Bothell staff briefed the Landmark Preservation Board on a Title 22 'Landmark Preservation' code update on June 22

What the records say

The June 22, 2026 Landmark Preservation Board meeting packet includes a staff presentation by Jaclyn Samson on updating Bothell Municipal Code Title 22, the city's Landmark Preservation code. ¹ Staff stated no draft code is proposed at this stage; they are seeking high-level policy direction on the update's scope, regulatory flexibility, and process efficiency. ¹ The presentation identifies main themes: clarifying the respective roles of the Landmark Preservation Board and city staff (with a staff recommendation that the board focus on policy guidance and landmark designation while staff handle project-level reviews), streamlining overlapping review processes such as demolition review and downtown design standards, reorganizing the code including relocating BMC 22.12 board governance provisions to Title 2, and aligning designation and appeal procedures with state law. ¹ The presentation lists next steps including a Planning Commission study session on July 1 and a historic inventory update. ¹ The packet is pre-meeting material and does not establish what the board discussed or decided on June 22. ¹

• Staff sought initial board input on the scope, regulatory flexibility, and process efficiency of a BMC Title 22 (Landmark Preservation) update; no action was required and no draft code was proposed at this stage.
• A stated theme is clarifying roles so the Landmark Preservation Board focuses on landmark designation, policy guidance, and interpretation of preservation standards, while staff handle day-to-day, project-level reviews.
• Other themes include simplifying redundant review processes (citing demolition reviews and Downtown Design Standards as overlaps), relocating BMC 22.12 governance provisions to Title 2, standardizing terminology, and consolidating review and appeal pathways to align with state law.
• The presentation lists next steps including a Planning Commission study session on July 1 and a historic inventory update.

Why it matters

Title 22 governs how historically designated properties and properties on the Bothell Historic Inventory are reviewed, including demolition-permit review requirements. The themes staff presented — shifting project-level review from the board to staff, consolidating appeal pathways, and streamlining reviews that overlap with other regulations — could change how owners of older or inventory-listed properties navigate alteration and demolition review. No draft code text exists yet, so specific effects on property owners are not known from this record. ¹

What changed / what's next

• The June 22, 2026 Landmark Preservation Board agenda and packet included a staff briefing on a BMC Title 22 code update under New Business, with presentation slides describing the update's purpose and themes. ¹
• The packet does not record what the board said or decided on June 22; the briefing requested initial input only. ¹
• A Planning Commission study session on the update was listed as a next step for July 1; the supplied packet does not include materials from that session. ¹
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.