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Everett staff outline plan to implement state lot‑splitting law and streamline land‑division code
Summary
City staff presented code updates to implement state residential lot‑split requirements and to consolidate land‑division chapters; discussion focused on deferred infrastructure, alley access and safety (gurney paths), and avoiding unbuildable remnants.
City planning staff on June 16 outlined draft changes to Everett’s land‑division and development‑standards code intended to implement the state residential lot‑splitting law and simplify four existing chapters into a single, clearer chapter.
Staff said the state law (referenced in discussion as House Bill 1096 and codified in chapter 58.17 RCW) requires cities to allow residential lot splits through an administrative process in many cases. The draft code would allow limited administrative lot splits and, in some scenarios, let final infrastructure installation be conditioned on later building permits — a sequencing intended to speed real‑estate transactions while preserving public‑safety and utility requirements.
Presenters noted tradeoffs and a set of development standards that currently differ depending on whether a project is recorded as a land division. For example, frontage improvements (sidewalk/curb/gutter and street parking), undergrounding utilities, and certain landscaping strips can be triggered by a land division even when the physical development would be identical. Staff said they want development standards to follow the physical development rather than ownership structure unless there is a compelling reason otherwise.
Commissioners raised several practical concerns: alley‑lot split scenarios in North Everett and how alley access affects driveway cuts and street frontage; the city’s “gurney path” requirement to maintain a four‑foot accessible path to the street for emergency access; stormwater and the risk of creating unbuildable or inefficiently shaped remnants; and financing and bankability for buyers of newly split lots. Staff said they are working with Fire, Permit Services and Public Works to identify practical height‑and‑access exceptions near alley termini and to ensure stormwater and utility provisions make lots buildable.
Staff also reported an internal drafting effort to consolidate roughly 13,000 words across four chapters into a single chapter of about 5,000 words, and said the plan includes staged public review with more detailed code language to come back at the July 7 meeting and, if ready, a recommendation to council in late July.
What’s next: Staff will return with a fuller code packet on July 7 and continue coordination with Fire and Public Works on alley access and stormwater standards.
