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City Council Planning, Development & Environment Committee Auto captions

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

6:30 PM · Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
Topic tracked across meetings:
Street Standards Conforming Amendments AB 9021 1/2
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
3a
Minutes of October 1, 2024
packet pp.5–6
Staff report:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 10-01-24 City Council Planning, Development & Page (1) Environment Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Planning, Development & Environment Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. October 1, 2024 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA
4. AGENDA ITEMS
4a
Title 18 Update - Middle Housing Regulations COM 0070
60 min · Valerie Porter, Associate Planner · packet pp.7–179
Topics: HousingLand Use
Staff report:
B. Feasibility Study C. Buildable Areas Map D. Public Comment Report
0:08 welcome everyone to the November 6th
0:11 meeting of the isqua city council
0:12 Planning Development and environment
0:14 committee meeting um I am here tonight
0:17 with council president Walsh and council
0:20 member Hall and I am council member hunt
0:22 um on the agenda this evening we have
0:24 one regular business item um and before
0:30 we do that we will have a public comment
0:33 uh I will check in if there are any
0:35 members of the public that are wishing
0:36 to comment on this item all right great
0:39 then and are there any members of the
0:41 public also online that might wish to
0:43 comment okay then I will
0:46 read some guidelines public comments are
0:49 an important part of the public process
0:51 we take them seriously and Factor them
0:53 into the decisions we make uh during
0:56 audience comments members of the public
0:57 are invited to address the council
0:59 regarding matters that directly related
1:00 to City programs projects services or
1:03 events except public hearing items quas
1:06 judicial items or campaign related
1:07 matters when recognized please unmute
1:10 your microphone um please state your
1:12 name address and relationship to the
1:14 city please speak clearly and pause
1:16 frequently and please limit your
1:18 comments to 5
1:22 minutes and I will call
1:27 up the first um first member of the
1:31 public if you would like to make a
1:32 public comment thank
1:39 you no you need to press the button yeah
1:43 sorry there's a button in the middle yes
1:45 perect how about
1:47 you okay thank
1:49 you um my name is David zeitlin and I'm
1:53 here representing Life Enrichment
1:55 options or Leo for short and our address
2:00 690 Northwest Juniper Street in
2:05 isqua and um thank you for letting me
2:09 speak city council and members of City
2:12 Planning other staff um if you don't
2:16 know us which I have a feeling everybody
2:18 does we're a 501c3 nonprofit and we work
2:21 for individuals with intellectual and
2:24 developmental disabilities in particular
2:27 I'm here to talk about the housing
2:28 tonight
2:30 aspect of what we do um and as you well
2:35 know Leo and the city share a lot of the
2:38 same goals provide to break down
2:41 barriers for lowincome housing in our
2:44 case especially for the ID
2:48 population um we have a concern given
2:54 the cost of living um in our area that
2:59 not only ID D but they're caregivers
3:02 that are not living in like an adult
3:04 family home we have a few that provide
3:06 respit care they have to drive quite a
3:10 distance um so we are looking for ways
3:13 to overcome some of the hurdles and um
3:17 I've been te talking with some of the
3:19 city staff including Valerie Porter on
3:22 this matter um so we would like to
3:28 encourage the Council and the city at
3:31 large to include um the items that I'm
3:34 going to talk about here in a second um
3:38 if not for the benefit of all of those
3:41 that are looking to um build middle
3:44 housing and I think tonight it's just
3:46 about middle housing not adus is that
3:48 right okay so this kind of affects both
3:51 uh or it does affect both um but
3:53 especially for nonprofits like ourselves
3:55 that are interested in providing housing
3:58 so for the middle housing ordinance
4:00 um ideally we would allow like to see
4:04 one single family home be on the same
4:06 parcel as middle
4:08 housing um we would like higher density
4:12 for Parcels which are dedicated to
4:14 providing Workforce and low-income
4:17 housing that are in single family
4:21 neighborhoods um we would like to allow
4:24 up to six units instead of
4:27 four if all of them are dedicated to
4:30 Middle low income housing um and in our
4:34 case it wouldn't have to all be ID as I
4:37 mentioned our caregivers and and other
4:39 people in the community um or like to
4:41 live in our community
4:44 uh for adus allow the square footage of
4:48 adus to be 1250 instead of a th000 it's
4:51 more conducive to a three bedroom it's a
4:54 little bit tight you can do it in a in a
4:57 th000 square fet but that is tight so
4:59 1250 would be um for us anyways and our
5:03 population we serve and I think uh
5:06 people with families two or three
5:08 children a better
5:10 option um and for both middle housing
5:13 and
5:13 adus um consider either waving or having
5:17 lower impact fees for nonprofits that
5:20 are working to provide middle housing um
5:23 for lowincome and Workforce
5:26 housing um similarly for City
5:29 development fees um to
5:36 have comes from Grants and fundraising
5:40 public money private money um and public
5:43 money and not to require off Street or
5:47 Street improvements on the Frontage be
5:51 it sidewalks gutter curb um I've been
5:56 involved as an architect for years in
5:59 public work works sometimes our projects
6:01 we have to go to the middle of the road
6:03 and do half Street improvements which is
6:06 pretty much for a housing project would
6:09 be a
6:12 non-starter so on a broader terms um our
6:17 initiative would be to find ways to
6:20 partner with the city of
6:22 isqua on our initiatives and our goals
6:26 to provide middle housing low-income
6:29 housing in housing for ID you know as
6:32 you know we already have four homes in
6:35 isqua and now that the trail house
6:37 project is coming back we are going to
6:40 have two or three units within the trail
6:43 house as well thank you very
6:47 much thank you very much for your
6:50 comments perfect thank
6:53 you all right I will check in with city
6:56 clerk if there are any members of the
6:58 public online that might wish to make a
7:00 comment at this
7:02 time yes chair hunt Connie Marsh is on
7:07 the call and would like
7:10 to address the committee Connie I've
7:13 made you a panelist you should now be
7:15 able to unmute and turn on your
7:18 camera okay hi Connie Marsh live on
7:22 squawk um so I have put in a lot of
7:25 public comment on middle housing
7:27 basically on the ACT accuracy of the
7:30 information that you're being provided
7:33 and it has not come through on the
7:36 public comments that you have gotten so
7:39 I sent one email out but this one
7:42 comment is about the critical areas
7:45 themselves so some of your critical
7:47 areas are missing the state actually
7:49 includes seismic Hazard areas and M
7:52 Hazard areas as part of the um uh
7:57 geological hazards and neither of those
8:00 are included on your Maps so you are
8:04 actually not getting accurate mapping
8:08 and coverage for example um pretty much
8:10 all of South Cove is seismic Hazard area
8:13 now this has a couple of issues because
8:16 we've got insurance and you guys have
8:18 been watching the city's insurance go up
8:22 uh but when you're basically on the
8:24 earthquake fault you do have to consider
8:27 the viability of single family housing
8:32 having to build to
8:35 earthquake standard which they didn't
8:37 have to do when they built South Cove
8:39 and South Cove rocks and rolls in an
8:41 earthquake I don't know if you have been
8:43 over there in an earthquake but it it
8:45 like is is something else again the
8:48 other thing that's missing is the state
8:52 uh saying that homeowners associations
8:56 who have rules within them that say that
9:01 it is single family housing only is also
9:05 exempt now the city doesn't
9:09 know where these places
9:12 are so scroll forward to I am a person
9:17 living in the city of isqua and I see
9:20 that wow there is a potential for me to
9:22 build more units on my parcel and then
9:25 you're going well how do I know whether
9:28 it's possible and what you end up with
9:31 is this whole series of of uh studies
9:37 and requirements because most of the
9:40 city is in critical areas or overlaid
9:44 with homeowners
9:45 associations so what this means is then
9:48 the city staff also has to do a heck of
9:51 a lot of work in order to try to process
9:55 these items if you basically say well
9:59 you know we're just going to say all the
10:01 development is possible in these
10:04 critical areas where we allow it now and
10:07 it's it's I think it's going to be a
10:10 beast I'm I haven't really landed on
10:13 what the right answer should be but I
10:16 think you should be starting with the
10:19 correct Baseline information when I was
10:21 looking at Talis it also looks like the
10:23 Deep seated Landslide hazard map that is
10:27 not in the city mapping that caused all
10:29 of our Talis landslides is not included
10:32 on this mapping because that is a a
10:35 slightly different map and so before you
10:38 make anything you need to start with the
10:41 correct information and I've said this
10:43 like 85 times already two people but
10:47 this is the first time you may have
10:49 heard it because it's not included in
10:51 the public comment so start with good
10:53 information and you might get a a better
10:57 result in the end especially because so
10:59 much of isqua was built with no critical
11:03 area uh um rules because it was built
11:08 before critical areas existed thank
11:13 you thank you
11:16 Connie all right um city clerk is there
11:18 anyone else online that might wish to
11:20 make public comment at this time uh
11:23 chair hunt that is it for online
11:26 attendees okay thank you very much then
11:28 we will move on from public comment we
11:31 heard about critical areas um HOA uh
11:36 exemptions as well as uh Life Enrichment
11:39 options and um a number of of uh issues
11:44 around making sure that we have low
11:45 income options for folks so with that we
11:49 will move to approval of the minutes uh
11:52 we have minutes from the October 1st
11:55 2024 meeting of this committee do we
11:57 have any corrections or issues then I
11:59 move to approve the minutes if you agree
12:01 please say I I I they approved and then
12:06 we'll go to our uh one and only item of
12:09 this evening which is Comm 0070 Title 18
12:13 update uh middle housing regulations and
12:16 this will be presented by Valerie Porter
12:18 associate planner welcome
12:21 Valerie thank you and good evening
12:31 all right can you guys hear me all right
12:33 yes we can there is a gray box on the
12:38 screen there we go sorry about that
12:41 thank you all right so tonight's meeting
12:45 um the purpose is for you all to gain
12:47 feedback from you all for um amendments
12:49 to Title 18 related to midal
12:51 housing so um I have several questions
12:54 that I've posed tonight um I'm not going
12:56 to go through all of them right now but
12:58 um during my presentation I'm going to
13:00 start off with an introduction of middle
13:02 housing and then go into each question
13:04 followed with a little bit of background
13:07 um but mainly most of the questions are
13:09 going to be related around how we Define
13:12 midle housing and therefore how we then
13:14 determine how to process to apply design
13:17 standards and other other
13:20 requirements so first why are we talking
13:23 about middle housing so in 2023 the
13:27 Washington State Department of Commerce
13:28 released housing projection stating that
13:31 um we have to um have over 1 million
13:34 homes constructed by 2044 in order to
13:37 keep um the pace of the population
13:40 growth that same year they passed house
13:42 house bill 11 um1 and that was intended
13:46 to increase housing op options
13:49 traditionally dedicated to single family
13:51 detached homes in an effort to promote
13:53 more
13:55 housing so what is Middle housing I know
13:58 this term key getting thrown around
14:00 people are questioning what it is um
14:02 some people also probably heard missing
