News Flash

During the past 2 months, planning staff have been working remotely due to COVID-19. Staff have achieved good progress in creating a new Unified Development Code (UDC). However, our inability to hold meetings for public outreach and key staff departures has created the need for us to "rethink" Rethink Zoning.

At the next Planning Commission meeting, staff will brief the commissioners on our new strategy. Staff is proposing to pause work on most changes affecting existing single-family zoned neighborhoods. This means:

• No new zones in single-family neighborhoods
• No new housing types considered in single-family neighborhoods which are not currently allowed
• No changes to how heights are measured in single-family neighborhoods
• No proposal for a transit overlay for additional housing types and heights in single-family neighborhoods

The revised Rethink Zoning strategy will continue to propose consolidation of existing multifamily, commercial mixed-use and industrial zones into fewer classifications. the revised strategy will also:

• Create one Zoning Use Table with the proposed zones (see Chapter 5 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Create new Residential standards (see Chapter 8 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Create new Multifamily standards (see Chapter 9 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Consolidate Building Form and Design standards (see Chapter 12 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Consolidate Specific Use standards (see Chapter 13 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Consolidate and create new Height standards (see Chapter 22 in the Rethink Zoning Library)
• Consolidate and streamline Land Division requirements (see Chapters 51 - 55 in the Rethink Zoning Library)

In the next couple of weeks, staff will also present consolidation of Historic Resource standards (Chapter 26), Lot & Building Placement (Chapter 6), Local Project Review Procedures (Title 15), Airport/Navy/Port Overlay standards (Chapter 17), Street, Sidewalk and Pedestrian Access requirements (Chapter 33). 

The anticipated timeline for the revised Rethink Zoning can be found at this link. 

Our online map viewer has also been updated to reflect the reinstatement of the existing single-family zones. Click here for a short video tutorial about how to use the interactive map. Go to our Maps page to open the online map. Google Chrome or Internet Explorer are the browsers that work best for this map. 

How to Participate

As a precaution against spreading COVID-19, the Planning Commission meeting will be conducted remotely due to the Governor’s "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" Order. The public may attend the meeting by calling 425-616-3920 and enter the conference ID# (409 067 329 #) for this meeting. All external calls will be muted during the meeting. At the appropriate time, the planning commission chair will open the meeting to public comments. Those wishing to speak may unmute their phones by entering *6 when their phone number is called by the Chair. Speakers will need to state their name and address as introduction.

Planning Commission meetings can also be viewed on Everett Channel, channel 21 on Comcast and channel 29 on Frontier or watch live online at https://www/everettwa.gov/everettchannelstream. 

In order to ensure that the public is informed and engaged, the City will be:

• using the Rethink Zoning web page to update content as it becomes available;
• using News Flash to inform people regarding new information or engagement opportunities;
• gradually opening up new ways to provide input to the Planning Commission and City Council online at their meetings via telephone or computer; and 
• finding new ways to hold public engagement forums, such as Facebook Live or a Live Event via teleconferencing options. 

We encourage the public to send their comments via email. You can reach us at planning@everettwa.gov. Your emails will be reviewed by City staff and passed along to decision-makers. 

Stay healthy!