City Planning
Back to News Center Seattle King County REALTORS®’ public hearing testimony in support of allowing townhomes in the city’s commercial business (CB) zone was well-received by Maple Valley Planning Commissioners. REALTORS® emphasized the importance and value of quickly updating the city code to incorporate Unit Lot Subdivision changes approved by…
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Back to News Center Under Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA), every city is required to adopt and enforce a Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) to protect environmentally sensitive areas and safeguard the public from natural hazards. Cities must update their CAOs every 10 years using the Best Available Science. While the…
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Back to News Center Enumclaw is the latest city in King County to take steps toward streamlining its permitting process by reforming its design review procedures. In January 2025, Jeff Potter of Integrity Land LLC submitted a privately initiated code amendment request focused on townhouse development standards. Seattle King County…
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Back to News Center Seattle King County REALTORS® has been supportive of, and working with, the city of Black Diamond even before the Legislature passed the plethora of new local government housing mandates in 2023. The City’s progress over the last several years has been impeded significantly by multiple unsuccessful…
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Back to News Center The city of Kent has undertaken its own distinctive and timely two-phase “HOUSING RE-CODE” approach in order to complete the major periodic update to its comprehensive plan, incorporate the 2023 housing-related mandates into its planning, and update its development code and regulations in time to meet…
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Back to News Center Seattle King County REALTORS® (SKCR) continues to work throughout the region to encourage cities to adopt flexible and bold comprehensive plan policies and related development regulations to encourage ADUs and middle housing in their cities. REALTORS® are encouraging policymakers to view increased housing supply through zoned…
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Back to News Center Currently, Renton’s city code provides that decisions on land-use-related development applications are made by a professional Hearing Examiner. Once the Examiner’s decision is made, the City Council acts as a “quasi-judicial” appellate body for appeals of most land-use decisions. Seattle King County REALTORS® are making good…
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Back to News Center Currently, when a property owner wants to utilize the city of Tukwila’s Binding Site Improvement Plan (BSIP) process to develop their property, the property owner must also enter into a Development Agreement with the city. The two processes are redundant and add unnecessary expense and delay…
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Back to News Center This month, Seattle King County REALTORS® has launched REALTORS® + Housing, a new website dedicated to tracking the changes to housing policy mandated by two pieces of legislation passed by the Washington Legislature in 2023: HB 1110 and HB 1337. These bills are set to transform…
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Back to News Center All 39 cities in King County are continuing their work to meet the Legislature’s December 31 deadline for each city to update its 20-year comprehensive plan, including new requirements to accommodate middle housing and more ADUs. In addition, cities must meet a June 30, 2025, deadline…
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