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Planning commission reviews Cascadia Partners housing recommendations; ADUs, parking and design standards debated
Summary
Cascadia Partners’ draft code amendments on ADUs, middle housing and design standards were discussed; commissioners focused on parking, system development charges, metering and how to balance design rules without making multifamily housing prohibitively expensive.
Planning staff summarized Cascadia Partners' draft recommendations for code changes intended to implement state- and local-mandated housing updates. Commissioners and staff discussed options for allowing ADUs and middle-housing while protecting neighborhood character.
Topics included whether ADUs should be considered on a case-by-case basis for parking, the possibility of applying design standards to triplexes and larger multi-unit projects (but not to duplexes), and how to handle lot coverage, setbacks and parking requirements. Staff noted the Cascadia survey had 22 responses and showed polarized opinions by zone; commissioners said the low survey sample limits statistical significance but still provides qualitative insight.
The commission also discussed system development charges and metering choices. Staff said a separate meter and full SDC for an ADU today could add roughly $17,000 of upfront infrastructure cost plus higher monthly utility charges; a possible alternative is an internal conversion on an existing meter or a tiered SDC tied to dwelling size. Commissioners asked Cascadia to return with concrete code options and a menu of choices for each residential zone to support public discussion.
No ordinance amendments were adopted at the meeting; commissioners expect Cascadia Partners to bring draft code language and several options for review at future sessions.
