News and Analysis

This week, the Bellevue City Council took votes to refine the Middle Housing plan that they’ll finalize at their June 24th meeting. The room was full but not overflowing, with much less intensity than was present at the Planning Commission public hearing or the Bridle Trails Community Club meeting.

Changed from the draft: 

Six units by right density near major transit stops (Link and RapidRide B [and Rapidride K starting in 2028]) has been reduced to 1/4 mile walking distance instead of 1/2 mile walking distance.  

Middle Housing height has been reduced to 32/35′ tall (this is equal for middle housing and single family if the roof is peaked, and middle housing will be allowed two extra feet if it has a flat roof). 

Note: There is still a 12′ height bonus that could be obtained through the tree code, allowing a possible 44′ building height, and middle housing has both the FAR and the exemption from facade height limits to make use of that. 

Cottages would only be 24′ tall, and the maximum square footage would be 1500 + 300 sqft of storage/garage space  

Note 1: Conrad Lee wants to come back to this point to increase cottage size to 1750 sqft + 300 sqft of unheated storage/garage space 

Note 2: The slides talk about “garage” space, but I don’t think any modification to remove the unheated storage language has been voted on or discussed publicly. 

Note 3: For comparison, ADUs are allowed to be 28′ if over a garage, so potentially taller, but the ADU floor area is only allowed to be 1200 sqft plus 300 sqft of unheated storage/garage space. 

Note 4: Cottages are supposed to have their parking grouped in a lot on-site – does the extra garage bonus space make sense? 

Voted not to change from the draft:  

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Recently came across a thread about DADUs  where one person described how they’re using the garage/unheated storage bonus space.

Bellevue’s wording in the current draft is actually 300 sqft instead of 400 sqft per unit, but it would apply to all ADUs and middle housing units.

If we add 0.24 FAR (floor area ratio) on a 10k sqft lot, since each of the eight units could have 300 sqft, that’s 2400 sqft total (or more, if small cottages are built). The same 2400 sqft would be 0.48 FAR on a 5,000 sqft lot – that’s almost exactly the same as the FAR allowed for a single family house on that lot.  I’d want to be sure that by adding so much additional building volume, we won’t still end up with a parking situation that makes everyone miserable.

We can see that some builders will ask for more height when they can’t use their FAR within the building envelope that’s been defined (Written Communications for PC meeting on 6/28/25, page 5), and not knowing what the city will decide in a situation like this also feels like a risk. We also lose any leverage to create FAR-based carrots (senior housing, essential worker housing, skylights, enclosed parking, etc) when builders can’t use all the floor area they have, and there is a strong disincentive to add eaves, since they count against your building footprint.

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According to the Comprehensive Plan, “Bellevue is planning for sufficient capacity to accommodate the 35,000 units projected to be built by 2044.” There were also various growth levels analyzed as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Comprehensive Plan. Note: Bellevue had 63,200 housing units in 2019. 

FEIS page 69:  “The Preferred Alternative has capacity for about 216,000 housing units, about 152,000 additional capacity for housing units over 2019 housing units and about 111,000 over the capacity under the No Action Alternative. About 47 percent of the additional capacity (and about 61 percent of the capacity over the No Action Alternative) is in low-density residential areas, primarily due to the additional capacity created under HB 1110 and HB 1337.” 

The additional density under HB1110/1337 can be compared with the density added in Bellevue’s proposal. First, adding 3 units to most of the ~30,000 “single family” properties results in potential growth of 72,200 units in Low Density Residential areas (see Table 2-4). It is clear that this is not simply 30,000 x 3, so perhaps it takes into account the fact that some areas have covenants or environmentally critical areas, and I think the assumption is that a little more than half of the single family houses become teardowns (Table 2). If we add four more units beyond that with ADUs and a fee-in-lieu option, there would be perhaps an additional 66,300* housing units beyond what was studied under the FEIS, for a total of 138,500 new units in low density areas and 218,300 new units citywide.  

