Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bellevue launches Downtown Livability 2.0 code update to boost housing, activation and clarity
Summary
Council voted to begin Downtown Livability 2.0, a year‑long land‑use code review to refine building form, encourage housing, address ground‑floor retail fit for small businesses, and better support completion of the Grand Connection.
Bellevue’s City Council authorized staff to initiate “Downtown Livability 2.0,” a focused land‑use code amendment process meant to refine rules enacted in 2017 so the downtown core can add housing, improve evening and weekend activity, protect Old Main Street character, and simplify permitting.
Planning staff described a roughly 12‑month schedule: summer outreach and stakeholder meetings, Planning Commission review in the fall, and a council decision targeted for the second quarter of 2027. Staff said the update will not be a comprehensive plan rewrite but will focus on targeted changes — including revisiting floor‑plate and building line rules that may reduce housing feasibility, clarifying and streamlining departure procedures, strengthening incentives to preserve small‑format and affordable commercial space, and revising active‑use and weather‑protection requirements to improve the pedestrian experience.
Matthew Menard, senior planner, and Code and Policy Director Nick Whipple said the 2017 Downtown Livability code enabled rapid growth — roughly 2,200 new homes and 6,000 jobs downtown since adoption — but staff and stakeholders have identified friction points. The planning team plans public drop‑ins, developer and merchant workshops, targeted outreach to small businesses and homeowners associations, and tabling at downtown events to solicit input.
Several commenters and business representatives urged the council to preserve Old Main Street character, permit smaller retail footprints, and adopt periodic code updates rather than large overhauls. The Bellevue Downtown Association and property owners asked for clearer, more predictable standards and more administrative flexibility in commonly granted departures to reduce entitlement timelines.
The council voted unanimously to direct staff to begin the LUCA (land use code amendment) and refer the draft to the Planning Commission.
