The March 26, 2025 Planning Commission meeting was cancelled due to a thunderstorm. A community member had planned to speak:
This is the statement I was going to read tonight to the Planning Commission, and send to City Council:
“I am here today to voice my strong objections to the proposed Land Use Code Amendments, that go far above those required by the State.
Staff seem to be ignoring the safeguards put in place to make the density increases reasonable, gradual, and less detrimental to neighborhoods.
In fact, I would go so far as to say the staff is completely ignoring residents.
They are erroneously claiming to have done all of this community outreach, but if you peel down the layers, you will see that they are counting the outreach done during the Comprehensive Plan updates, as being outreach for LUCA, and this is disingenuous at best.
I attended many of the CP sessions, yet do not recall information that said 9 D/ADU’s were going to be allowed on a SF lot; off-street parking requirements would be eliminated; height restrictions would go up to 38 feet; setbacks would be severely reduced; or any of the other egregious elements in this draft code.
Comments on the “general idea” of more housing during the CP plan, do NOT apply to the specifics outlined in the draft LUCA.
I chair the Bellevue Network on Aging, and just this morning we had a 30-minute presentation on the Curb Pricing Study being conducted by the City, which is a relatively minor issue, that is not going to affect our neighborhood.
And what have we had on LUCA? Nothing.
Likewise, I am on the Board of the Newport Hills Community Club, and we, also, have not had a LUCA presentation.
Yet, the Newport Neighborhood Area Plan, which will have only minor impacts to our neighborhood, has been presented twice to our community. The NAP staff have also walked the neighborhood with me; scheduled three Neighborhood Pop-Ups, created an easy to follow webpage on Engaging Bellevue, and produced a huge 58 page Newport Engagement Report.
And what is there on LUCA? A tiny little pamphlet that, again, fails to give any specifics on the devastating impacts, and just says, “LUCA will explore changes to development requirements…” It does NOT list any of the specific harmful impacts to ALL neighborhoods in the ENTIRE CITY!
Staff has been meeting with developers for 2 years, but have not shown the same courtesy to residents. On the City’s website, no fewer than 50 neighborhood associations are listed, yet Kirsten could not even name one that she has made a Draft LUCA presentation to.
The lack of meaningful LUCA outreach is disrespectful to residents, and the claims that there has even been any meaningful outreach at all, is not truthful… and is misleading to both the Council and the Planning Commission.
Considering that LUCA is so complex, and will have such profound negative impacts on neighborhoods, present outreach efforts are grossly inadequate.
The draft LUCA has not involved the very citizens whom the City should be representing, and protecting.
It is an example of government NOT working for the people.
I respectfully request that the LUCA process honor the residents of Bellevue, and involve them in this process, even if it means that LUCA will be delayed.”
You have gone too far above State requirements with LUCA, so you should let the State’s minimum kick-in.
Sincerely,
Anne Rittenhouse
Another community member recently shared this comment with the Planning Commission:
Hello Planning Commission,
I live in the Wilburton neighborhood.
I would like the city to meet, but not exceed, the new regulations for mixed use adopted by Olympia.
I am also very concerned about the lack of required parking for new housing.
Please come take a drive along 129th place NE, heading south from NE 8th up to 129th Ave, then on up Main and out passed International High School to the intersection of SE 7th and Lake Hills connector.
It is already a slalom; there is not extra parking for new housing without parking.
Editor’s Note: If Bellevue’s proposal is approved, roughly half of the segment described would be eligible for bonus density due to the presence of RapidRide B a half mile away on NE 8th. Starting in about 2028, the southern portion of the segment described would also be eligible for higher density due to construction of a new RapidRide K stop located at Lake Hills Connector and SE 7th Pl. There are about a dozen houses in the middle that would not be eligible for the higher density tier, but would still be able to have 4 middle housing units plus 2 ADUs. HB 2321 does not allow us to require parking for middle housing within a half mile walking distance of major transit stops (Section 2, 5.d), and Bellevue’s strike-draft exempts middle housing within a half mile radius from the on-site parking requirement. Update: Bellevue’s codes are being changed to use the walking distance rather than the radius, bringing them into alignment with the state requirement.
