In addition to the storymap created by Bellevue, create maps showing the areas which will be affected by transit service changes in 2025 (East Link Connections) and 2028 (RapidRide K). Show these maps to the public along with the “current” maps, both online and at informational sessions. The East Link Connections routes 220, 240, 245, 250, 270 and ST Express 550 will be providing frequent service according to the city’s definition.
Create an explainer like Seattle’s to provide education about planning terminology and depict potential middle housing configurations.
Send out a mailer about the process to every household, including apartment dwellers, as all Bellevue residents could be affected by water shortages, school crowding, traffic congestion, urban heat islands, tree loss, etc.
Seattle is proposing design standards for pedestrian entrances with weather protection, street-facing windows, and materials that add interest. Have we included these considerations? De-centering pedestrian access encourages developments to be very car-centric, and could reduce residents’ friendly interactions with neighbors. It is likely that these would also have to apply to principal units.
There are great items in model ordinance about sprinkler requirements, vehicle access (so the frontage is not all garage, see page 18), and not counting the parking area as a court (page 17, E.1.d).
Will there be more driveway curb cuts? Need more involvement from Transportation to understand what the proposed changes will mean.
Have a plan for trash collection, both the storage on-site and ways it may conflict with sidewalk access and parking on pickup days. How many units would be allowed before a trashroom is required, if some are ADUs or co-housing nano-units? I believe this is still undecided. Will there need to be an increase in the number of pickup days for some buildings? How much does that service cost to provide if such buildings are scattered through the neighborhoods?
Are there ways we can manage disruption from the construction process itself?
Conduct the safety study mentioned in HB 1110, Sec 3, subsection 7.a (and included again in HB 2321 and HB 1998) to see if there will be safety impacts from the parking exemptions. The department is required to develop guidance for the study. If not performed, my understanding is that middle housing units within ½ mile walking distance of major transit would not be required to have any parking (HB 2321, 2(6)(d)), though Bellevue’s draft says middle housing within a 1/2 mile radius of major transit is exempt from the parking requirement (March strike-draft page 29, 20.20.590F (4)).
Bellevue staff’s interpretation of walking distance is also vague; a new element was added in the March 20th draft that seems to align with the intent that radius not extend across a freeway, but this is not the commonly understood meaning of walking distance:
“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.”
There is also a potential that we will not be allowed to require more than ½ stall per unit anywhere if HB 5184 passes.
Make the analyses of our ability to serve the new density transparent; water capacity, schools expansion plan, healthcare services capacity, anticipated tree canopy changes, stormwater runoff changes, how we intend to stay within the limits studied in the FEIS for the Comprehensive Plan, etc. Invite the community to provide feedback on these analyses.
RCW 36.70A.638 “Water system plan updates initiated after July 23, 2023, must include consideration of water supply requirements for middle housing types.” but did we consider more than the state requirement for middle housing? We are proposing to roughly double the amount of additional housing that was mandated through HB 1110 and HB 1337, and I don’t think this extra density was foreseeable in 2023/2024 when the FEIS for Bellevue’s Comprehensive Plan was being developed.
(11) If an area zoned predominantly for residential use is currently served only by on-site sewage systems, development may be limited to two units per lot
Create an opt-in CC&R disclaimer to reduce neighbor conflicts where covenants are in place – idea from Chloe
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