14:04 middle or missing middle housing and
14:06 basically what this is describing is a
14:08 range of housing over years there's been
14:11 a lot of DET single family homes and
14:14 large scale multif family homes but
14:16 nothing in the middle hence the term
14:18 middle
14:19 housing so middle housing are buildings
14:21 that are compatible in scale form in
14:24 character with single family homes and
14:26 consist of two um or more units
14:30 the important concept about middle
14:32 housing is that there's multi-unit
14:34 buildings that are at the same scale as
14:36 single family homes this idea is
14:39 Illustrated here on the slide with the
14:41 same building but multiple units um
14:45 throughout the same building and
14:47 although there may be additional units
14:49 with middle housing these homes are
14:50 still required to apply um by the um
14:53 building setbacks lot coverage the same
14:55 requirements as a single family home so
14:58 with carefully with with written design
15:00 standards um and development standards
15:02 middle housing types can sit fit
15:05 seamlessly within existing low density
15:07 um homes with detached single family
15:11 homes so here's um some examples of
15:14 middle housing so middle housing
15:16 includes duplexes triplexes fourplexes
15:20 Cottage housing and these are considered
15:22 small scale middle housing then there's
15:24 five plexes sixplex which is Middle
15:28 medium middle housing and then there's
15:31 uh Cottage apartments and town homes and
15:33 these two kind of fall between um medium
15:37 and large scale middle housing depending
15:39 on the number of units um seven is kind
15:42 of considered the large and then they're
15:44 typically taller so three to four
15:47 stories it's also worth mentioning that
15:50 middle housing Is Not A New Concept for
15:52 isqua we actually have a lot of great
15:54 examples throughout isqua um mostly in
15:56 Oldtown um isqua Highland
15:59 as well as the issaqua valley
16:05 neighborhood so State legislation
16:08 requires um isqua to process middle
16:11 housing um applications the same as
16:14 detach single family homes and we can
16:18 only require administrative review so um
16:21 today let's say a 10,000 foot town home
16:24 comes in for an application that project
16:27 would likely trigger a a public hearing
16:29 and a review be with the development
16:31 commission but with this new legislation
16:33 we can only do administrative review in
16:35 administrative review are reviews um
16:38 that are approved by the um Community
16:40 planning and development director or
16:42 their design so I would be the design
16:45 but we cannot require a public
16:47 hearing the other requirement um for a
16:51 house bill 11on is density requirements
16:53 and this is determined by a City's
16:55 population um based off of our
16:57 population isqua falls into tier two
17:00 there's actually three tiers so the city
17:03 is required to allow two dwelling units
17:05 on one lot and all residentially Zone
17:08 lots and it's worth noting that a
17:11 detached single family structures single
17:13 family home does not count as middle
17:16 housing so if someone wanted to you know
17:18 they had a single family home decid that
17:21 they want to construct another single
17:22 family home in their backyard that
17:24 wouldn't be allowed they would have to
17:26 construct middle housing in order to
17:29 um use the utilize The increased
17:32 density the other requirement is that
17:35 lots that are within a quar mile walking
17:38 distance of a major Transit stop or if
17:40 one or more units is committed to being
17:43 in affordable housing the city must
17:44 allow four dwelling units on one
17:49 lot here I've mapped out a couple of
17:51 locations of major Transit stops and
17:53 these are the um Transit centers so the
17:55 one on sr900 and the other in the
17:58 highlands and so these green bubbles
18:00 would um represent the or show the lots
18:04 that um would be required we the city
18:06 would be required to allow for dwelling
18:08 units
18:11 on another requirement is um how a lot
18:15 is able to achieve the density so the
18:18 city is required to allow six of the
18:21 nine middle housing building types in
18:23 single family zones I've on the slide
18:25 I've highlighted the um six types that
18:28 the is proposing um or the
18:30 administration is proposing to allow
18:32 those are duplex Triplex corlex Cottage
18:36 housing stack flats and town
18:39 homes House Bill Levon also addresses
18:42 parking so for lots that are within a
18:45 quarter mile or half mile walking
18:46 distance of a major Transit stop the
18:48 city cannot allow um require parking for
18:51 lots that are six um 6,000 ft² or
18:54 smaller we can require one on on-site
18:58 parking stall per unit and for Lots
19:00 greater than 6,000 we can allow two
19:03 on-site parking
19:06 stalls so in addition to addressing
19:08 House Bill 1110 this project will also
19:10 be addressing House Bill 1337 which is
19:13 for accessory dwelling units this bill
19:15 was intended to um ease the construction
19:18 for um adus and exp expand housing
19:22 options this bill requires isqua to
19:25 review accessory dwelling units the same
19:27 way as the primary home we also must
19:30 require or allow two accessory dwelling
19:33 units on one lot with a primary
19:36 structure in a variety configurations
19:38 and so that could be two detached adus
19:41 one detached Adu with a one attached to
19:45 the primary home variety configurations
19:48 we must allow it the bill also requires
19:51 that the um City must must allow the
19:55 cell the independent cell of that Adu
19:58 from the prime primary home and can no
20:00 longer require the property owner to
20:02 live on
20:05 site so with all of these new changes
20:08 can I interrupt you for a question on
20:09 the last slide um there was a there was
20:12 a question in public comment about uh
20:14 adus being up to a larger size so is the
20:18 requirement that it that that number be
20:21 up to 1,000 or could it could we
20:23 potentially choose a higher number and
20:25 that's the lower level of the
20:27 requirement we can choose a higher
20:28 remember um 1,000 square ft maximum is
20:31 our current requirement okay and okay so
20:34 we need to have oh that's the current
20:36 requirement not under the new HP yeah
20:39 the new regulation states that we cannot
20:42 um go lower than 1,000 okay thank
20:48 you so um so how will this impact isqua
20:52 so there's a there's some concerns that
20:55 um with these new regulations the
20:57 neighborhoods are going to change well
20:58 well neighborhoods are meant to change
21:00 over time as the community needs evolve
21:03 so that's going to happen but the
21:06 administration does not anticipate
21:07 neighborhoods to change overnight um we
21:09 do believe that is going to be
21:11 incremental change that will happen
21:12 likely over um 5 to 10
21:15 years and um although there is this
21:19 increase in density and more housing
21:21 options um based off of the regulations
21:25 um the current regulations we don't um
21:27 we're anticip ating more adus and
21:30 duplexes um nothing bigger than
21:35 that so with the addition of these new
21:37 building types um middle housing
21:39 projects are required to comply with all
21:42 applicable codes um that are in place so
21:44 that's your tree code your critical area
21:46 codes your zoning
21:51 standards and the administration is not
21:54 proposing to make any changes to the
21:56 current um development standards so
21:58 midle housing will have to apply with
22:00 what is currently um in place today and
22:03 it's also worth noting that um many of
22:05 the single family homes currently in the
22:08 um existing single family lots are a lot
22:10 smaller than the um zoning standards
22:13 allow for so um these new homes that are
22:16 going to be constructed are likely going
22:19 to be a lot taller than what it is
22:24 today so I'm also sharing a project
22:26 timeline so this project started started
22:28 in um February 2024 and since then um
22:31 staff has been trying to engage the
22:33 public and gain feedback so in um August
22:37 um staff had a middle housing Workshop
22:40 in September um an online survey was
22:43 posted to gain for you back and then um
22:46 uh staff also held a Q&A session in
22:49 October to give the community an
22:51 opportunity to speak directly to staff
22:52 and ask any
22:55 questions so the next steps will be um
22:58 to gain all of this feedback from the
23:00 community planning policy commission and
23:02 you all and then draft um proposed
23:05 amendments which must be adopted by June
23:11 2025 so for our policy questions so I've
23:15 lumped um question one and two together
23:17 because they're kind of related so the
23:19 first question is does the commission
23:21 agree with the approach of applying a
23:23 unit limit on middle housing and multif
23:25 family housing projects and should
23:28 middle housing projects be exempt from
23:30 the land use process and require a site
23:33 development
23:35 permit so State legislation requires
23:37 cities to process middle housing um
23:39 middle housing projects the same way as
23:41 detach single family homes and so the
23:44 administration believes that a 10un town
23:47 home is very different has a different
23:49 impact than a duplex and so the review
23:51 should be different so with question
23:53 number one we're looking for
23:55 clarification on how the city should
23:56 Define middle housing and based on how
23:59 we Define middle housing again this is
24:01 going to determine how we apply um
24:03 design regulations and other
24:07 requirements the administration is
24:09 proposing to to Define middle housing
24:11 and multifam separately so traditionally
24:14 multif family has been um defined as a
24:17 building with um more than one unit so
24:20 should the city keep this defin isue
24:24 then we would have to basically um
24:27 process all resid itial projects the
24:29 same way as detach single family home or
24:32 a 74 unit development project so the
24:35 administration is proposing to Define
24:37 midal housing as projects with two to
24:41 six units and multif family projects as
24:44 seven or more units and we've come to
24:46 this number because that's how the state
24:49 defines middle housing they have uh they
24:51 clearly defined a sixplex as a middle
24:54 housing type
24:59 so if the committee agrees with this
25:00 approach of separating middle housing
25:03 and multif family middle housing
25:05 projects will only be required to obtain
25:07 a building permit which is similar to a
25:09 detach single family home today while um
25:12 projects that are greater than um seven
25:14 units would be required to obtain a land
25:16 use permit a site development permit so
25:19 a site development permit to be clear is
25:20 not a construction permit and it
25:22 actually must be issued prior to um
25:25 someone obtaining a building permit now
25:28 if if Council disagrees with this
25:30 approach um then it's kind of a All or
25:32 Nothing approach again meaning that all
25:34 residential projects would have to be um
25:36 treated the same way so we would either
25:38 exempt all residential projects from
25:41 obtaining a land use permit or all
25:43 projects would have to get a l use
25:45 perent and that means single family um
25:48 detach
25:51 homes here I'm showing showing the
25:53 current process that it is today we
25:56 currently regulate um projects by the
25:59 square footage and so if a um 4,000 or
26:04 less um residential project came in um
26:08 it would trigger a level one site
26:10 development permit so they would submit
26:12 um staff would do public um noticing so
26:16 neighbor notices um site posting that
26:19 would review and then the CPD director
26:22 would then provide approval if a 10,000
26:26 foot or more project came in staff would
26:28 do the same process but instead of the
26:29 CPD director providing um review and
26:32 approval it would be the development
26:34 commission and it would have to go
26:36 through a public hearing
26:38 process so with this new um new process
26:43 uh again if Council agrees um middle
26:46 housing projects so two to six units
26:49 would be treated um uh like uh detx
26:52 single family homes only requiring a
26:54 building permit and seven or more units
26:57 um could trigger a land use Pro um land
27:00 use permit or possibly go to the
27:02 development
27:05 commission question
27:08 three should middle housing projects be