The city also sought feedback on general opinions about Missing Middle housing back in 2022, and there were many thoughtful responses. Here is one person’s vision for the city:
Generally, denser housing should be located close to expensive infrastructure like transit and jobs, arterials and neighborhood centers. That makes best use of the expensive infrastructure, can make walking and biking practical and safe (make it so!), and thereby reduces car traffic. At least the remaining car traffic will be concentrated near the arterials, sparing the feeder roads. And do make sure that the arterials have sufficient capacity to accommodate the increased traffic as the population grows. Where it’s impractical to widen existing arterials, sadly it may be necessary to create new ones.
Probably most important is to limit the expansion of jobs in Bellevue, to keep a reasonable jobs/housing balance and avoid long distance commutes into Bellevue. Bellevue does not have to
become overly dense, but it will if employment in Bellevue continues to grow. Let’s spread the wealth by encouraging employment growth where people live, not housing growth where there is employment. Employment needs to become more decentralized to preserve quality of life. Also, with remote and hybrid work increasingly practical, many people will choose to live far from urban job centers. The population pressure near employment centers may prove to be less than currently projected.
Bellevue must continue to be the city in a park. Make sure that no one lives more than 1/4 mile from parks and undeveloped greenspace. Leave green belts (with walking trails) between areas of denser housing.
Create off-road paved trails (with unpaved side lanes for walkers and runners) to encourage bike and ebike commuting to work and commercial areas and develop them like roads (deep roadbase) so that they won’t be subject to frost and root heaves, and people can actually use them. Link these new trails as feeder trails to arterial trails like Eastrail. In short, plan so that people do not need to travel far on a daily basis and make it possible for them to avoid using their cars for necessary travel.
During the April 23rd City Council meeting, a community member made this request to the council:
Over ten years ago now, I moved to Bellevue. I quickly fell in love with the city. I loved the opportunities, the diversity, and the amenities. I wanted to raise my children here in Bellevue.
The city has built lots of apartments – and that’s great. But there’s almost nothing for people looking to take the next step into homeownership – who are looking to settle down and start a family. One by one, my peers in their late 20s and 30s have almost all left Bellevue in search of housing they can afford. There is no place in Bellevue for young families anymore.
The school district is bearing the consequences. Bellevue School District is seeing a precipitous drop in enrollment threatening their funding and the very existence of our beloved schools. The district’s demographers anticipate that 1 in every 3 kids will be gone by 2033. We’ve already seen the closure of Eastgate Elementary and Wilburton Elementary. I’m sure you’ve heard about Odle Middle School. More closures will be coming. The school district itself cites the “lack of affordable homes” as a primary driver behind the decline in enrollment. If you don’t act boldly on middle housing, we will lose our schools.
So I am here to express my strong support for the proposed middle housing LUCA. We can’t just do the bare minimum – we need bold action. The LUCA developed by the planning commission and staff incentivizes and encourages the development of the middle housing we desperately need.
I’m sure you’ve heard from people who are concerned about neighborhood character. But I ask – what neighborhood character do we have without families? Without kids? Without schools? What neighborhood character do we have without the middle class?
The proposed Middle Housing LUCA could bring new, market rate, family-sized homes to Bellevue for under $800,000. If you’re following real estate trends, that might be hard to believe. But that is the going rate for a brand new 3-bedroom townhouse in North Seattle, where the cost of land and labor is comparable. All we are missing in Bellevue is adequate supply.
$800,000 homes would be an absolute miracle here. That’s half the cost of the average single-family home now. Middle housing is the way forwards for the middle class and young families. Sometimes, we need change to preserve the character that really matters.