senior planner, who outlined the LUCA’s three buckets: cleanup items, state-law compliance, and limited policy changes. Nick Wipaul, code and policy director, said staff had focused engagement on internal and development-community review and described the omnibus as a useful vehicle to address disparate code sections together.

Why it matters: staff and several commissioners said the omnibus is not intended to reset city policy but to fix technical issues and implement state requirements that, in some cases, carry July compliance deadlines. The commission’s direction will determine whether narrow policy items raised in public comment are folded into the hearing draft.

Public commenters asked the commission to consider specific changes. Ali Furtado, a Tesla project design manager, supported a proposed amendment that would remove “parking and circulation changes” from the development-activity definition so small EV charger installations would not trigger full tree-density requirements. Furtado said Tesla’s proposed eight-stall supercharger at Eastgate Plaza would otherwise trigger a planting requirement of “over 30 trees” or a fee-in-lieu “over $40,000,” which he said represented roughly 26% of that project’s construction budget, and urged the commission to recommend the amendment.

Jesse Clausen, speaking for the Bellevue Club, asked the commission to add a residential fee-in-lieu option in the East Main subarea so the area aligns with other subareas that already allow both residential and nonresidential fee-in-lieu options. Clausen said East Main’s current nonresidential fee is $30 per square foot and proposed applying that rate to residential bonus-area fees rather than changing the fee amount; staff said the proposal was not part of the initial LUCA scope but could be included if the commission so directed.

Rupa Sadakopan of Indian American Community Services described the nonprofit’s youth mental-health program, saying it delivers culturally responsive services to roughly 225 Bellevue-based youth and 450 additional Eastside youth annually and requested city support to enhance the program’s capacity.

Commissioner direction and vote: Commissioner Farris moved that the commission recommend staff schedule a public hearing on the omnibus LUCA; the motion was seconded and, after a commission member moved to amend the motion to include the East Main fee-in-lieu change discussed at the meeting, the amendment was seconded. Chair Han Lu called the voice vote in favor and asked staff to tentatively schedule the public hearing for May 13.

On tree-code specifics, staff proposed counting property-line trees as a half credit toward retained-tree requirements to provide an incentive to preserve adjacent trees while reducing the risk of double-counting and reliance on trees controlled by neighbors. Commissioners raised concerns about enforcing credits for trees that sit on other properties and asked staff to provide implementation detail; staff noted that critical-area and buffer standards remain governed by a higher set of rules and would not be changed by the citywide tree-code edits in the LUCA.

Next steps: staff will prepare the LUCA materials, incorporate the commission’s direction to include the East Main fee-in-lieu option for public hearing materials, and return for a public hearing (tentatively May 13) before forwarding to council. Staff said council action is anticipated in July to align with state compliance dates.

The meeting also included public-comment disruptions: a public speaker delivered a prolonged, hostile monologue that the chair cut off at the end of the allotted time; commissioners asked staff to review a hand-delivered document for potential harassment. The commission adjourned after confirming follow-up procedures for the deferred affordable-housing presentation and other questions.