27:10 exempt from constructing Frontage
27:12 improvements if constructing a if
27:14 constructing a building on an existing
27:17 lot so again this requirement of a
27:20 middle housing has to be treated like a
27:22 detach single family home so today a
27:25 detach single family home is exempt from
27:28 constructing Frontage improvements while
27:31 a new development Redevelopment of a
27:33 home or um residential going to
27:37 commercial triggers Frontage
27:38 improvements and depending on the lot
27:40 location and um the existing
27:43 infrastructure frage improvements could
27:45 include include a curb and gutter
27:48 sidewalks um storm water um drainage
27:51 street lights Street trees landscape um
27:53 landscape
27:55 bed so again there's a couple
28:01 options the administration is proposing
28:03 to exempt middle housing projects from
28:05 constructing Frontage improvements on
28:07 existing single family lots and so to be
28:09 clear what this means is if someone
28:11 decided to construct a triplex on an
28:13 existing lot they would be exempt from
28:16 constructing um Frontage improvements
28:19 but say that same lot um someone wanted
28:21 to construct a Triplex and then plat
28:24 that so that it was Zero lot lines or
28:27 like a simple lot then that would
28:30 trigger Frontage
28:36 Improvement fourth question should the
28:39 city allow adus sorry could we maybe go
28:42 back and get Could you um could you
28:45 repeat I think that yeah maybe you could
28:48 repeat this one again thank you yes so
28:51 if um someone were to construct a
28:54 triplex on a lot today so um
28:59 demolish the existing single family home
29:01 and build a Triplex they would not be
29:03 required to do any of these Frontage
29:05 improvements curb gutter sidewalk
29:07 anything but if someone were to build a
29:11 Triplex and plot it so that each lot is
29:15 sitting or each unit is sitting on its
29:17 own lot so that would be three New Lots
29:20 that would trigger Frontage
29:22 improvements and that's how it is today
29:24 is that if someone were to subdivide a
29:27 lot short PL or long plat it triggers
29:30 Frontage
29:38 improvements okay thank you that that
29:40 was one of the questions I emailed you
29:41 like four hours ago so I appreciate
29:43 actually you're answering almost all my
29:45 questions right now but um I appreciate
29:46 that I guess then I'm struggling to
29:49 understand why someone would do that
29:50 then if it causes like say a developer
29:53 builds the triplex and then does want to
29:54 subdivide the lot now they're on the
29:56 hook for Frontage improvements
29:58 why would it be in their benefit to
30:00 subdivide at that point oh could you
30:02 then sell the lot individ I answered my
30:05 own question okay thank you thank you no
30:08 thank
30:10 you all right uh oh sorry move on to
30:13 question number four okay so should the
30:15 city allow adus to be used to achieve
30:17 lot
30:22 density so House Bill 133 I'm going to
30:25 back up and say House Bill 1337 and 110
30:28 do not work well together so you kind of
30:31 have to look at them separately but
30:34 house build 1337 requires the city to
30:36 allow two adus on one lot House Bill
30:39 1110 allows adus to be counted towards
30:43 um lot density but it does not consider
30:46 an Adu to be a middle housing type so we
30:51 cities do have the option to allow adus
30:54 to count towards lot density so today
30:57 one Adu is allowed with one primary home
31:01 and it does not count towards lot
31:03 density so to better understand this
31:05 situation I have a scenario which is
31:07 this image here so here we have a uh
31:11 what was a single family home that has
31:13 been converted into a
31:15 duplex so the question at hand is should
31:19 this lot be allowed to construct two
31:22 adus and it not count towards lot
31:25 density um resulting in four units on
31:28 one lot or should the Adu count towards
31:32 um lot density um basically resulting in
31:35 just having an Adu and let me back up
31:38 one more step and say um because of the
31:41 middle housing regulations we are
31:43 bumping up zoning to allow for two
31:45 dwelling units on one lot so we are only
31:48 required to allow for two units meaning
31:52 just a duplate
31:59 okay I'm G to move on to the next
32:01 question unless there's some question um
32:03 I I do have a question on this so you
32:04 mentioned and I've heard it mentioned
32:06 before as well that the different house
32:08 bills are not compatible um our lobbyist
32:13 is also um mentioned something to that
32:15 effect and so do you do you know or is
32:19 there any discussion about if the
32:21 legislature might uh make changes to it
32:24 that would then impact if we if we
32:26 adopted um certain regulations with an
32:29 interpretation is there the potential
32:31 that we would have to then you know go
32:33 through this process again
32:35 to I don't know sorry unfortunately I
32:39 don't
32:40 know oh one
32:44 second good evening council members
32:47 we're not aware of uh this coming up
32:50 again there's guidance from Department
32:51 of Commerce on the interplay between the
32:54 two bills and how the city should
32:56 interpret it there was debate between
32:58 the association of Washington cities and
33:00 Department of Commerce whether how to
33:03 interpret both I think the way we are so
33:07 this is a discretion and a policy
33:09 question for you all to determine um the
33:13 by allowing um the question I think um
33:16 where we align with Commerce guidance is
33:19 just because you can have two adus
33:21 doesn't mean you've met your middle
33:23 housing requirements by density so uh
33:26 you the city's have to allow
33:29 duplexes um so that part I think is the
33:32 guidance where there was debate whether
33:35 um just having a main house and an Adu
33:37 that you you've met your middle housing
33:40 requirements um so Commerce has come out
33:43 and said no that you have not uh and but
33:47 all all the cities have to do is to
33:49 allow the duplex and and you've met the
33:51 requirements of both bills
33:54 um be um so because we have average LW
33:57 sizes you know aren't huge in in a lot
34:00 of places some of it is practically how
34:03 people are going to fit in that many
34:05 it'll play out uh on the ground because
34:08 by the time you fit in your parking you
34:10 have your setbacks you have your
34:11 improval surface you can only put in so
34:14 many units um so but it's a policy
34:18 question for us to determine
34:22 we okay thank you
34:27 okay we're almost there question five
34:31 should the city continue to apply the
34:33 critical area code to housing in single
34:35 family areas as it is today and allow
34:38 development of midal housing or not
34:41 allow Lots with critical areas that
34:44 currently allow construction for from
34:47 developing midal housing so here I have
34:50 a slide of city of isqua kind of showing
34:53 some of the um critical areas um the
34:57 public comic was correct that not all of
34:59 the critical areas are shown just
35:01 because it depends so whenever someone
35:04 comes in for an application we review it
35:05 on a lot by lot basis because depending
35:08 on what the critical areas are um they
35:11 may um they may be considered exempt or
35:15 they may have setbacks that can be
35:16 reduced there's a lot of um uh
35:24 factors so House Bill Levon allows
35:26 portions of lots that are encumbered by
35:29 critical areas to be exempt from middle
35:31 housing regulations the administration
35:33 is proposing middle housing regulations
35:35 to be treated the same way that they are
35:37 today and allow development of critical
35:40 um and allow development if the critical
35:42 area code allows it so an example of
35:45 this would be seismic haic areas or
35:48 mitigated Coal Mine Hazard
35:51 areas so what that basically means is
35:55 that the code would allow
35:58 development in um seismic Hazard areas
36:02 or a mitigated Coal Mine Hazard area
36:05 just as long as it complies with code
36:07 meaning if there's some mitigation
36:09 measures or um but it would allow it so
36:14 some some critical areas like steep
36:18 slopes or excuse me
36:19 um streams and wetlands are very clear
36:23 that you cannot build or have direct
36:26 impacts but they do have buffers and so
36:28 it's very clear that you cannot develop
36:30 in those areas but with seismic hmic
36:32 areas you can build in those areas just
36:34 as long as you have like pilings or
36:37 build super durable home so the question
36:40 that's being posed is whether or not to
36:42 allow Lots constructing metal housing um
36:45 should they be allowed to construct just
36:47 as long as they comply with the critical
36:49 area code I think the other piece to
36:51 keep in mind is um again you have to
36:53 treat metal housing the same way as you
36:55 do dechat single family homes so if you
36:57 restrict it for Middle housing you
36:59 probably have to restrict it for a
37:00 detach single family home so you're
37:02 making it um you're restricting
37:04 development and you're making the code
37:06 more
37:09 stringent question six should the city
37:12 continue to wave impact fees for
37:14 accessory dwelling
37:15 unit today the city waves impact fees
37:18 for adus but House Bill 1110 does allow
37:22 cities to collect impact fees for adus
37:24 just as long as they're not greater than
37:26 50% of the fees Fe assessed for the
37:28 primary home so on this slide I have the
37:30 inact P break down for a one single
37:33 family home so this is a one-time
37:36 payment that's paid in full prior to the
37:38 city issuing the building permit and at
37:40 the bottom is the total fee that um an
37:43 Adu would have to um pay which is in
37:46 addition to permit fees and construction
37:49 costs and then just to go a little step
37:51 further to give further context today
37:53 the city has we know of 82 um
37:58 adus and in 2018 that's when we changed
38:01 our regulations to allow for um to kind
38:04 of streamline the prty process for adus
38:07 and since that time we've only had 11
38:09 adus constructed so again the question
38:12 at hand is whether or not the city
38:14 should wave um continue to wave impact
38:18 fees I threw in one last question which
38:21 is are there other changes that the
38:24 staff should
38:25 consider and that concludes my
38:32 presentation thank you very much all
38:34 right we will um do our questions and
38:38 then public comment and then um our
38:42 comments so council president Walsh you
38:43 have a question thanks oh I have a bunch
38:46 you know that
38:50 so help me understand I know based on
38:54 and I'll get all of the house bills
38:56 wrong but I know based on on one of the
38:58 house bills um we had to choose six out
39:02 of nine possible types of Housing and so
39:07 of those one of them is a
39:10 fourplex how does that work if we're
39:14 also
39:16 saying that the Max on most lots that
39:20 aren't either affordable or within a
39:23 quarter mile of uh Transit
39:27 only allow two
39:31 units so um
39:35 one there are some Lots um throughout
39:38 single family zones that are large
39:39 enough to have more than two units and
39:42 so the administration is proposing to um
39:45 keep the maximum lot density but just
39:48 Implement a minimum so bump up those
39:50 lots who are only have or who are only
39:52 allowed one to two um second we have to
39:56 allow this option in the event that they
39:58 can build it and so you're right many of
40:01 the single family um lots and single
40:04 family zones will not be able to build a
40:07 a fourplex or a Triplex but we have to
40:10 allow it should they
40:12 um want be allowed to um if they have
40:16 that density to
40:18 allow okay so my understanding was that
40:23 level of density would only be allowed
40:25 if there was affordable housing or
40:28 within Transit but you just mentioned
40:29 something about lot size how does that
40:32 play in there are some large Lots um
40:35 like say in the single family um small
40:38 lot I think the minimum lot size is 3
40:41 well doesn't matter but there are some
40:44 um lot larger lots that allow for say
40:47 three or four units so say CES
40:53 or it's Zone like a zoning that because
40:58 that lot is say 18 Acres they can have
41:01 four units today and so if they wanted
41:05 to they could build a a cottage housing
41:08 or a fourplex on that
41:14 lot I still don't understand that is it
41:19 related
41:20 to what was allowed when it was single
41:24 family and then it's created
41:29 maximize
