According to the City of Bellevue, the City Council recently voted unanimously to initiate work on two more items to advance the city’s Affordable Housing Strategy. The items were part of a planning effort to complement ongoing housing work and encourage more housing and affordable housing production.
In July, the City Council directed taff to go forward with three actions. Those actions include removing barriers to micro-apartments, allowing higher density for residential developments, and reducing permit fees for affordable housing projects.
The Council most recently initiated the remaining two actions to allow higher density for residential developments and reduce permit fees for affordable housing projects.
The work to allow higher density for residential development will be completed in two phases. The first phase will allow for higher-density housing in Downtown in exchange for affordable housing and there will be an Interim Official Control to test temporary code amendments. Phase two will include permanent land use code amendments to address Downtown and mixed-use land use districts throughout the city.
The third action to reduce permit fees for affordable housing projects would expand the city’s fee waiver program beyond impact fees to include permit review and inspection fees to reduce the cost of development for affordable housing projects, According to the discussion that was held by the City Council.
Councilmembers suggested that the staff develops a fee waiver program for qualifying affordable housing projects and return with a proposal that includes analysis of fiscal impacts, dining source, and consideration of an upper limit to the program.
An affordable housing incentive was put into place in 2021, called the Multifamily Property Tax Exemption. This applies to new apartment developments in targeted areas of Bellevue. It provides a 12-year exemption from property taxes paid on the housing portion of qualifying projects in exchange for setting aside 20 percent of the units for income-eligible households.
