Engagement for this process has been going on for a year and a half and culminates in tonight's vote.
Community opposition to the plans, some heard earlier, centers around this clause, which would allow for DADUs to be built in the neighborhoods. bellevue.legistar.com/LegislationDet
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Sorry, *this* clause. Because they might have to live with one of their neighbors building a backyard cottage, some neighbors are wanting to throw out the year and a half of staff time devoted to this robust engagement effort.
NIMBYs gonna NIMBY...
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Remember, this only applies to the two highlighted areas below. DADUs will still be illegal on the majority of the city's land. Seems like, to avoid NIMBY pushback towards what *should be* an easy win, we should implement that change citywide, not neighborhood by neighborhood.
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According to staff, neighbors of both NE & NW Bellevue brought up D/ADUs as potential affordable housing options in these areas, so it makes me doubt just how representative the commenters this evening actually are of the community's feedback.
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When the feedback is split like this, I've got a solution -
How about the people who want to build D/ADUs.... build them?
And how about the people who don't want to.... don't?
Crazy, I know.
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Councilmember comment:
CM Barksdale brings it back to values - "Bellevue welcomes the world, diversity is our strength." Says part of that strength is income diversity and DADUs provide a step on the affordability ladder.
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He elevates a particular comment heard during outreach from someone in a DADU, "'When it came down to it, we were all just neighbors...', and I think that's important b/c ... we're just providing the opportunity for more neighbors to have that QOL in our community."
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Notes that 25% of NE Bellevue residents are cost-burdened by housing, and middle income residents in the neighborhood want to have more affordable housing choices but currently don't.
Says the DADU resident he mentioned no longer lives in Bellevue b/c it's too expensive.
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Mayor Robinson: agrees a lot w/ Barksdale, but says aging in place in the sense of "staying in a single family home" is bad, proceeds to cite everything wrong w/ SFZ (isolated, large homes that are hard to maintain, etc.). Supports duplexes & triplexes but not DADUs.
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Wants to bring DADUs back early next year to look at "what is the purpose of this. Are we trying to let people rent [a DADU] out & stay in their home..., trying to allow them to downsize into something next to their home, to get families into a much smaller dwelling?"
Mayor, obviously it's to provide the exact thing you want - options. Letting people do the things and choose the options that work for them, their family, and their livelihoods. Don't know why this is so hard to understand.
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DM Nieuwenhuis: likes Mayor's suggestion to move DADUs to next year. Wants to see further study on impacts and also has concerns on duplexes and triplexes. Noting a disconnect between the concerns raised tonight vs. the positive feedback staff is citing.
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Staff saying that "there are people on both sides on this issue." But after filtering it out, it seemed people wanted to dive into the specifics around code and mitigating impacts, which is how they presented their findings.
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CM Zahn: these plans haven't been updated since the '80s & things have changed in Bellevue. Suggests a "yes and" approach of adopting the plan as written but provide guidance to look at a DADU workplan to mitigate impacts. Notes the principles just talk about "exploring" DADUs.
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CM Robertson: says the pandemic provided challenges in outreach, digital outreach is not the same as being in-person. Supports amendments to principles on safety & the environment. Supports DADU removal proposal by Mayor.
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CM Stokes: notes putting these policies in place would give insight about how they could work in other parts of the city. Feels comfortable moving forward. Points out that Mayor's interpretation was obviously not what CM Barksdale meant, would want to keep DADU language in.
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Raises the (valid, in fact that's really why they're even suggesting doing this) concern that by not approving it now and putting it off after more study next year, it will end up not getting evaluated for the next 2-3 years, especially as comp plans start getting looked at.
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Also (rightly) notes that while meetings on Zoom can be difficult for some people, meetings in person can be even harder. Is worried this is another way to be able to say that the Council should put off action on this.
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CM Lee: unsurprisingly does not want to move forward. Calls the outreach over the last year and a half "confusing" and COVID has made things "challenging."
In a *peak* NIMBY argument, says "Of course everyone supports the city's vision... [but] in your neighborhood?"
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Mayor Robinson is trying to get CM Lee to reference a particular amendment for NE Bellevue that he takes issue w/, but it seems it's the whole process that's bad for him. In particular seems to take issue w/ neighborhood boundaries being changed & changing residential options.
