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Council and staff debate housing rules: ADU sizes, hotel units and storage uses
Summary
As part of the code overhaul, staff recommended clarifications on accessory dwelling unit sizes and hotel-room formulas, and the council debated allowing single-family uses in multifamily zones and treatment of mini-storage facilities and nonconforming status.
The council discussed several housing-related items in the code update. Patricia Love noted staff consolidated many uses and recommended clarifying ADU rules to prevent large, non‑accessory conversions: the draft retains a 24‑foot height limit for ADUs that stems from state law. "The 24 foot height limit came from, Washington State law," Love said, explaining the code cannot require ADUs to be lower than that statutory minimum.
Councilmembers also asked whether the city should specify a fixed hotel-room count; Love said past practice used a formula but that a midsize hotel typically runs 80–100 rooms and staff had proposed a flat number as a practical cap to avoid inconsistent interpretations. The council also raised concerns about nonconforming mini‑storage uses and whether conditional-use permits could allow expansions; staff said existing nonconforming rules apply and agreed to examine expansion options under the conditional-use process. Council asked staff to return with more detail on setbacks, lot coverage and how ADU height interacts with rear setbacks before the second reading.
