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Redmond council and planning commission open review of SB 6026 rules for housing in commercial zones
Summary
City staff told Redmond's council and planning commission that SB 6026 will require allowing housing in many commercial and mixed-use zones; commissioners and council members urged detailed analysis of impacts on housing capacity, jobs, infrastructure and public outreach before ordinance changes are finalized.
At a May 26 study session, Redmond planning staff told the City Council and Planning Commission they will begin work to implement Senate Bill 6026, a new Washington law that requires local governments to allow residential uses in commercial and mixed-use zones while limiting the conditions cities can impose.
Jeff Churchill, Redmond's long-range planning manager, said the commission's coming year of work will focus on implementing Redmond 2050 and that staff will docket SB 6026-related amendments soon. "In one sentence, the commission's work program in the coming year focuses on implementing Redmond 2050," Churchill said. Lauren Alpert, who led the presentation on SB 6026, said the law "is intended to facilitate the construction of housing in commercial and mixed-use zones" but does not apply in industrial zones, shoreline jurisdictions or critical-area buffers and does not force demolition of historic landmarks.
Staff told the joint body that the law limits how long cities can require ground-floor commercial space and that jurisdictions may only require up to 40% of a commercial or mixed-use area to remain commercial (with exemptions for publicly funded affordable housing). In Redmond this will affect areas that currently prohibit housing, including business parks and manufacturing zones such as southeast Redmond's industrial park; staff also noted that some neighborhood mixed-use zones would need adjustments because existing height limits were inconsistent with the statute's implementation.
Councilors and commissioners asked for analysis of trade-offs. "One of the top things for me is the impact to housing capacity and economic diversity," Council Vice President Noea Camina said, urging staff to examine whether the changes could hollow out commercial activity. Commissioners and council members also raised infrastructure questions (water, sewer, electrical capacity), the potential for displacement, and how projected housing numbers would interact with the city's housing targets.
Commission Chair Weston emphasized process and community engagement, saying the city must "go back to the community and get their voices" because Redmond 2050 reflected years of public input. Staff said the item will move through the planning commission docketing process and that work is expected to conclude by Aug. 31, 2027, under existing docket timelines.
Next steps: staff will docket the item, begin detailed technical analysis (infrastructure capacity, economic impacts and code changes) and conduct outreach before returning recommended ordinance language to the commission and council for formal hearings and final action.