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If you can, please email City Council  council@bellevuewa.gov about ensuring adequate Wilburton sidewalk widths. You can also speak at the meeting; the signup link opens at noon tomorrow (Tuesday, May 20th). 

     As can be seen in the Agenda memo for tomorrow’s meeting, the Eastside Housing Roundtable is recommending 6′ sidewalks in Wilburton (in the vicinity of 25-45 story buildings), and still recommends maintaining space for on street parking on some of these corridors. Bellevue Chamber requests either 6′ sidewalks or the elimination of local streets entirely. I agree with the staff assessment that “This would diminish comfort, compromise safety and accessibility, and ultimately limit the area’s potential to thrive economically.” They also hope to get a reduction of the shared use paths from 14′ to 10′ – this change could create safety risks due to conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists, etc. 

There is some background on the sidewalks question in a post here, where I talk about our standards for pedestrian safety and level of traffic stress (PLTS) and Wilburton-specific transportation challenges.

    The Chamber is also requesting that some of the open space requirement be able to be met with private open space. I’ve seen that there are many amazing events that are only possible to host if you control the space and can have ticketed events, so it’s not unlikely that utility to the community would go up if some open space is private. Unfortunately, in general, the open space requirement for Wilburton was set quite low to start with, and things like sidewalks and access corridors get counted toward that. It is the hope that spaces adjacent to Eastrail may provide a sense of openness and public access. 

To balance these two considerations, I suggest that we allow up to two or three buildings (first to apply) to receive the 5% private open space allowance in exchange for a commitment to host at least three events open to the public per week, at least one of which is free but may require RSVP. 

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Middle Housing was on the agenda at this week’s City Council meeting. This was the first time staff presented the results of their work to the council, but I think the councilmembers have been getting an earful on this topic for months now. The council asked tough questions about potential unintended consequences that might be possible with the staff’s recommendations. We now have an opportunity to do some research in response to the things the councilmembers have indicated that they’re thinking about, which is why I’ve included so much detail below. 

     Many people talked about the emails they’re writing, but unfortunately not that many showed up in person. From the introduction by the Planning Commission’s Chair Goeppele, and my observations at that meeting, it seemed that the Planning Commission’s vote was shaped by the fact that they didn’t discuss the topic and conduct their vote on the same day as the public hearing was held. The people who were in the room when the discussion *did* happen were a different group that mostly spoke about their desire for more housing. 

Here are the recording and slides from the meeting. It was so interesting to see that each councilperson had their own unique take on the issue, and I am optimistic we’ll have a very productive meeting next time as a result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sw12rrqm40  (see timestamps below)

Slides

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Bellevue’s Middle Housing Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA) will allow multiple homes on a single lot. These might be townhouses, duplexes, cottages, courtyard apartments, sixplexes, or stacked flats, etc. Because we are a large city, state law HB 1110 requires Bellevue to allow four housing units on every lot zoned for single family, as well as six units on lots that are within a five minute (1/4 mile) walk of major transit like Link or RapidRide.

Bellevue’s City Council is meeting today, Tuesday, May 13th, and they will consider a proposal to have eight units on every single family lot. It would allow each parcel to have two attached ADUs, plus either four or six Middle Housing units. The area where six Middle Housing units are allowed will expand to include areas that are up to a 1/2 mile walk from major transit and also include areas 1/4 mile walk from Downtown, Eastgate, Crossroads, BelRed, Wilburton, East Main, and Factoria. In all other areas, a developer would be able to pay $150,000 for each to get the fifth and sixth middle housing units (total $300k).

One of the things that Bellevue will work on this fall is a co-housing policy because of HB 1998, which is also a state law from 2023. In the areas where six middle housing units are allowed without the fee, and in mixed use areas, co-housing will be allowed starting in January 2026. There are some nice co-housing buildings in Seattle and Kirkland; a typical sleeping unit would be 170-220 sqft but could be as small as 75 sqft, since they do not always have their own bathroom. Co-housing will also include existing structures that put locks on bedroom doors so a single house can be rented to multiple households.