41:31 yeah that that's it's all of the stuff
41:34 is complex but um as an example if um
41:39 your minimum lot size is say 6,000
41:41 square ft and you've got 60,000 ft lot
41:45 more than an acre you know not that
41:47 exists common but it can
41:50 hypothetically um so in that case you
41:53 could build 10 units just from a
41:55 strictly unit density standpoint
41:58 um you'll you'll comply with the how
42:00 many dwelling units per acre you can
42:02 have um so in a 60,000 ft lot you are
42:06 allowed to build 10 units because you're
42:08 still in compliance with the density so
42:10 then then the city has the option to say
42:12 you if you allow maximum of four Plex or
42:15 six Plex six of them can be attached and
42:18 four of them can be attached but a total
42:20 of 10 could be potentially built on a
42:24 60,000 ft
42:25 lot Okay so because of whatever
42:30 pre-existing size of the lot yeah yeah
42:33 it's just based on size of the lot okay
42:35 so if if you're not changing the
42:36 densities because uh the densities are
42:39 changing only for duplex so that's what
42:41 this Bill is saying so if you have one
42:42 house you have to allow duplexes for
42:44 tier 2 cities um so the densities will
42:48 go up they'll double the densities of
42:50 what whatever then that zone the density
42:52 is but you you don't have to quadruple
42:55 the density if you're not within those
42:56 uh affordable housing or um Transit
43:01 stations close to Transit
43:05 stations okay however if you meet the
43:07 density you can go higher than
43:12 duplexes because you have a larger lot
43:16 okay it would only play out for larger
43:19 lots that you would get yeah more than
43:21 four BL okay um Valerie you had
43:25 mentioned something a moment ago about
43:27 minimum
43:29 density yes so it's speaking to the
43:32 point that we have to allow two dwelling
43:34 units on one lot so in order to comply
43:36 with that the administration is
43:38 proposing to implement a minimum lot
43:41 density um because we already have a Max
43:43 so again for those lots let's say if you
43:46 allowed four dwelling units today you
43:49 would be allowed to have two I mean you
43:51 can go below that but we have to allow
43:54 two so that's the best way to allow it I
43:57 don't understand how you have a minimum
43:59 density but you're allowed to go below
44:00 it because much like far right um it's
44:05 just like if you have again a a lot that
44:08 you're allowed to build 10 if you want
44:11 to build one dwelling unit we'll allow
44:13 you we won't make you build tin dwelling
44:15 units so again we just have to allow for
44:18 it so that's the um the reason why we're
44:21 implementing a
44:23 minimum
44:25 okay um
44:31 wait I'm sorry I didn't get that either
44:32 maybe it's just the use of the word
44:34 minimum yeah um is it minimum like we
44:37 know it to be like everyone who has a
44:41 two minimum on their lot now has to is
44:43 it it feels like now you have to have
44:46 two units on that lot but is it really
44:49 just instead of minimum more like the
44:51 allowable yes that's let's change it to
44:54 allowable yes we're allowing to unit
44:57 units on a lot yes okay so and that's
44:59 how we would express it in the code not
45:01 necessarily as a minimum right right
45:04 okay yeah it's it's the option for the
45:06 property owner if they want to they can
45:09 if they want to build one single family
45:10 home they can yeah there's no minimum
45:13 you have to have this much
45:16 density yep
45:19 um and then there was a lot in the topic
45:23 about how
45:25 you aren't allowed to treat middle
45:28 housing differently than single single
45:32 family housing is that just related to
45:35 permit
45:36 requirements or is it basically
45:39 everything
45:41 everything so
45:43 then any of the policy
45:47 decisions we're
45:50 making are basically have to be
45:54 considered for a single family as well
45:56 so so if we allow or if we require
46:00 Frontage improvements like planning
46:02 policy said we should that would mean
46:05 that single family homes would also have
46:08 to do frage improvements that's correct
46:12 okay was PPC aware of that yeah
46:16 well I guess I wanted to Comm clarify so
46:19 they couldn't quite come to a decision I
46:22 think they were a little split and they
46:24 did not like the way that U Middle
46:26 housing was being um defined they felt
46:28 like that six unit threshold was a
46:31 little bit too much and so um yes
46:34 they're aware of it but they couldn't
46:36 quite give a definitive answer on yeah
46:39 so that was another one of my questions
46:41 is could we rather than
46:45 defining middle housing as 2 to six
46:49 units and multif family is 7 plus could
46:52 we change the definition and say middle
46:56 housing is two to four units or actually
46:59 quite honestly what I would say is one
47:01 to four units because if that stream
47:05 lines the idea there is no more single
47:07 family concept
47:10 um and then Define multifamily as five
47:16 plus so the state def does not consider
47:20 a det single family home as middle
47:22 housing so we can't do that okay and
47:25 then um the reason why the
47:27 administration chose six is again
47:29 because of how the state defines metal
47:31 housing they Define it as duplex Triplex
47:34 fourplex fiveplex and sixplex so that's
47:37 that they kind of established the
47:40 threshold but we could change it to
47:41 fourplex two to for Plex yeah and for
47:45 our purposes of a multi family but then
47:47 we wouldn't be compliant with the
47:49 state's
47:50 definition yeah but we're not using the
47:53 model
47:54 ordinance that's why we're doing we can
47:56 look into yeah we'll um because one of
47:59 the questions I then had is if our six
48:02 out of the nine that we allow doesn't
48:06 include a sixplex then we're essentially
48:10 saying a sixplex to us is not middle
48:15 housing is the way that I would
48:17 interpret that okay um because we're
48:19 saying of these nine we really think
48:22 these are the six that apply in the city
48:25 as middle housing
48:28 um so it would be great if we could get
48:30 information on um that idea whether or
48:33 not we could change that as definition
48:36 because I think honestly that would make
48:37 a big difference in how I reply to some
48:40 of these policy questions
48:43 um so that yeah I will stop my questions
48:51 therec member Hall have
48:54 questions um sure uh thank you first of
48:57 all I'm just very impressed at the level
48:59 of Staff work that's gone into this like
49:02 clearly Monumental work has gone into
49:06 pulling things from different areas of
49:08 code into one document it was U me a
49:11 headache so I'm glad I didn't have to do
49:13 it but anyways and you also just
49:14 presented it in a way that made it easy
49:16 to kind of queue up what information do
49:18 we need to to tackle this policy
49:20 question so anyways thank you um you've
49:22 answered a couple of the questions I
49:24 already had emailed in um I guess just
49:28 kind of from a
49:30 first maybe let's start with 1110 um
49:34 since we were just talking about kind of
49:36 a little this a little bit
49:37 distinguishing between middle housing
49:39 and multif family housing did we
49:41 consider not making kind of that
49:43 delineation and just considering them
49:45 all the same in terms of review and did
49:47 we kind of think through pros and cons
49:49 associated with that would you speak to
49:51 that yeah we thought about pros and cons
49:54 and I think the big one was again you
49:56 know a 74 unit town home development is
49:59 not the same as a duplex and so just
50:02 allowing them to have building permits
50:05 and not go through a public process um
50:08 we felt like you know those larger
50:11 projects needed a public process because
50:14 community members would be surprised to
50:16 wake up one day and someone's now
50:18 building a 100 unit um development next
50:21 to them so um that's why we felt like
50:25 just you know clearly delineating the
50:27 terms and treating you know the smaller
50:30 um middle housing types um like single
50:33 family housing and still treating the
50:35 larger units um you know with the land
50:38 use process um Community um meetings and
50:42 to the development commission was a
50:44 better approach do we know if there are
50:46 any other cities that are
50:49 uh I guess like the way I'm thinking
50:52 about it is like the difference between
50:54 in my community like the difference
50:55 between six and seven units on a lot
50:58 wouldn't wouldn't be that different but
51:00 you have to draw the line somewhere I
51:01 get that and I think you've made that
51:03 good point but are there any other
51:04 cities that are considering higher like
51:07 drawing that line at a higher like 7
51:08 eight or
51:10 10 what you read of the landscape so a
51:14 lot of cities are trying to figure this
51:16 out um there yeah we're all in the same
51:18 vote right now um some of the cities
51:20 that have figured it out already are the
51:22 larger cities like Seattle and Bellevue
51:25 they're required to allow six
51:28 or doying units on one lot um but
51:31 they're already allowing um for that um
51:34 greater density um the city of Shoreline
51:37 is one of the um is a tier 2 City and so
51:41 um they are um their initial approach
51:44 was to just comply with the state
51:46 regulations so allow two dwelling units
51:48 on one lot but in areas um where they
51:52 have um Sound Transit because they just
51:55 have uh recently got a A Sound Transit
51:58 line they've decided to increase
52:00 development in those areas um but other
52:03 than that I'm not quite sure what other
52:05 cities are doing because you bring up a
52:07 good point everyone's doing this at the
52:08 same time so
52:13 um improvements you answered
52:21 um I guess this is almost this is kind
52:24 of similar so for the per for 1110 for
52:26 the permited uses for whether like a
52:27 policy question was whether or not to
52:29 consider adus as part of the um lot
52:33 density achieving lot density
52:35 um guess I just want to think through a
52:38 little bit more what the concern would
52:39 be if we
52:41 didn't um consider them as part of
52:44 achieving lot density so you had that
52:45 example in the memo of you're a quarter
52:48 mile from or a half mile from Transit
52:50 Center or major Transit stop you can
52:54 build up to four but then also two
52:57 adus
52:59 um the difference there would be either
53:01 having five units on the property or six
53:04 right um so yeah four units versus six
53:07 yeah four versus six okay so you would
53:11 um you could do that I think you wanted
53:14 to kind of know some of the pros and
53:15 cons to that so the pros would be
53:18 additional um housing units on a lot um
53:22 I the cons would be um is it just that
53:27 it would be out of character with the
53:28 rest of the it could possibly be um yeah
53:31 having more um homes now um with these
53:35 additional units they are still required
53:37 to comply with single family um
53:39 standards but there are some exceptions
53:41 for accessory dwelling units like
53:43 accessory dwelling units can be
53:45 constructed in the rear set back
53:47 depending on if there's an alley so then
53:50 there's some Wile room um but the other
53:55 piece to that is that we we do have
53:57 development standards that um like I
53:59 said that they have to comply with but
54:01 then we also are feel like a a unique
54:03 City where we have a ton of critical
54:05 areas um and we still have parking
54:08 requirements and infrastructure so that
54:10 does start to limit your buildable
54:14 area naturally part of the buildable
54:16 area is already being limited it's
54:18 almost like every example we pull out
54:21 wouldn't necessarily ever apply to any
54:23 single lot in the city right because
54:24 there's so many individual things that
54:26 are happening at once is this the story
54:28 you're telling us okay got it yeah well
54:30 then that was effective well done
54:35 um talked about critical areas um okay
54:38 looking at 1337 so the Adu bill
54:43 um I had the same question as was
54:45 brought up during public comment about
54:47 how we have a maximum of a th unit um
54:50 Adu size just
54:52 wondering um when we wrote this what was
54:55 kind of the value
54:57 of putting that number associated with
55:00 an Adu and and what does the
55:02 administration think about removing any
55:05 kind of size limitation there
55:06 recognizing that we we are already in
