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Kitsap planners brief commission on 2025–26 state bills, highlight SB 5184 parking changes
Summary
County long‑range planners summarized recent state legislation affecting housing and parking, including SB 5184’s limits on local parking requirements and GMA amendments that change housing‑element and ADU rules; staff flagged potential retroactive effects and said code updates are a near‑term priority.
Kitsap County Department of Community Development long‑range planners Heather Cleveland and Garrett Beaulieu briefed the Planning Commission on June 2 about recent state legislation and what the changes mean for county code and planning work.
Heather Cleveland reviewed how state law (the Revised Code of Washington and the Washington Administrative Code) sets a framework that local jurisdictions must follow and summarized notable past actions, including GMA‑related housing updates and House Bill 1337 that affected accessory dwelling unit (ADU) allowances. She told commissioners that some bills require periodic progress reporting and changes to comprehensive‑plan update cycles.
Garrett Beaulieu then described bills adopted in the 2025–26 cycle that will affect parking requirements and development standards. He flagged Senate Bill 5184 as particularly consequential, summarizing the bill’s constraints on local parking rules: “One of them, for example, is that counties can't require more than half of a parking space for multifamily units, or one space for single‑family residences,” Beaulieu said, adding that the bill includes other provisions that limit required on‑site parking for certain residential and commercial uses.
Why it matters: the state changes could force code updates in Kitsap County to avoid conflicts with newly enacted law; some provisions are effectively retroactive, so staff said they are prioritizing code work to reduce legal and permitting risk. Beaulieu explained options staff is considering: adopt parking allowances exactly as the statute prescribes, consider repealing parking minimums entirely (as some nearby jurisdictions have done), or prepare targeted parking‑safety studies and submit them to the Washington Department of Commerce where safety concerns could warrant exceptions.
Commissioners asked whether the law includes transit‑oriented caveats and whether counties can seek limited deviations based on local characteristics. Beaulieu said some statutory language is location‑based and that parking studies can be pursued where on‑street parking raises safety concerns; he also said county staff will evaluate where county roads and conditions might warrant different implementation than cities. Some timing questions arose: the bill contains an 18‑month implementation horizon in some provisions, and staff said they will prepare internal guidance for permit reviewers while formal code amendments are developed.
Next steps: planners said parking and housing code updates will be a near‑term priority for DCD, with staff preparing analyses, potential code amendments, and informational memos for permit reviewers while formal public‑hearing packages are developed.
