MOUNTLAKE TERRACE
A city proposal to diversify its housing stock has some residents worried their taxes will go up and their neighborhoods will get more crowded.
The city’s got plenty of apartments, condos and houses on large lots, said planning and development director Shane Hope. More options mean more choices, and that’s a good thing, she said.
But the Planning Commission Monday, April 28, heard from 11 residents, many of whom said they’re concerned and confused about plans to amend city residential development regulations and not so sure the proposed changes are a good idea.
“I don’t understand why we need more density,” said Len French, a longtime resident who’s been an outspoken critic of development plans for areas in and around downtown neighborhoods.
He said many people are confused about the proposals and the city should take more time to carefully explain and seek feedback about them.
“I think you have to go in … and find out if that’s what they want,” he said. “I’d like these meetings to be something more than a formality.”
The Planning Commission’s been studying ways to bring new types of housing to the city. It’s looked into cottage housing, in which several small houses surround a common green space, design guidelines for apartments, and whether to allow accessory dwelling units, also known as mother-in-law apartments.
Last year, the City Council asked city staff to look more closely at cottage housing after rejecting initial proposals, but it accepted the recommendations for accessory dwelling units and apartment design guidelines.
This year, staff presented a new option that would allow property owners in three of the city’s oldest neighborhoods to join two 7,200 square foot parcels together and build three houses in the same amount of space where two houses now sit.
Under the proposal, which would impose no requirements on existing property owners who don’t want to make changes, residential zones with 7,200 square foot lots could be assembled into three 4,800 square foot lots, each with houses of up to 23,050 square feet, Hope said. None of the houses could be taller than two stories, she added.
To allow that flexibility without changing the zoning, the city would create something called an “overlay district” on top of the existing RS 7200 zone in the city’s three oldest single-family neighborhoods, where some houses date back to the 1940s.
Those neighborhoods generally surround the intersection of 236th Street Southwest and 56th Avenue West, extending as far east as Cedar Way and west to I-5.
Traffic, taxes and density were on the minds of several residents in those neighborhoods.
“I would really like to know as a property owner what does Snohomish County say this would do to our taxes,” said David Reeber. “I’d like to see the whole parking issue summarized.”
Traci Jacobson said she fears few in her neighborhood will be able to take advantage of the proposal and said property taxes will probably increase as older houses are torn down and new ones replace them.
Sharon Maynard said she’s concerned that the only people who’ll be able to afford to subdivide their property will be developers with deep pockets.
“What we’re really doing is putting our multi-residential section into our neighborhoods,” she said. “I would really like to see much more dialogue.”
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