55:09 compliance with the state they just say
55:11 we can't go below a th000 but
55:14 um what about the thought of letting the
55:16 market decide kind of how big it should
55:18 be given the constraints of the
55:21 lot um unfortunately I wasn't able to um
55:24 dive deep into the um ordinance for 2018
55:28 that for the a accessory dwelling units
55:30 but I kind of remember that the number
55:33 the thousand square feet was determined
55:35 by um uh neighboring cities so I did a
55:38 quick Google search and um a lot of the
55:41 other neighboring cities um are around
55:44 th000 square feet so um Kint Renton and
55:47 samamish are allow 1,000 sare feet for
55:49 adus um Belleview allows between 300 and
55:53 800 Kirkland allows 1,200 and red allows
55:56 15 so I think we looked at everything
55:59 and that's how we determined our our
56:02 number yeah from what I recall there was
56:04 a lot of public Outreach uh during the
56:06 Adu legislation it was before our time
56:08 here my time here and so we can look
56:11 into what formed the basis for that but
56:15 um it was based
56:16 on debates and discussions with the
56:20 community and just to add to that um I
56:23 think we should definitely have a um and
56:27 a number a threshold um because then you
56:30 started getting to um what's an
56:32 accessory dwelling unit and what's a
56:34 cottage and so a cottage is a detached
56:36 um home it's considered middle housing
56:40 but how do you start to determine what's
56:42 the difference if someone comes in um
56:45 saying that it's an Adu and really it
56:48 looks like a cottage so we should
56:50 definitely have a threshold but
56:52 increasing it would be fun
56:57 so from the 2018 conversations one thing
56:59 I remember about that was that we had a
57:02 lot of discussion about daet basements
57:05 um and the whole bottom floor of certain
57:09 uh a certain fairly common single family
57:12 home construction especially on in
57:14 certain neighborhoods like squawk um to
57:17 make to try to make sure that the number
57:19 that we chose would allow for that to be
57:22 an Adu if people wanted to convert their
57:25 lower floor into an Adu um and we didn't
57:28 I think we my recollection is we didn't
57:31 ever feel like we necessarily got the
57:34 right number for that but I do remember
57:35 there was a lot of discussion about
57:36 should it be higher um and if it's if it
57:40 isn't if that number isn't high enough
57:42 to include that particular construction
57:45 type or option um there was concern
57:48 about about
57:51 that okay so I'm hearing in the region
57:54 there's a range um that's a good policy
57:57 conversation for committee and Council
57:58 to have but there should definitely be a
58:00 number associated with it because then
58:02 you start to get into gray lines on
58:04 whether it's a cottage or a
58:08 okay
58:10 um oh um so for the parking parts for
58:13 the Adu bill for
58:15 1337 it said I just noticed in the memo
58:18 there were um differences um so the
58:22 change said exempt for adus within a
58:24 quarter mile of a major Transit stop but
58:26 I thought earlier in the memo it said
58:27 something about if it was within half a
58:30 mile so could you clarify is it quarter
58:32 or half so for lots that are within a
58:36 half mile walking distance of a major
58:38 Transit stop the city cannot require
58:40 parking and that's for adus as well as
58:43 middle housing if a lot is within a
58:45 quarter mile walking distance we must
58:47 allow four dwelling units on one lot so
58:50 if it doesn't say that then I apologize
58:51 that's an
58:54 error so parking is related to half mile
58:58 walking
59:00 distance okay perfect thank you
59:07 um well you kind of answered my question
59:09 about impact fees so um we we don't
59:12 already charge impact fees on Adu
59:14 development one of the policy questions
59:16 was should we continue to do that so I
59:18 guess my question was well why why would
59:21 we not um if we're already not doing it
59:24 it seemed like you kind of answered that
59:25 earlier let me just clarify you'd said
59:28 um well essentially we had a good amount
59:31 of adus for some point like 80 something
59:34 and since then we've only had like 11
59:35 since we've actually made changes to
59:37 make it easier to have adus in the city
59:39 so maybe that is more of a reason to
59:41 keep the barriers low is that is that
59:44 kind of how you'd respond to that yeah
59:45 that that is a pro um waving the fees
59:48 then encourages more development on the
59:50 other hand the city is paying for that
59:53 so then that means that the city's been
59:55 having the front the build for those um
59:58 infrastructure and services so um it may
1:00:01 be less
1:00:02 um I haven't looked at the budget but
1:00:05 less money so that it may be harder to
1:00:07 um construct some of that
1:00:10 infrastructure president was just a
1:00:13 comment that I heard Steven Padua
1:00:15 mention on the middle housing tour was
1:00:17 that like Kirkland um
1:00:20 exempts um adus from Impact fees and so
1:00:23 one of the things you're seeing is a lot
1:00:26 development instead of duplexes or other
1:00:29 things so it also is a question of what
1:00:33 do you want more of and what are you
1:00:35 incentivizing versus
1:00:41 disincentivizing that's a good point and
1:00:43 so I guess then just to follow up on
1:00:44 that our options as a city are no impact
1:00:48 fees all the way to the same impact fees
1:00:50 as the same single family home on the
1:00:55 lot is that right
1:00:56 we can look at the rate you know if it's
1:00:58 lower than a single family home if oh
1:01:01 it's 50% lower rate or or the same rate
1:01:04 as single family I think that's what
1:01:06 yeah so our option then is no impact
1:01:09 fees up to half of what is for the home
1:01:13 on the live correct the primary
1:01:15 structure so
1:01:18 50% okay um I think that's it for me at
1:01:21 the moment although some might come to
1:01:24 me okay great thank you
1:01:28 um I wondered if in your surveys and in
1:01:32 conversations with the planning
1:01:34 department staff if you have a sense of
1:01:37 why we have only seen 11 adus being
1:01:40 built since we adopted all of these like
1:01:42 what are the main barriers to having
1:01:44 more of these be
1:01:46 built um fees I think the fees are just
1:01:50 High um uh also um utility connections
1:01:56 just again cost of construction um lot
1:01:59 coverage um it's hard to have a large
1:02:02 single family home in an ad and an
1:02:06 Adu um with the current um development
1:02:10 standards
1:02:12 um those are the the top ones that can I
1:02:15 think it's mostly Market driven
1:02:18 um and rather than regulations and
1:02:20 things like that I mean
1:02:23 I oh uh on average you know homeowner um
1:02:29 they have to have that much Equity to
1:02:31 kind of build that I mean usually when
1:02:34 it transitions to a sale and a builder
1:02:36 comes in and they want to build it but
1:02:38 sometimes there family situations where
1:02:39 they want to live in the property and
1:02:41 and do that and you know in those cases
1:02:42 we are seeing that isqua 11 number is
1:02:45 better than some other cities which had
1:02:47 a much more promotion going on for um
1:02:51 adus they you know like I know for city
1:02:53 of Ron they had um pre-programmed Adu
1:02:57 plans they hired a u an architect to
1:03:00 kind of you can come byy you know if you
1:03:02 use this and it's a speed year process
1:03:05 and you know the number was lower than
1:03:07 11 last time when they had first
1:03:10 launched so it's just market for you
1:03:14 know you don't see it come really
1:03:17 quickly over time though it that number
1:03:20 can creep up and now with the house 1110
1:03:23 the number could be higher that's why we
1:03:24 pulled that as a policy question CU it's
1:03:27 not too much of an impact if it's only a
1:03:29 handful of
1:03:30 adus but if the city is going to get a
1:03:32 lot more um metal and then the then not
1:03:37 having um those infrastructure
1:03:39 improvements and and deferring
1:03:41 them but he's never going to have the
1:03:43 money to go back and do all
1:03:48 that okay great thank you um Stephen did
1:03:51 you have additional comments since you
1:03:53 hopped on I do thank you chair hunt um
1:03:56 good evening uh council members Steph P
1:03:58 longrange planning manager so the total
1:04:01 number of adus in the city is a little
1:04:03 deceiving comparing it with the 11 that
1:04:05 were built after we changed the
1:04:07 regulations because the vast majority of
1:04:09 the 60-ish adus were actually built as
1:04:12 part of the master plan communities in
1:04:14 Talis and Highland so it's hard to say
1:04:17 like the regulation change really um was
1:04:20 a difference between before and after so
1:04:24 um like Minnie was saying in terms of
1:04:26 rate of development after the
1:04:27 regulations were changed we did get a
1:04:30 little more adus than a lot of our
1:04:31 neighboring cities comparative to um at
1:04:34 least the cities that made similar
1:04:35 changes to their
1:04:38 regulations and that is just kind of the
1:04:40 market for adus at the
1:04:42 time okay great thank
1:04:46 you all right do we have any additional
1:04:49 questions at this
1:04:51 time no okay um then I will uh call for
1:04:56 public comment on this item um if if any
1:05:00 members of the public would like to make
1:05:01 an additional comment you are welcome to
1:05:03 uh come up at this
1:05:13 time I would this is David Zin with the
1:05:17 record um I would just add on to what
1:05:19 they're talking about putting my hat on
1:05:22 not only as a representative Leo but
1:05:24 just a homeowner
1:05:26 with the Advent of with the
1:05:28 adus with the state regulations
1:05:31 understand it not having to occupy the
1:05:35 primary home you can now rent it out and
1:05:39 with the Advent of being able to sell
1:05:42 Adu that correct Val yes that could
1:05:47 incentivize homeowners right there
1:05:50 because if you can build an Adu in this
1:05:53 market and then sell it for twice of
1:05:56 what I'm just throwing something out
1:05:58 there that could be a big incentive for
1:06:01 building
1:06:05 them thank you very much I'll check in
1:06:08 with C clerk if there's anyone online
1:06:11 that would like to make a comment
1:06:12 specific to this item chair hunt we have
1:06:14 no virtual attendees at this time all
1:06:17 right uh then we'll move to comments on
1:06:19 these items and I think um Valerie if
1:06:22 you could put the questions up so we can
1:06:24 uh have the questions I think that would
1:06:27 help us structure our comments thank you
1:06:37 much oh
1:06:40 yes um C oh sorry um just a quick
1:06:45 question that I forgot to ask um I
1:06:47 didn't even think about HOAs until came
1:06:50 up in public comment is is that one of
1:06:52 those things kind of like critical areas
1:06:54 where we're just having to analyze on an
1:06:55 individual basis if there's
1:06:59 a exemption to be made that's correct um
1:07:03 at this time the staff does or the city
1:07:05 does not collect that information so it
1:07:08 it the owners would actually be on the
1:07:10 property owner um we've kind of thrown
1:07:13 around a couple of ideas of um which is
1:07:16 kind of similar to um Talis in isqua
1:07:20 Highlands which is whenever they come in
1:07:22 for a project they're required to get or
1:07:26 provide ARC approval so it would be
1:07:28 something similar where if someone came
1:07:30 and wanted to construct an Adu or middle
1:07:33 housing they would have to get approval
1:07:35 or an affidavit or something like
1:07:45 that council president was I'll start us
1:07:48 off if you're okay with it so uh first
1:07:51 of all Valerie uh knowing that I went on
1:07:55 the middle housing tour that was
1:07:58 phenomenal as a way to visualize so much
1:08:02 of this and recognize all of the really
1:08:07 fine middle housing that we have already
1:08:10 in the city but also so many of those
1:08:14 that would not be allowed to be built
1:08:17 today and so I think as I go into this
1:08:23 thinking about what are the barriers
1:08:26 that we can lo uh
1:08:29 lessen that would make it so that
1:08:32 something that was previously allowed to
1:08:34 be built and fits within the scale of a
1:08:38 neighborhood would again be allowed so
1:08:42 that's that's kind of the approach that
1:08:44 I'm coming to this I think the other
1:08:46 thing going on that tour helped me see
1:08:49 and I think your visual with you know