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Round 2 - CM Barksdale notes he wasn't just highlighting aging in place, that it's all about creating options. Says that since the language is about "exploring" DADUs in the neighborhoods, it would already cover what the Mayor is proposing, finds postponing unnecessary.
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Mayor: wasn't implying Barksdale meant that but rather that the documents implied that. "I think that you should have the option to age in place, but I don't think that should be the ultimate goal."
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I'm legitimately confused why she thinks it's worthwhile to spend additional time & money to examine "what we're trying to do with DADUs" but not to spend additional time evaluating "what we're trying to do w/ duplexes & triplexes", things she does support.
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She *seems* supportive of DADUs but wants more conversations on them...? To find out what they're good for...? This is a really flimsy line of argument imo, since what they're good for expands way beyond the scope of just aging in place, which is what she seems to be focusing on.
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Okay, she *does* support the draft plans moving forward but hopes that staff listened to what she's said. She just wants to make sure there's more exploration done about what housing niche DADUs are filling, and since documentation mentions "exploring", she should be fine.
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DM Nieuwenhuis: what are the pros & cons of updating plans now vs. waiting until after comp plan revisions EOY '23. Cons of waiting - there'll be significant time investments to restart the process. Biggest pro - if Council wants staff to do more research, waiting gives them time
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CM Zahn: after 40 years of the same plan, the community deserves for Council to move forward on the plan. Says the language used satisfies both the Mayor's & CM Barksdale's concerns for further review & moving forward w/ action.
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CM Robertson reminds Council that even if this moves forward tonight, final adoption isn't until December 13th. Proposes a few amendments to specific NE Bellevue policies in areas of the environment & safety. Relatively noncontroversial.
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CM Stokes likes most of CM Robertson's amendments, but wants to discuss the safety one: "I want to make sure we're not talking in code words... does [safety] mean 'keeping out weird people'... [safety] is used a lot by people who do unsafe things in the name of safety."
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Re: DADUs, says not deciding now is still a decision, notes again his fear of this eventually falling by the wayside if no action's taken now.
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In contrast to CM Stokes' comment of "Every neighborhood is the same and every neighborhood is different," CM Lee takes a strong stance - "Every neighborhood is different." Wants to make sure that "the citywide vision is separate from individual neighborhoods."
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...How is the city's vision implemented, if not through neighborhoods? When one neighborhood chooses not to follow city's vision, doesn't that force other neighborhoods to pick up the slack? Doesn't that rob those other neighborhoods of choice?
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Taking this argument to its logical conclusion just shows how ludicrous it is, unless you understand that it's all a code to say that he has legitimate issues w/ actually implementing the city's vision. It's the "I'm all for affordable housing, but..." in CM form.
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When you say you support "providing housing choices, but in the right places," you're saying that you prioritize the nebulous concerns of wealthy people over the tangible material needs of people who literally can't afford to live here. That's quite the choice.
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CM Lee: "We need to hear from each individual neighborhood. I don't think we should delay it, but we need to work w/ individual neighborhood and find out those options."
Mayor: "I would say that's exactly what staff has been doing!"
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Mayor notes the majority of Council supports moving this forward w/ some changes to language but including the DADU clause.
CM Zahn proposes an additional change to ensuring that gathering spaces created are "publicly accessible."
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Seems there's no formal vote for it, but just direction from the majority of Council to move forward w/ the DADU provisions for NE Bellevue.
Now time to do that all again, but for NW Bellevue!
(there's a reason this meeting was 4 hours and 22 minutes, not counting breaks)
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After brief presentation on NW Bellevue w/ similar findings, Mayor Robinson allowing CMs 1.5 minutes of comment per round to expedite the meeting.
CM Barksdale: No changes needed.
Mayor Robinson: Likes the callouts to all types of housing, w/o specifically listing the types.
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CM Zahn: supports strengthening language around supporting alternate transportation modes in NW Bellevue. Notes that, w/ a 17% teardown rate, the neighborhood is already changing, so giving housing options will be good.
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CM Robertson: Agrees w/ Mayor & wants to delete NW-25, the one that actually explicitly mentions DADUs. Also proposing similar amendments to what she proposed for NE Bellevue.
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