The Vancouver City Council passed an emergency interim ordinance Monday night that clears the way for more accessory dwelling units, duplexes, cottage clusters and small-lot housing.
City staff said the decision will boost the supply of affordable housing. The ordinance went into effect immediately after its passage. The city will hold a public hearing on the ordinance within 60 days.
The ordinance comes ahead of the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan update, which is part of a countywide process to meet state growth-management requirements.
The city’s update largely focuses on increasing housing. House Bill 1220, passed in 2021, requires the city to create capacity for 30,000 additional housing units, with about half of them at below-market affordability levels, according to a staff report.
“They are steps in the direction that we know we need to go,” said Bryan Snodgrass, long range principal planner for the city.
Middle housing
The passage of the ordinance means Vancouver now allows up to two ADUs or duplexes on lots.
Previously, the city only allowed one ADU of up to 800 square feet or 50 percent of the footprint of the main house, whichever is smaller, per lot. Duplexes were only allowed in single-family zones as part of infill developments, which are projects that build on unused or underutilized land in an urban area. However, new state laws require cities to allow two ADUs and four- to six-unit developments on single-family lots.
In addition to complying with those new laws, Vancouver’s ordinance also makes it easier to build cottage clusters, which are smaller detached homes clustered on a single lot. The new rules reduce the minimum size of cluster sites from 20,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet and clarify in city code that this form of housing is allowed.
Infill standards
City councilors raised concerns about changes to infill standards and what input neighbors will have. Previously, the city allowed only parcels of 2½ acres or less to be divided into smaller lots. However, a state law passed in 2023 — House Bill 1110 — likely renders this moot, Snodgrass said.
HB 1110 requires Vancouver to allow middle housing developments of four to six units on lots in single-family zones, so the city lowered some of its minimum infill lot sizes in half from 4,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet, so they now range from 2,000 to 8,000 square feet depending on the zoning district.
The ordinance also gets rid of the city’s two-tier system for infill developments.
Lots used to be broken into two tiers, with Tier I infill developments allowing lots 20 percent smaller than usual in single-family zoning districts and Tier II allowing 30 percent to 35 percent smaller lots.
Tier II infill developments have some additional requirements, including a meeting with neighborhood associations in addition to pre-application conferences, which neighbors may also attend.
However, the ordinance eliminates the requirement for a neighborhood meeting, streamlining the development process, Snodgrass said.
Neighborhood input
Some city council members expressed concern that eliminating the requirement for a neighborhood meeting would leave neighborhood associations without enough opportunity to voice concerns.
“What neighborhood associations have found is that the conversation sometimes happens, many times doesn’t happen,” Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said. “And so the elimination of this meeting means that there is nothing in our (municipal code) that allows the neighborhood association to identify the issues and concerns in the process.”
Snodgrass said neighborhood associations will have a speaking opportunity during the pre-application process. McEnerny-Ogle asked if the city can require that conversation go both ways.
“Mayor, I’m not sure we can mandate that in my experience,” said Mark Person, senior planner. “I think we can make a place where that can happen. And in my experience, it has.”
Snodgrass said city residents will see these changes to Vancouver’s housing code unfold over time, especially because the city only has a handful of infill developments a year.
“Every little bit helps, particularly smaller, lower-cost housing that people can afford,” Snodgrass said. “This won’t lead to a land rush. I think this will lead to incremental, additional housing options.”
