This article provides many good quotes, but it’s such a complicated issue that it’s easy to get tripped up on the details. Here are some clarifications that may help our community understand the actual proposal for Bellevue.
Number of Units:
The phrase “up to six units” is used many times, but Bellevue’s proposed draft allows ADUs that are up to three stories and 1200 sqft with 250 sqft of garage/unheated storage space. These do not count toward the unit density under the Bellevue plan or the Model Ordinance, though we would have been allowed to count them toward the unit density by HB 1110/2321, and Seattle and Tacoma do. Instead, Bellevue will have 6 middle housing + 2 ADUs = 8 units in many areas.
Bellevue has no limit on the number of cottages per lot, and these receive the same FAR as a sixplex.
This also omits the impacts on allowances for co-housing, which HB 1998 states must be allowed in all places where six units are allowed by right; this is equivalent to more than 8 units since they could be as small as 70 square feet per unit, and purpose-built structures can be 4 stories tall and use all the FAR allocated for middle housing. Co-housing will be implemented this fall and be an option in Bellevue no later than January 2026.
Area with extra density:
HB 1110 requires “up to six units within a quarter-mile of light rail and RapidRide bus stops.” No, the state law allows more units within a quarter-mile walking distance, if you look at the bill.
“within a quarter mile of all of the city’s major commercial hubs”
Bellevue’s strike-draft includes areas within a quarter-mile of all the city’s major commercial hubs and neighborhood centers. Residents have also noted that some of the areas identified as neighborhood centers were not considered neighborhood centers on previous city maps.
The Urbanist article shows the map of Citywide Impact that leaves out the upcoming changes expected from RapidRide K and the Eastlink Connections bus changes (Routes 220, 240, 245, 250, and 270). It’s not unreasonable to use the map provided by the city in the meeting materials for the public hearing, but it’s still misleading.
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metro/programs-and-projects/east-link-connections Expected to start at the same time as Link connects to Seattle, sometime in 2025.
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metro/travel-options/bus/rapidride/k-line According to HB 2321, page 5, bus rapid transit stops that are under construction fall under the definition of Major Transit Stops, so I would expect new density based on RapidRide K to start in the year 2028.
Bellevue Sixplexes 25% larger than Seattle sixplexes?
If we look at the Interim Compliance Ordinance draft for Seattle, and the April 3rd draft for Bellevue’s LUCA, for a 10,000 square foot lot with six units, Seattle would allow FAR of 1.0, and Bellevue would allow a FAR of 1.5. Bellevue also allows the garages and ADUs to not count against the FAR. At 1200 square feet per ADU, this adds 0.24 FAR, and 2000 sqft of unheated storage/garage space would be allowed in Bellevue in addition to that, while ground-level garage space counts against the FAR in Seattle. Bellevue’s effective FAR is 1.94, an increase of 94%.
For lots smaller than 10,000 square feet, the ADU provision adds a higher amount of FAR, so a 5000 sqft Bellevue lot would have .48 FAR from the ADUs, adding up to a total of 1.98 FAR, and the Seattle lot of the same size would have an FAR of 1.2. Again, the Bellevue structure(s) would get a bonus 2000 square feet of garage/storage space, so the comparable FAR would be 2.18.
In Seattle’s October 2024 draft, two Seattle ADUs up to 1000 sqft each do not count toward FAR, so that adds 0.2 FAR, but Seattle does count ADUs toward unit density, so there would be 4 middle housing and 2 ADUs for a total of 6 units instead of the 8 units in Bellevue. The ADU cap of 1000 sqft counts garage space. Based on the October draft, Seattle is also likely to allow 0.2 FAR more for stacked flats than other middle housing. This results in an effective FAR of 1.2-1.4 for 10,000 sqft lots and 1.4-1.6 for 5,000 sqft lots. Bellevue’s rules for stacked flats appear to be 39% higher and 36% higher for these two lot sizes, and the difference is greater for other types of middle housing: 62% and 56%.
Seattle also has height maximum of 32′ in most single family areas, allows up to 40′ specifically where there is mandatory housing affordability, and has side setbacks for the upper floor in certain cases. Seattle’s cottage housing has a limit of 22 feet in the Interim Compliance Ordinance.
Impervious surfaces
“Bellevue proposes to … allow builders to cover up to 65% of a lot in impervious surfaces.”
This appears to only apply to LDR-2/3 (like R-10 and R-15) and MDR-1/2 (like R-20 and R-30) zones, so most middle housing would be allowed to be 50 or 60% impervious in Bellevue. This is an increase from the 45 or 55% for single family homes, but not as significant as it sounds in the article. Bellevue does have a 75% impervious/25% pervious allowance for common open space; Seattle’s 50% landscaping requirement for common amenity areas sounds nicer.
Walking distance definition
[Bellevue] “got more strict about the definition of walking distances” The current draft has a special definition of “walking distance,” which will be confusing to anyone who doesn’t have an inside scoop or is trying to compare Bellevue’s legislation to the state laws (which use “walking distance” to mean something else). This is very similar to the annoying double definition of Major Transit, which imo could have been called “Substantial Transit” in HB 1337 to differentiate it from the HB 1110 meaning.
“Walking Distance. If a physical impediment exists that would require pedestrians to walk more than one-quarter or one-half mile to the station, stop, or center, as applicable, from the location of the middle housing dwelling units, then the Director may determine that the location does not meet the requirements of the applicable tier.”
According to Bellevue city staff, the presence of a highway or greenbelt would count as a physical impediment since you can’t expect people to walk across it. Otherwise, this definition of walking distance may be much more like the common understanding of a radius.
Off-street parking
“Under HB 1110, Bellevue can’t require any off street parking with middle housing within a half mile of light rail or RapidRide stations.”
No, HB 1110 and 2321 both say: “Shall not require off-street parking as a condition of permitting development of middle housing within one-half mile walking distance of a major transit stop” Bellevue is proposing to not require parking within the half mile radius, but that exempts quite a few additional parcels.
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