Bothell was scheduled to weigh requiring affordable units in new middle housing

What the records say

The agenda packet for the May 7, 2025 Planning Commission study session included two housing-related items: Housing Affordability Incentives (Item 4B) and Phase 2 Code Amendments (Item 4C) ¹. The staff memo for Item 4B said staff was preparing draft zoning code amendments, due by June 2025, to allow more than four units per lot in residential zones, and that the amendments would include affordability requirements for Middle Housing: one affordable unit for every four homes in the R-L zone and one for every six homes in the R-M zone, unless the property is within a quarter-mile walk of a major transit stop ¹. The memo also listed potential incentives under consideration — density flexibility, height increases, reduced parking, permit and impact fee reductions, permit expediting, and revisions to the city's Multifamily Tax Exemption program — and noted Bothell already has mandatory and voluntary affordable housing standards in parts of Downtown and the Canyon Park Subarea ¹. The meeting was a study session; no action was required ¹. The records do not establish what happened at the meeting.

• The May 7, 2025 study session agenda listed Housing Affordability Incentives and Phase 2 Code Amendments ¹.
• Staff proposed requiring new middle housing to include one affordable unit per four homes in R-L zones and one per six homes in R-M zones, unless within a quarter-mile walk of a major transit stop ¹.
• Staff also floated incentives including density flexibility, height increases, reduced parking, permit and impact fee reductions, permit expediting, and MFTE revisions ¹.
• Phase 2 covered Neighborhood Scale Commercial, parking (including possible removal of off-street parking minimums), variance criteria, and administrative amendments ¹.
• The meeting was a study session with no action required; the records do not establish the outcome ¹.

Why it matters

If adopted, the proposed requirement would mean developers of new middle housing — duplexes, townhomes, and similar homes between single-family houses and larger apartment buildings — would have to set aside affordable units (one per four homes in R-L zones, one per six in R-M zones) unless the project is within a quarter-mile walk of a major transit stop ¹. That could affect what gets built, where, and at what cost. The separate Phase 2 item covered possible changes to parking requirements, neighborhood-scale commercial rules, and variance criteria ¹.

What changed / what's next

• The May 7, 2025 agenda introduced these items for Planning Commission discussion and input ¹. The records do not establish the meeting's outcome.
• Staff said draft zoning code amendments were due by June 2025 ¹.
• For Phase 2, staff said they would produce findings and a recommendation for the Planning Commission's May 21 meeting, with a tentative public hearing before City Council in June and a potential ordinance by July 2025 ¹. The supplied records do not establish whether those steps occurred.
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.