Bothell is laying the groundwork to turn out to be, as Mayor Mason Thompson put it, “extra Bothell.”
Which means reconnecting the town of about 52,000 residents on the fringe of King and Snohomish counties with itself, with much less pavement and mandated parking, and extra nook shops, bakeries, bike retailers, pubs, cafes, and mother and pop retailers inside strolling distance of further houses, Thompson mentioned.
The Bothell Metropolis Council handed two ordinances 5-1 final week to replace its municipal code, eliminating minimal necessities for off-street parking areas in any new improvement and legalizing neighborhood-scale business makes use of like nook shops in residential areas.
Newly allowed companies like nook shops, artwork galleries, bike retailers and cafes can open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday via Friday and open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends.
These ordinances make Bothell considered one of only a few cities in Washington, together with Shoreline and Spokane, to undertake such land-use reform. Bothell leaders say they hope the reform could make the town extra walkable and inexpensive, because the area continues to face the affordability disaster. Properties in Bothell offered for a median of $1.2 million in Might, based on Redfin, a ten.8% enhance for the reason that identical time final yr.
There may be an urge for food from native entrepreneurs to begin companies within the metropolis, however some residents have taken their startups to neighboring communities as a result of Bothell’s land use codes have been “very restrictive,” Thompson mentioned.
Town, for example, has fewer than 10 nook shops, Thompson mentioned. He estimated that two-thirds of present retail area within the metropolis is used for parking, whereas solely a 3rd is accessible for “what makes Bothell, Bothell” — someplace you’d really wish to go.
Not all the council members have been on board.
Eliminating the parking requirement, for example, might trigger issues in the long term, because the reform might end in a parking deficit, Councilmember Benjamin Mahnkey mentioned on the council assembly.
However Thompson mentioned such requirement “suppresses new housing.” Right now, 1 in 4 Washington home-owner households have one or no automobile, based on a examine from Sightline Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit assume tank targeted on sustainability. However almost all jurisdictions within the state require two or extra off-street parking areas for a indifferent residence.
Town has “fairly good public transportation” and is fairly walkable as it’s, Thompson mentioned. With the requirement eradicated, new developments can nonetheless select the suitable quantity of parking prospects or residents will want, and public transportation can all the time adapt to the place individuals stay.
“It causes air pollution to the air, to the bottom, to the water, and the one factor we get out of it’s extra pavement that makes extra site visitors,” Thompson mentioned of the requirement. “And it seems that it stifles a number of new improvement as a result of parking’s actually costly.”
Thompson hopes these modifications can spur extra housing improvement alongside business development and entice extra builders, saying the town is permitting individuals to construct what they need “with just a little bit extra freedom.”
Spokane grew to become the biggest metropolis in Washington to get rid of parking mandates in 2024. Senate Invoice 5184, signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson in Might, will prohibit native jurisdictions from requiring greater than half a stall of parking per multifamily unit or two stalls for each 1,000 toes of business area.
Bellingham and Shoreline did away with their minimal parking necessities this yr, and Shoreline moved in January to legalize neighborhood-scale business makes use of reminiscent of cafes in residential areas.
“I’m grateful for the cities which have executed it thus far, and I hope there are much more to observe,” Thompson mentioned.
Efforts for such strikes have stalled in Seattle, with Mayor Bruce Harrell solely proposing to drop parking necessities in areas half a mile from main transit stops and to permit nook shops solely on literal corners, excluding the retailers midblock.
Statewide laws to legalize nook shops, cafes and different neighborhood-scale business use additionally has stalled in Olympia.
And it may very well be a few a long time earlier than Bothell’s new legal guidelines will begin to change the town’s composition, Thompson mentioned. Smaller parking tons will pop up as every new improvement trickles in.
However he mentioned, “there’s a reticence to vary the best way we do issues … the whole lot that we wish to repair about how issues are proper now has been brought on by the best way we do issues.”
He hopes that willingness to vary the best way Bothell develops within the coming years will make the town a spot the place his youngsters, 8 and 10, can start their grownup lives in the neighborhood they have been raised in.