1:08:52 the three houses showing one is a single
1:08:54 family one is is a duplex one is a
1:08:56 quadplex um showing that they have
1:08:59 basically the same form and that they
1:09:01 fit within a neighborhood that makes me
1:09:05 think about all of the potential
1:09:08 regulations should fit within that idea
1:09:12 so if
1:09:13 something looks like a single family
1:09:16 house and fits into a neighborhood that
1:09:19 is mostly single family houses then I
1:09:22 think we should treat it accordingly so
1:09:26 um as I wrote down in my notes I think
1:09:30 for me that includes critical areas that
1:09:33 includes the land use process that
1:09:37 includes probably a lack of size limits
1:09:40 though I'll ASX that with another idea
1:09:43 um and that includes not having any FR
1:09:46 Frontage update requirements so from my
1:09:49 perspective if the choice is either do
1:09:53 have all of those things requ ired for a
1:09:56 single
1:09:57 family so that you can do it for Middle
1:10:00 housing or get rid of them for Middle
1:10:04 housing and single family that would be
1:10:06 my preference um the other
1:10:10 thing that I know is because we've got
1:10:13 these dueling state laws but from my
1:10:19 perspective adus were really just a
1:10:22 stepping stone to help us
1:10:26 conceptualize the idea of middle housing
1:10:29 being neighborhood appropriate it's
1:10:32 something that is palatable um and
1:10:36 something that people can see um working
1:10:39 in their
1:10:41 neighborhoods but
1:10:43 now if you're going to allow 2
1:10:47 adus in my mind that's just very similar
1:10:49 to Cottage
1:10:50 housing
1:10:52 so generally
1:10:55 I think adus should be part of the unit
1:10:59 requirement
1:11:03 um and I would generally say that impact
1:11:07 fees shouldn't be waved because we
1:11:09 wouldn't wave it for cottage
1:11:13 housing but I think that's that's a
1:11:16 conversation to have
1:11:19 um and I would say if if the difference
1:11:24 between
1:11:26 adus and cottage housing is
1:11:29 size then I could understand um so if
1:11:33 there is a size limit on the adus I
1:11:36 could understand
1:11:39 having um the impact
1:11:43 waved um but I do want the size limit to
1:11:47 be larger because this isn't the first
1:11:49 time that we've heard about that we also
1:11:51 heard about it with someone who wanted
1:11:54 to have care for uh a family member and
1:11:58 wanted to have a second bedroom because
1:12:01 that was required from the home health
1:12:04 um so I do think 1 12200 1250 something
1:12:08 around there um should should be um
1:12:14 allowed so those are some of my main
1:12:17 Concepts the other thing I will say and
1:12:19 it's probably going out on a limb here
1:12:22 but after going on the middle housing
1:12:24 tour I can really see how a fourplex
1:12:27 fits into a
1:12:29 neighborhood and so really looking at
1:12:34 that I have a hard time saying we should
1:12:38 go through this full process uh and only
1:12:42 allow two
1:12:45 units I think that if the lot size is
1:12:51 large enough to deal with a four plus
1:12:56 or if the developer is willing to have
1:12:59 small enough units to fit a fourplex in
1:13:03 where a tlex or a single family would be
1:13:06 allowed then I think that should be
1:13:08 allowed I think I agree with
1:13:12 PBC that a sixplex and six unit is a
1:13:17 different
1:13:18 scale um but generally I think we should
1:13:23 consider
1:13:26 allowing four units on all Lots not just
1:13:31 those close to transit or affordable now
1:13:36 I love the idea of trying to incentivize
1:13:39 the affordable housing so if there's a
1:13:41 way that we could do that and allow six
1:13:44 flexes that would be something I would
1:13:46 be interested in doing or allowing
1:13:49 additional adus I would be interested if
1:13:52 there was a way to get that done but my
1:13:56 first and foremost goal is to make
1:13:59 something that fits the
1:14:02 neighborhoods in and increases
1:14:05 Supply and so I would be very interested
1:14:09 in exploring that as an idea and then
1:14:12 I've got a whole other set of questions
1:14:14 around what remains to limit our middle
1:14:17 Housing Development but I'm going to
1:14:18 pause on that and start there
1:14:27 okay I was just looking if if we've
1:14:29 addressed if you addressed all of
1:14:32 these questions there okay okay great um
1:14:36 I I am largely in agreement um I I have
1:14:40 not yet gone on the middle housing tour
1:14:43 but I have uh lived in isqua and and you
1:14:46 know experienced uh four plexes fitting
1:14:49 in beautifully with their neighborhood
1:14:51 and um in isqua and uh we we do have a
1:14:54 lot of middle housing as has been
1:14:56 pointed out sort of scattered throughout
1:14:59 neighborhoods um I I agree with the
1:15:03 general concept that want to make it
1:15:05 easier to to make sure that we have
1:15:08 these smaller units um our housing
1:15:10 survey from many years back indicated
1:15:13 that uh there are a lot of single folks
1:15:15 or um couples that would like to have
1:15:17 options for a smaller unit than our
1:15:19 existing housing stock and so you know
1:15:21 moving that direction is is good for our
1:15:24 community and reducing red tape to that
1:15:27 end I think is good for the community
1:15:29 and also we have to to some degree we
1:15:31 have to comply with that um to meet the
1:15:34 the state regulations I I also agree
1:15:37 with increasing the um size of the
1:15:40 accessory dwelling unit I think the 1250
1:15:43 per foot seems about right um as as I
1:15:47 mentioned we did have a lot of
1:15:48 conversation about what was the right
1:15:50 level when this was discussed back in
1:15:53 2018 and really wanting to make sure
1:15:55 that it was a number that uh that worked
1:16:00 for for uh folks and it seems like it's
1:16:04 maybe something that we could toy with
1:16:06 to try to make sure um to try to make
1:16:09 sure that we have a little bit more adus
1:16:10 since we aren't seeing we are seeing
1:16:12 more than some of our neighboring cities
1:16:13 but we're not seeing a huge number of
1:16:15 adus being built
1:16:20 and yeah and then I think the other
1:16:22 thing uh is this is all slow you know
1:16:27 the change that will come about from
1:16:28 these regulations is slow um we're
1:16:30 seeing some adus being built but not
1:16:32 very many if we make a change we will
1:16:35 see I think a small a small change and
1:16:38 all of this will take time um so I would
1:16:40 like to keep that in mind too I think we
1:16:42 can make some changes here and and it
1:16:45 will take a fair amount of time for the
1:16:48 market to catch up and for there to be
1:16:50 these houses built um and so to that end
1:16:53 I think we should we should try to make
1:16:55 the changes up front to to get the
1:16:58 housing Supply that we
1:17:01 want uh and I'll just mention too I
1:17:04 agree with the the constructing the
1:17:05 frontage because I think that's a an
1:17:08 additional um additional barrier to
1:17:12 having this midle housing
1:17:14 be all right those are my comments on
1:17:16 these three uh
1:17:19 that's um oh I see we're just doing the
1:17:22 first three um
1:17:25 yeah I think for the most part also
1:17:26 haven't heard anything that I disagree
1:17:30 um I would I don't know if I'm ready
1:17:34 to you know throw my steak in the ground
1:17:37 that that four units is the right um uh
1:17:40 number yet but I think it's definitely
1:17:42 worthy of of consideration
1:17:47 um at the end of the day it's two two
1:17:49 additional units and I it's completely
1:17:51 driven by the market so if the market
1:17:53 wanted wants to build that seems like
1:17:55 that's a benefit to the community so
1:17:57 again I'm interested in having that
1:17:58 conversation is not something I want to
1:17:59 rule out um for the Adu size I also
1:18:03 wanted to say um I think it should I
1:18:06 completely agree I think it should be
1:18:08 more than thousand um I
1:18:11 think saying 1250 or 12200 it could be
1:18:15 right but I also have no idea I would
1:18:17 like to know kind of more like what are
1:18:18 the need cases um for an Adu I think
1:18:23 most people in the community would think
1:18:24 of it has kind of this mother-in-law
1:18:26 unit that that can be small but that
1:18:28 also evolves um as the market has need
1:18:31 for new types of um Adu units um I think
1:18:36 one thing
1:18:37 um that might be a little
1:18:40 um different and I I actually can't
1:18:42 remember if it's it's different from
1:18:44 either of your comments but um I do
1:18:46 think we should at least for now
1:18:47 continue to wave fees uh impact fees on
1:18:50 adus um though I think the point is very
1:18:54 well taken that it could potentially
1:18:57 have an impact on increasing where we
1:19:00 see increased Adu development and not as
1:19:03 much middle Housing Development as we
1:19:05 might have wanted so
1:19:08 um with this and with pretty much
1:19:10 everything it probably is a good idea to
1:19:12 have some sort of check-in Point um be
1:19:15 able to analyze the policy and the use
1:19:17 cases of what's been happening in terms
1:19:18 of implementation out in the community
1:19:19 and then say do we need to adjust um but
1:19:22 I think as of this point um U is still
1:19:25 kind of an
1:19:26 attractive um option that then might
1:19:31 make other people consider middle
1:19:34 housing um elsewhere in the city so I
1:19:37 still think that there's value in um um
1:19:40 having as few barriers to Adu
1:19:42 development as possible
1:19:45 um com there but I it
1:19:58 yeah so I mean I guess from the first
1:19:59 three questions then I agree with the
1:20:01 direction that's already been provided
1:20:03 are we just doing the first three or
1:20:07 we I think we've we've done the first
1:20:10 three plus some comments on the on the
1:20:13 next ones but uh We've at least covered
1:20:15 the first three maybe could we go to the
1:20:18 next questions thank you
1:20:28 okay so we all I think we all agreed
1:20:30 that that we do uh we do recommend the
1:20:32 city continue to wave impact fees for
1:20:34 adus at this
1:20:35 time okay yes and
1:20:51 then go ahead um
1:21:00 for four um I think um council president
1:21:04 Walsh she made some good points about
1:21:07 um I mean at some point 280 us is is
1:21:11 very similar to Cottage um very s
1:21:14 similar to the kind of middle housing
1:21:16 that we're talking about um I don't
1:21:19 necessarily know how to feel about this
1:21:21 although I'm kind of leaning towards not
1:21:24 in including it um to achieve lot
1:21:26 density
1:21:28 um so that if the market wants to in the
1:21:32 community want to have more units on the
1:21:34 lot we should we shouldn't necessarily
1:21:36 be preventing that
1:21:42 um I don't know if I'm necessarily um
1:21:47 completely hold on that one um but I I I
1:21:51 guess for now where my thinking is is
1:21:53 that it shouldn't necessarily be used is
1:21:54 to achieve the lot density requirements
1:21:57 um for the critical area um I think it
1:22:00 well it needs to be the same as single
1:22:02 family housing and I think that I agree
1:22:05 with the planning policy commission
1:22:06 recommendation of um continuing to
1:22:09 follow critical area code and allowing
1:22:12 um missing housing or middle Housing
1:22:15 Development on these slots as much as
1:22:17 possible and then we answered the last
1:22:21 one um I guess just some other quick
1:22:25 comments that I written down too um that
1:22:28 I wanted to say um the feasibility study
1:22:32 was fascinating super helpful tool so
1:22:34 please pass along our thanks um super
1:22:37 interesting to explore the different
1:22:39 development ER eras of the city um kind
1:22:43 of the evolution of housing structure
1:22:45 and type throughout um and definitely
1:22:47 interesting to see that overlap of
1:22:49 critical area and building buildable
1:22:52 area and how much it's like 48% or
1:22:55 something is encumbered by um critical
1:22:58 area that anyways news to me very
1:23:00 interesting um I also want to thank
1:23:03 members of the community that
1:23:06 um participated um and provided us with
1:23:09 feedback
1:23:11 um it seemed like it was really full
1:23:14 spectrum of uh feedback on on missing
1:23:18 housing um the short responses were also
1:23:20 uh helpful but it seemed clear to me
1:23:22 that there wasn't really a consensus
1:23:24 amongst the community around um um
1:23:27 middle housing in general which I think
1:23:29 underscores how we'll need to have that
