PCD 2025-02-10 Item 1B - Discussion - 2025 Work Plan: Zoning Code Amendment

Browse Search

INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 redevelopment potential, frequently force projects to undertake extra processes to reduce parking requirements, or prevent the project from moving forward altogether. Staff proposes to revisit the amount of parking required across uses as part of this update to the parking and use tables. Station Area Planning (SRO) Property owners south of SR 518 and the Tukwila International Boulevard Link Station have expressed interest in undertaking a transit-oriented and mixed-use high-density development, capitalizing on the future connections provided by a new pedestrian bridge across the highway. Sound Transit’s documents indicate the bridge will provide direct access from the site to Link Light Rail and the under-development Stride bus rapid transit line, which will allow travel from Tukwila to Bellevue in less than 40 minutes. In the interest of supporting development at this site, staff suggests exploring further subarea planning of this area in conjunction with property owners and adjacent stakeholders. Cannabis Businesses The Council has expressed an interest in revisiting the Zoning regulations for cannabis businesses. TMC 18.50.210, last amended in 2017, addresses the production, processing, and retailing of marijuana. These uses are permitted (if a state license has been issued) in Heavy Industrial, Tukwila Valley South, and in the Tukwila South Overlay zone (where the underlying zoning is HI or TVS). In addition, the Tukwila code requires separation from various common community uses, making it difficult to site such a business, given the limited zones in which cannabis businesses are allowed. The code also references compliance with sections of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) that are no longer defined in the RCW. Staff would present the current standards and provide alternatives. Permit Streamlining Critical Area Permit As readily available development sites become scarcer within both Tukwila and the broader region, sites containing environmentally critical areas such as wetlands, streams, and steep slopes become more attractive for potential development. Ambiguity over the presence of critical areas on a site and associated restrictions on development potential can introduce significant uncertainty as to whether site development is viable or not. Confirming the presence of critical areas and their boundaries at the beginning of the development process can better clarify project viability and save costly revisions. Staff proposes establishing a new critical area permit to determine the presence, categorization, and location of critical areas and their associated buffers on a site. The permit, undertaken at the beginning of a project, would grant assurance of developable areas on a site and be valid for a five-year period. Other jurisdictions, such as King County and the City of Kent, currently offer similar permits. State Mandates and Recommendations Critical Area Code Update The growth management act (GMA) requires jurisdictions to update their critical area standards within 12 months of the adoption of the periodic update of the comprehensive plan, or no later than December 31, 2025. Critical area updates should incorporate best available science (BAS) and create standards that reflect changes directed by the Department of Ecology, such as modifications to the methodology of how wetlands are rated. These changes are reviewed for compliance at the state level and may impact characteristics such as buffer distances required for certain critical areas. The City’s Critical Areas Ordinance was last updated in 2020. 13