We may not know exactly what cohousing will look like in Bellevue until December, but on Tuesday night the city will be making a big decision about where to allow it as part of the Middle Housing LUCA. This LUCA will determine how many times bigger than a single-family house a middle housing structure can be, and how far into the front yard and backyard and side setbacks it can go. The current proposal also allows middle housing to be four stories tall in all areas of Bellevue, which is not required by HB 1110 at all.  It includes rules about ADUs, changes the tree code, and changes our transition zones (which affects areas with different zoning on adjacent properties).

We know outreach to the community has been inadequate. Only 55 people responded to the online survey that was available in January and February. Were you notified about this?

Please come to City Hall for the meeting and send your comment to the council!

City Council meeting at Bellevue City Hall
Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm
Agenda with Zoom link
Link to register for public comment, starting at noon on the day of the meeting (also email your comment to council@bellevuewa.gov if possible)

TL;DR：贝尔维尤市议会将于5月13日晚上6点讨论一系列对现有居民有影响的提案。其中包括允许现有的单户住宅地建立八个住房（2个附属住宅+6个中间住房) 。此提案会导致交通拥堵、树木减少、隐私受损等影响。如果你对此有什么想法请通过邮件 council@bellevuewa.gov 或参加会议表达你的意见。

重点：

1. 取消单户住宅地：允许目前的单户住宅地建八个住房，包括2栋附属住宅单元（ADU）和6个中间住房单元。
2. 合住公寓区域扩大：从2026年1月起，合住区域将扩展至距离市中心、十字路口等步行5分钟的区域，包括：
   • 允许将现有房屋用卧室锁分隔成多户的合住公寓
   • 扩大密集公寓，每间单元面积仅需170-220平方英尺
3. 潜在影响：
   • 交通拥堵加剧
   • 学校，医疗机构，公园等公共设施人满为患
   • 持续施工影响周围居民生活
   • 城市树木绿化减少
   • 中间住房允许建四层，居民隐私可能受损
4. 居民参与：请邮件至 council@bellevuewa.gov 或参加5月13日市议会会议表达你的意见。

Edit: Update in the Unit Size section to reflect lot coverage limitations, as pointed out by Ed in the Comment section.

City Council meeting at Bellevue City Hall
Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm
Agenda with Zoom link
Link to register for public comment, starting at noon on the day of the meeting 

Please attend the meeting in person if you can!

In addition to the posts about the unintended consequences of the Middle Housing LUCA (Lakefront Luxury, Expansive Estates, Large Lot “Cottages,” and Cottage Tower Clusters), here is a description of what I think a typical middle housing development might look like. These will include townhouses, duplexes, cottages, courtyard apartments, sixplexes, stacked flats, etc.

Because we are a large city, state law HB 1110 requires Bellevue to allow four housing units on every lot zoned for single family, as well as six units on lots that are within a five minute (1/4 mile) walk of major transit like Link or RapidRide. We are proposing to allow 6 middle housing units and 2 attached ADUs on each lot instead (and some developers will pay a fee to support affordable housing in return).

Also important for understanding our housing supply is a look at the likely unit sizes created. FAR is a multiplier that determines building size based on the lot area.  The FAR for single family homes is ostensibly 0.5, but we see lots of exceptions under the current code that allow daylight basements, etc on top of that, or uncap FAR based on meeting other conditions. 

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Here is one last wacky scenario – my next post will talk about what is likely to be a more typical Middle Housing structure.

There is an interesting loophole generated by the addition of the 38′ building height allowed by the proposed Middle Housing LUCA and the 12′ height bonus for tree retention offered by subsection E.5.c of the Tree Code, which passed in July 2024.

When we add these together and also consider the potential differences in lot elevation that are present on a sloping site, you could get a very tall structure. Because of this effect of slopes, current code limits houses with flat roofs to 30′ and also has a facade maximum of 40′ that is sometimes the true limit.

There will be no facade maximum for Middle Housing (I asked, and this is not an oversight), so it might be reasonable to think that they could be 38′ + 12′ + 10′ = 60′ (that last one will depend on the particular lot elevations.

