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Council reviews code reorganization and four new zoning districts under Phase 2
Summary
Staff described a rewrite to centralize permitted land uses into a new chapter and adopt development regulations for four new zones—Employment, Manufactured Home Park, Neighborhood Mixed Use, and Gateway Mixed Use—with planning‑commission review continuing through August and a tentative council hearing in September.
City planning staff told the council that a code reorganization would relocate permitted land‑use matrices from scattered chapters into a single chapter to increase clarity and incorporate state‑mandated updates for uses such as childcare, permanent supportive housing and transitional housing.
Brooke Heidem, community development director, said the draft approach removes duplicated permitted‑use language across roughly ten chapters and adds a new chapter (proposed chapter 19.25) that lists uses in matrix form with accompanying restrictions and aligned definitions. “The planning commission has discussed this item at two separate work sessions… their discussions will continue through August,” Heidem said, adding staff expect to bring a recommendation to council in September.
The Phase 2 zoning regulations will create four zones required by the adopted comprehensive plan: Employment (replacing the Light Industry Office Park zone in Melody Hill), Manufactured Home Park (replacing a mobile‑home zone and adding protections and new chapter provisions), Neighborhood Mixed Use, and Gateway Mixed Use (located along Van Ry Boulevard). Heidem said outreach to Melody Hill residents and businesses has shaped the drafts and that related chapters will be repealed or amended when the new zoning map is adopted.
Councilmembers asked whether the Manufactured Home Park designation would prevent future rezoning. Staff said rezonings remain possible but would require a demonstrated abandonment of the park use; Heidem noted many mobile home pads are individually owned, making total abandonment unlikely and that the city had looked to recent Everett code changes for guidance. The council expressed a preference for policy language that discourages displacement of existing manufactured‑home residents.
The council did not vote on code amendments at this meeting; staff will return with formal ordinance language and a recommendation after planning commission work continues.