1:23:31 sort of check-in after the code has been
1:23:33 allowed to be implemented for some while
1:23:36 um or for some time uh to see how it's
1:23:38 working I'm not sure when exactly that
1:23:41 when that would look like because I
1:23:42 don't think we're anticipating this any
1:23:44 of this to happen overnight it could
1:23:45 take even longer than we think you said
1:23:46 something about like 5 to 10 years that
1:23:48 even seemed quick to me so um those are
1:23:52 just also some of my general thoughts
1:23:54 and I can come back to anything else if
1:23:57 we want to
1:24:02 discuss okay great so on the on number
1:24:08 um the just so we are clear the ppc's
1:24:11 recommendation was that adus should not
1:24:15 be exempt from lot density and should be
1:24:17 considered a unit so
1:24:20 adus uh should they they recommended
1:24:23 that the city allow adus to be used to
1:24:26 achieve but and you're you're
1:24:28 recommending
1:24:33 not are you on the same page with that
1:24:38 think so my best scenario would be that
1:24:44 adus are considered a part of lot
1:24:47 density and we allow for
1:24:52 units because I think
1:24:55 think just streamlining out the concept
1:24:58 that an Adu is any different from a unit
1:25:02 um from my perspective just eases the
1:25:06 concept in everybody's
1:25:08 mind so that would be my preference if
1:25:11 we are going to stick to two
1:25:15 units then yeah I want to have adus not
1:25:20 be counted in lot density because that
1:25:23 basically achieves the same thing
1:25:26 um I just I I think it's a silly idea
1:25:29 that we have
1:25:31 to treat adus
1:25:34 differently um than just a unit no
1:25:39 matter what the form
1:25:44 is I think I'm a little confused so that
1:25:46 that would be considering that would
1:25:48 include them in in the lot density
1:25:52 calculation yeah so by preference would
1:25:55 be to allow four units on a lot whether
1:25:59 that gets accomplished by saying you can
1:26:04 have four units on a lot and adus count
1:26:07 as one of those
1:26:10 or we are saying you can have
1:26:17 units wait two units on a
1:26:20 lot and adus don't count so you could
1:26:23 really have
1:26:28 four okay but the four is counting the
1:26:31 two adus in your calculations in the
1:26:33 first one yeah the four would count adus
1:26:37 as part of
1:26:38 it okay
1:26:41 um I'm going to check in if that is a is
1:26:44 that a a workable um kind of
1:26:48 scenario from the planning
1:26:52 perspective I mean uh so under the allow
1:26:57 for is going above and beyond what the
1:26:59 state um bill is if that's where the
1:27:02 policy consensus is to go above and
1:27:05 allow more density then yes that concept
1:27:08 can work the the adus have a maximum
1:27:13 size limit so which is nice because
1:27:15 otherwise you get larger lot homes which
1:27:18 you doesn't solve your affordability
1:27:20 issue um either not necessarily that
1:27:23 adus will solve the housing problem
1:27:25 because some cities have seen those are
1:27:28 turning into short-term rentals and so
1:27:30 there's that aspect of it so there's no
1:27:32 one size fits all it's really uh we're
1:27:36 happy to provide pros and cons of both
1:27:38 the options you know if you want to
1:27:40 consider this is what the bill requires
1:27:43 us to do is just allow the middle
1:27:45 housing of two units per
1:27:47 lot the the ability of the adus is an
1:27:52 option for the community to consider
1:27:54 whether you want to count it or you
1:27:55 don't that's that's why we presented it
1:27:58 that way there's no right or wrong I
1:28:00 think to some extent it's hypothetical
1:28:04 because the size of the lot will really
1:28:05 determine how many you can fit in after
1:28:07 you take the parking into consideration
1:28:10 so but we
1:28:12 can analyze whatever you want us to to
1:28:18 present okay yeah I think the main
1:28:21 message is we want
1:28:23 to we want to be supportive of of having
1:28:26 missing middle housing types and we want
1:28:28 to have the flexibility to allow the
1:28:30 market to put the types of missing
1:28:33 middle housing on the appropriate lot
1:28:38 size right yeah and I guess I would say
1:28:41 if we're if we have a scenario where
1:28:44 we're saying okay two units are allowed
1:28:46 on any lot adus don't count as a
1:28:50 unit and so you can really end up with
1:28:52 that four scenario I
1:28:56 um we're in a worse situation as a
1:29:00 community
1:29:02 because then we're almost if a parcel
1:29:06 would allow for that many units we're
1:29:09 always going to get that
1:29:10 scenario which those don't have impact
1:29:17 fees but I honestly think if somebody
1:29:21 the money I guess I would say or the the
1:29:25 ability to build four
1:29:30 units that should you know if they're
1:29:33 not providing affordable housing that
1:29:35 that they should have to pay the impact
1:29:40 fees yeah that's why some of these are
1:29:42 intertwined because the impact fees
1:29:44 could you know incentivize one versus
1:29:47 the other issue uh the other practical
1:29:50 aspects of of this in isqua are really
1:29:54 on street parking you know you don't
1:29:56 have much in in certain neighborhoods
1:29:59 and and how and you have a you know
1:30:02 topography constraints and a and a
1:30:04 stream thing and you can't be really be
1:30:06 expanding your roads and so if you so
1:30:10 and but and there's no Transit so people
1:30:12 are still relying on their cars you know
1:30:14 there's one bus that takes you to
1:30:15 Seattle so I think there's just a
1:30:18 combination of issues that probably will
1:30:21 um majority of it being parking and and
1:30:24 and if you get four units in a lot and
1:30:26 you have to accommodate one parking
1:30:29 space
1:30:30 per you know per unit what happens if
1:30:34 there's no on street parking and you
1:30:35 have guests or you own two cars because
1:30:38 you're a two household person that on
1:30:41 car get so it's just you
1:30:45 know those are the and infrastructure
1:30:48 honestly I think um water sewer uh
1:30:53 connections and things like that will
1:30:55 also come into play uh if we get whes
1:30:57 scale development in some of the older
1:31:01 neighborhoods so between parking and
1:31:03 utilities are the more practical aspects
1:31:05 that we have to keep in mind so given
1:31:07 those we don't know how they'll play out
1:31:10 I think our recommendation would be we
1:31:12 start with what the law requires us to
1:31:14 do and then we can always go back and
1:31:17 increase if we want to but let's see how
1:31:20 it plays out a little bit more but if
1:31:23 you want us to go
1:31:24 you know four units instead of two units
1:31:27 we're happy to provide pros and cons for
1:31:30 a good policy discussion on
1:31:37 it okay do we want do we want to have a
1:31:40 an analysis of that with pros and
1:31:43 cons I mean I think it's certainly fine
1:31:49 yes though I would also say that in some
1:31:52 ways the middle housing
1:31:55 tour gave me some of that I mean just if
1:32:00 the concept is that a fourplex could fit
1:32:04 within the form of a single family
1:32:11 then yeah I I mean yes because there are
1:32:15 questions about parking and such and so
1:32:18 that therefore it's not like everywhere
1:32:20 right Oldtown isqua already has a single
1:32:22 family duplex Zone so we were ahead of
1:32:25 what the state was asking other
1:32:27 communities to do because we already
1:32:28 allowed duplexes in in the single family
1:32:31 Zone it doesn't work for every
1:32:33 neighborhood um because of topography
1:32:35 and other constraints and such so one
1:32:38 size fits all kind of becomes the
1:32:41 concern or a con of that approach so we
1:32:43 can lay it out if you want us
1:32:46 to to write it
1:32:51 up okay thank thank you I'm seeing head
1:32:55 nodding so I think I think we are
1:32:56 interested in in that okay um all right
1:33:00 I think we've answered all of these now
1:33:07 um oh okay
1:33:13 um right did you did you have additional
1:33:15 questions this was list of questions
1:33:24 um no these are all the questions there
1:33:26 was just one question the last question
1:33:28 was were there additional um items that
1:33:30 you wanted us to explore okay great
1:33:32 thank you um all right council president
1:33:35 was yeah so that was one of the things
1:33:39 that I kind of noted down
1:33:43 is what do we know of that limits you
1:33:47 know I if we make these changes what are
1:33:51 going to be the things that continue to
1:33:53 limit
1:33:54 middle housing so I think that um
1:33:57 commentary about well impervious surface
1:34:01 and water recharge requirements I know
1:34:04 that's a big study it's a big piece um
1:34:10 but honestly if we're still saying that
1:34:13 50% of a lot has to be impervious
1:34:16 surface in certain areas that's going to
1:34:19 be the biggest limiter um so I would
1:34:23 really ask
1:34:24 that oh gosh uh we create a Bike Barn as
1:34:29 we did with Title 18 over what are the
1:34:32 other things that we know of that are
1:34:34 limiting factors you know whether that's
1:34:38 setbacks or lot size or some of the
1:34:42 things that I noted down during this
1:34:44 conversation was utility connection fees
1:34:48 pre-approved plans and short-term rental
1:34:52 regulations so
1:34:54 making sure that we're getting the most
1:34:57 out of this I think would be really
1:35:01 important um so I would love to know
1:35:04 what the planning staff since you guys
1:35:06 do this every day feels like the limits
1:35:10 are and obviously some of it's going to
1:35:12 be related to being able to get capital
1:35:15 and you know other things that maybe are
1:35:17 out of our hands as City policy makers
1:35:21 um but are important to know and
1:35:24 recognize what the limits are and what
1:35:26 the lovers are um the other thing I
1:35:30 would say
1:35:31 is I want to be very cognizant of
1:35:36 parking and the impact on residents when
1:35:39 I looked through the survey that was the
1:35:42 biggest concern that was brought up and
1:35:46 so yes the state has all of these
1:35:49 requirements but I didn't see any policy
1:35:52 questions in here
1:35:54 about how should we handle
1:35:57 parking you know should
1:36:00 we require it
1:36:03 as you know on an alley if it exists or
1:36:07 you know any of those other questions I
1:36:09 know during the middle housing tour you
1:36:12 had mentioned something about um
1:36:14 driveway lengths and so either having a
1:36:18 requirement that it be 4 feet so that
1:36:19 somebody doesn't stick out into the
1:36:21 right of way or 18 ft so that a full car
1:36:25 can be in the driveway so I would want
1:36:28 to make sure that we really are
1:36:30 thoughtful on what that is both in
1:36:34 balancing you know if we require parking
1:36:38 that in some ways on a unit means we
1:36:43 value housing for cars more than housing
1:36:47 for people in some ways um but we also
1:36:51 have to recognize that we do live in a
1:36:53 commity community that basically
1:36:55 requires a car um to get two places so I
1:37:00 would want to make sure that that's
1:37:01 front and center in some of our
1:37:03 conversations on this and I didn't see
1:37:05 that as much in this um just presenting
1:37:08 here's what the state requirement is but
1:37:10 not giving us options for how we can
1:37:13 make this the best for our residents um
1:37:17 so that would be important for
1:37:21 me those are kind of the notes I had
1:37:24 down so
1:37:30 yeah okay great thank you
1:37:34 umal did you have any additional things
1:37:36 that you wanted them to okay
1:37:39 great um yeah one comment uh one comment
1:37:43 and one question um I was actually
1:37:45 thinking of the same thing the last
1:37:46 question was are there any changes staff
1:37:49 should
1:37:50 consider my question was are there any
1:37:52 changes we should consider based on your
1:37:55 experience so um I also recognize we got
1:37:57 to get this done by June 2025 right so
1:38:00 um Dr Dolly I take to heart kind of what
1:38:02 you said maybe we do what the state has
1:38:05 required us to do first and um we have
1:38:08 conversations about where we can go
1:38:09 above and beyond with more depth um I
1:38:13 did want to ask um one question around
1:38:16 um would there be staff capacity as part
1:38:18 of this conversation to kind of generate
1:38:22 that at least list of Buck
1:38:24 of kind of areas where we could have
1:38:26 more conversation like some of the
1:38:27 things council president Walsh was just
1:38:29 talking about so we could decide as a