I went to Meydenbauer Bay Park this week and looked across at the already very tall homes along the waterfront, and could easily imagine one that was six stories and preserved some uphill trees on the Enatai slope.

Of course, since a six story building is only possible with the Middle Housing rules, you’d have to make it a duplex, triplex, fourplex, fiveplex, sixplex or some other configuration. The housing types that just specify a number of units are very open ended in terms of what you can make. It couldn’t be a stacked flat, since those are technically limited to three stories, and you might not be able to make it a courtyard apartment, since it would be hard to give all units direct access to the courtyard.

I should point out that page 26 of the Middle Housing User Guide pdf from Commerce says that “Cities may also develop reasonable definitions for undefined middle housing types to help ensure that, when in conjunction with development and any optional design standards, they are compatible in scale, form, and character with single-family houses.” This is a very reasonable idea.

The other interesting option is that it could be a boutique hotel under the rules for co-living, but the lakefront homes that are nearest the downtown perimeter (see page 13) are juuust over the 1/4 mile walking distance where six units would be allowed by right, enabling co-living starting in January 2026.

Note: The subsection of the Tree Code immediately before that also allows development to extend into half of the front yard and five feet of the rear yard, effectively reducing the setbacks, and that is on top of a 10′ setback reduction for each the front and the back for middle housing that is in the current Middle Housing LUCA proposal (compare the tables on pages 6 and 30 of the strike-draft). I do not know if this will make a difference, since I assume everyone is already building right up to the shoreline setback from the ordinary high water mark, but there’s also no reason you couldn’t have a six story building on a more ordinary lot anywhere in Bellevue.

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, Bellevue residents participated in many passionate meetings to arrive at a shared vision for how we can protect our tree canopy where lots are being redeveloped. Instead of requiring a percentage of the existing trees to be maintained, it set standards for how many trees should be present after development, with tree credits based on the diameter of each tree trunk to satisfy those requirements. 

There are three ways the Tree Code is being significantly weakened in the residential areas of Bellevue:  

First, we are proposing to allow cottages by the acre on our large lots.  If three bedroom, 1750 sqft + 300 sqft parking/storage cottages are built, you’d be allowed 22 for every acre of your property.  If you have an acre and a half, you’d be able to have 33 of these homes.  It is also possible to adjust the size down, and get a larger number of them. You could have 28 cottages that are 1400 sqft + 300 sqft for parking/storage on every acre. The areas that will be affected by this rule are home to a significant amount of Bellevue’s tree canopy. 

Second, there is a special loophole for cottage housing that will greatly reduce the number of trees required. The former requirement for these large lot areas was 5 tree credits/1000 sqft of lot for a single family home, and 4 tree credits for any parcel with two or more dwellings. Cottage developments are getting special treatment with the Middle Housing LUCA, and will only be required to have 1 tree credit/1000 sqft of lot area. 

Third, there is a new “tree health” provision to avoid tree crowding. Since the bar has been lowered to the floor for the cottage housing, I think they are actually unlikely to run into this issue, but some of the other middle housing types (duplexes, courtyard apartments, sixplexes, stacked flats, etc.) that still need 75 or 80% as much tree credits as a single family home may have trouble fitting them all in.  The Tree Code recognizes this and offers tree credits for $1300 apiece, which will fund tree planting and arborist work in Bellevue. Of course, this annoys developers, so there’s a new provision on page 40 of the strike-draft that will give them credits for more trees than they actually plant, as long as they are careful to build and pave over so much of the lot that it would never be possible for more trees to exist there in the future, either. 

Please come to the meeting this Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm in City Hall and tell the City Council that you still care about maintaining the standards in the Tree Code, and not to allow these changes to undermine it. HB 1110 only requires that we allow 4 housing units per lot in large cities like Bellevue, not an unlimited number of cottages! We’re getting so much capacity for new housing in the rest of the city that the limiting factor will be the number of construction teams, and we don’t need to accelerate development in our greenest and most car-dependent areas.

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