Bothell weighed dropping parking minimums, capping neighborhood commercial at 2,500 square feet

What the records say

The May 7, 2025 Bothell Planning Commission agenda included a study session on Phase 2 Code Amendments, covering parking, Neighborhood Scale Commercial, variance criteria, and administrative updates ¹. On parking, the staff memo states that City Council wants to continue eliminating minimum off-street parking from the municipal code, and staff prepared code updates removing off-street parking minimums for the Commission's review and feedback ¹. The memo also notes Senate Bill 5184, then on the Governor's desk, would preempt Bothell's minimum parking quantities with lower across-the-board ratios if enacted ¹. On neighborhood commercial, the draft code would permit small-scale retail, service, and office uses in residential zones, with staff recommending a square footage allowance between 1,800 and 2,500 square feet based on lot size ¹. The packet contains no minutes for the May 7 meeting, so the outcome of the discussion is not established by the supplied record ¹.

• Staff prepared draft code amendments removing off-street parking minimums, per City Council direction to continue eliminating them, and sought Planning Commission feedback on whether to keep minimums as drafted under SB 5184 or remove them entirely ¹.
• Draft Neighborhood Scale Commercial rules would allow uses such as restaurants, coffee shops, corner groceries, pharmacies, child-care centers, and salons in residential zones, with hours limited to 6 a.m.–10 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m.–10 p.m. weekends ¹.
• Staff recommended a maximum neighborhood commercial space of the greater of 1,800 square feet or 30% of net buildable lot area, not to exceed 2,500 square feet, after Council flagged the prior 30% approach as potentially too large ¹.
• The memo states next steps: a Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendation for Planning Commission consideration at the May 21 regular meeting, a tentative City Council public hearing in June, and a potential final ordinance by July 2025 ¹.
• The supplied packet does not include minutes or any record of what the Planning Commission decided on May 7 ¹.

Why it matters

If adopted, removing parking minimums would end required minimum numbers of off-street parking spaces for new development in Bothell, and the neighborhood commercial rules would determine where and how large corner stores, cafés, salons, and similar businesses can open in residential areas ¹. The memo also flags a tradeoff: if the city eliminates parking minimums entirely, it can no longer use parking reductions as an incentive in its affordable housing program, an option staff asked the Commission to weigh ¹.

What changed / what's next

• No code change is adopted in the supplied record. The record shows draft amendments under review: removal of off-street parking minimums, new Neighborhood Scale Commercial standards, elimination of maximum building coverage in favor of hard-surface limits, variance criteria updates, and administrative amendments ¹.
• Whether the Planning Commission recommended the full removal of parking minimums versus retaining them under SB 5184's lower ratios, and how rideshare parking would be calculated if minimums are eliminated — both were open questions in the May 7 memo ¹.
• The stated timeline: Planning Commission consideration May 21, a tentative June City Council public hearing, and a potential final ordinance by July 2025 ¹.
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.