1:38:31 committee whether or not to like add
1:38:34 things to the Whiteboard uh or few
1:38:37 things
1:38:37 up um to either consider as part of this
1:38:41 or very soon afterwards um if the answer
1:38:44 is no I understand just because there's
1:38:47 a lot going on but but maybe we try to
1:38:49 have that conversation um after sometime
1:38:53 in Q3 2025 or something like that like
1:38:56 okay now we've done this here's are here
1:38:58 are the other opportunities where we
1:38:59 could go further um and when do you want
1:39:02 to have that conversation counselor that
1:39:04 so I guess that's kind of one of my
1:39:06 questions I want to leave you with um
1:39:08 the other way um um around next steps so
1:39:13 it seemed like PPC so staff is going to
1:39:15 go off now with all this um somewhat
1:39:18 contradictory but good feedback from
1:39:21 Council and draft the actual code
1:39:23 language right um and then it's going to
1:39:25 go to planning policy commission um and
1:39:28 I'm assuming a public hearing at
1:39:29 planning policy before coming back to
1:39:31 hopefully this committee I was wondering
1:39:32 how many touches we might have with it
1:39:35 at committee before it goes to the full
1:39:38 Council or if we've thought that far
1:39:42 um you would get one more touch and it
1:39:46 would be after the um public hearing for
1:39:49 the planning policy
1:39:51 commission so I guess then my question
1:39:53 is do you think there might do you think
1:39:55 there would be any value in maybe us
1:39:56 having it
1:39:57 touch before the planning policy
1:40:00 commission hearing but because there are
1:40:02 at least one or two things where we've
1:40:05 provided feedback that were that was a
1:40:06 little different than planning policy
1:40:08 commission and I would hate to have it
1:40:10 go through the process have the public
1:40:12 hearing and then come to council where
1:40:14 we say actually maybe we should we
1:40:16 should make the some tweaks I know
1:40:18 technically we can although it always
1:40:20 just makes me feel kind of weird that
1:40:22 that we're doing this after public
1:40:23 public hearing so maybe then I guess my
1:40:25 feedback here might just be if we could
1:40:27 have some sort of even informational
1:40:29 touch before the PPC public hearing that
1:40:31 would be
1:40:38 awesome my my understanding is that if
1:40:41 they con if there's something that has
1:40:44 been considered um and it's it's been
1:40:46 considered up to the point of the public
1:40:48 hearing then the public hearing you know
1:40:50 covers that because it is one of the
1:40:52 things that's on the table and so we can
1:40:54 we as Council can then change you know
1:40:57 the parameters of what we adopt as long
1:40:59 as it
1:41:01 was so I I think as long as you know
1:41:04 we're I think as long as we've flagged
1:41:07 things like parking
1:41:11 um I think that's that's correct from a
1:41:16 procedural mam chair members of the
1:41:18 committee good evening um let us figure
1:41:21 out a way for an additional touch before
1:41:23 for the PPC public hearing and we can
1:41:26 talk with the committee chair about the
1:41:28 detail so we're not prepared tonight to
1:41:31 sort through the calendar but uh I think
1:41:33 we hear what you're saying um certainly
1:41:36 tile 18 other things that this committee
1:41:38 has had um that's off often a useful
1:41:41 opportunity so we let let us figure it
1:41:44 out and we'll we'll communicate with the
1:41:45 committee
1:41:49 chair okay okay great um so did you have
1:41:54 anything else that you wanted okay um
1:41:56 the one other thing um actually two
1:42:00 things that I um thought should be
1:42:03 considered one is
1:42:05 the amount of staff time if I it would
1:42:09 seem to me that if we are including uh
1:42:13 these missing middle housing types into
1:42:14 the same process as single family that's
1:42:17 um that's good from a from the staff
1:42:20 perspective there's a process that they
1:42:21 follow for multiple types of units so
1:42:24 it's streamlined um so just wanted to
1:42:26 check on that but I thought if there's
1:42:28 if there's exceptions or if there's some
1:42:30 um issue there that would be good to for
1:42:33 us to to know about and consider um and
1:42:36 then um the other thing that was uh
1:42:39 mentioned in public comment that I
1:42:41 wanted to flag is um around uh
1:42:47 affordable units and if there would
1:42:49 be I think I think it may not be I think
1:42:53 since we said we are already wanting to
1:42:55 wave impact fees and already not wanting
1:42:57 to require the frontage improvements Etc
1:43:01 um for missing middle in general but
1:43:03 making sure that if there are loow
1:43:04 income or affordable units um that they
1:43:07 are not additionally um burdens with
1:43:11 these additional fees and costs um so
1:43:14 basically how do we make sure
1:43:15 that if there is a developer that wants
1:43:18 to include affordable units that we are
1:43:21 uh incentivizing that as well because
1:43:23 because that is also something that we
1:43:24 have heard time and time again is
1:43:26 something we um are in need of in the
1:43:32 community that was it on my
1:43:35 list right
1:43:38 um any additional feedback on this
1:43:45 item okay um I think I think we have
1:43:49 concluded our feedback do you have what
1:43:52 you need from us on this let me just
1:43:55 quickly summarize so we want to make
1:43:57 sure we capture I took notes and so but
1:44:01 in terms of the six
1:44:03 questions uh applying the unit limit on
1:44:06 middle housing and multif family I think
1:44:08 that one was sort of a lot of discussion
1:44:11 but generally in support of or not in
1:44:14 support of allow uh having the unit
1:44:17 density is that landed on
1:44:21 that I think I think we are potentially
1:44:23 in favor of it being
1:44:28 four counted you would count an Adu
1:44:32 towards lot density so if there if a lot
1:44:34 was allowed four they only be allowed
1:44:37 four no additional
1:44:40 more let's make sure we talking the same
1:44:43 thing
1:44:44 so what I'm hearing you all to go above
1:44:47 and beyond at least you know not consens
1:44:51 not full consensus more information
1:44:53 inform needed perhaps but what this
1:44:56 question is getting at is you want to
1:44:59 keep the adus separate and just allow
1:45:01 what the bare minimum is you're not in
1:45:05 support of that you you you've I I heard
1:45:07 council member Hall saying he wants more
1:45:10 information and wants to think he's not
1:45:12 ready to say four is the right number at
1:45:14 this point I heard council member while
1:45:17 say she's you're more interested in
1:45:20 allowing for regardless whether it's Adu
1:45:23 or not and then council member
1:45:25 H supports that I I generally support
1:45:30 okay we're council member was is so to
1:45:36 to uh agree with the do not agree with
1:45:40 the approach of applying a unit limit on
1:45:42 middle
1:45:43 housing and one
1:45:46 maybe is that what we um sorry just a
1:45:49 clarifying so I thought the unit limit
1:45:51 question was about like the
1:45:54 lineation
1:45:55 between uh what's considered middle
1:45:57 housing and multif family housing so
1:46:00 like okay that one we debated whether
1:46:02 it's six or four is the break point okay
1:46:05 I'm mixing the the other question I
1:46:07 think for the first question we're all
1:46:08 in agreement I went to the number four I
1:46:11 think when in my summary correct you're
1:46:14 right uh the first one I think we
1:46:16 there's General consensus on drawing the
1:46:19 limit at four versus six there was a
1:46:23 discussion about cu the the model
1:46:25 ordinance is six but there was a debate
1:46:29 about whether we should put it at four
1:46:31 because that's what we
1:46:34 allow and I would say for me the
1:46:37 difference between four and six that six
1:46:42 to me seems more like a developer coming
1:46:46 in and we weren't picking that as one of
1:46:48 the um middle housing types exactly so
1:46:52 the only only way you would be able to
1:46:54 get six in this scenario would be with
1:46:59 affordable
1:47:04 housing yeah oh buying multiple lots and
1:47:07 putting it together yeah
1:47:10 um man you just confused it so much more
1:47:15 so so we'll go with the the definition
1:47:18 to be
1:47:19 four for Middle housing anything more
1:47:22 than four is multif family and therefore
1:47:24 will will trigger Frontage improvements
1:47:27 will not get waver from fees and such
1:47:30 because it becomes a larger thing and
1:47:32 for process it'll go to development
1:47:34 commission anything more than okay
1:47:37 sounds good uh land use process sorry I
1:47:40 think we I think
1:47:42 we're yeah sorry no I I didn't have any
1:47:45 problem with the six as the delineation
1:47:48 personally for that first question I
1:47:50 thought that was pretty straightforward
1:47:52 so it was trying to solve other problems
1:47:54 with the future questions which was
1:47:57 Frontage improvements do we want to wave
1:47:58 Frontage improvements with six units or
1:48:02 keep it to
1:48:04 four because we can't treat them
1:48:06 differently middle housing and single
1:48:09 family homes have to be treated the same
1:48:11 so if we Define middle housing to be six
1:48:14 then a sixplex doesn't have to do frage
1:48:17 Improvement on the same lot
1:48:21 okay right I think I think part of this
1:48:24 is also is the is there going to be a a
1:48:26 market
1:48:36 for okay so sort of split on six versus
1:48:40 four we can have a more deeper
1:48:42 discussion with PPC but the PPC
1:48:44 recommendation was six right no I think
1:48:47 staff oh they wanted staff was six they
1:48:50 said we were just taking what the
1:48:51 guidance from Commerce def was in
1:48:53 proposing that so there's no right or
1:48:55 wrong here yeah PBC was um in the same
1:48:59 situation where they could not
1:49:00 definitively say six was the number take
1:49:04 that one can't definitively
1:49:06 say six is the more discussion with bpc
1:49:10 on four versus 6 is where we landed
1:49:12 today this
1:49:14 fair and and what I would say is having
1:49:18 the discussion as it relates to you know
1:49:21 we've got six m middle housing types
1:49:23 that we've allowed that doesn't include
1:49:26 a sixplex
1:49:29 so where would a sixplex come into play
1:49:32 what would be the scenario that would
1:49:34 allow a sixplex and then have that
1:49:37 conversation about do we think about
1:49:39 that as middle housing or multif family
1:49:42 and I think that helps to kind of get a
1:49:46 better answer out of that question
1:49:49 okay the process I think we talked about
1:49:52 that I think we have good understanding
1:49:55 Frontage we talk about adus and lot
1:49:58 density now
1:50:01 we are not full consensus but um on that
1:50:05 one critical area code sounds like
1:50:08 there's consensus just treat them like
1:50:09 single
1:50:11 family and waving the impact fees is
1:50:15 continue to do that but the
1:50:17 cognizant of and and monitor it and come
1:50:21 back and see and and maybe potentially
1:50:23 look at what the fees might be for
1:50:25 single family versus Adu
1:50:28 have and I would say the the piece of
1:50:31 that that makes a difference for me is
1:50:35 an Adu has a size limitation and so I
1:50:38 guess I can be okay and the difference
1:50:40 between a 50% waved fee and 100% wave
1:50:44 fee isn't that big for the city but it's
1:50:48 very big for a user um so
1:50:55 okay and then for our last question what
1:50:58 else should we study or come back with
1:51:02 uh I heard creating a sidebar note
1:51:06 whiteboard whatever we want to call it
1:51:08 as these conversations occur things we
1:51:10 may need to monitor come back and
1:51:13 revisit and things of that nature um uh
1:51:17 we talked about the four versus six uh
1:51:21 more more discussion about that Adu size
1:51:25 going up to 12 you know increasing the
1:51:28 size but having a good basis of what
1:51:31 that upper size limit is going to be
1:51:34 that's
1:51:37 what St yeah and then I think parking
1:51:40 and affordability
1:51:43 correct sounds
1:51:46 good okay uh are we anything anything
1:51:51 else that we have
1:51:54 okay great thank you thank you for that
1:51:56 summary that was also helpful to hear
1:51:58 back um great so that was our only
1:52:02 [Music]
1:52:05 item do we have any announcements no
1:52:09 okay then there being no further
1:52:12 business this me meeting is adjourned at
1:52:14 8:22 p.m. thank you all