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Redmond Middle Housing Update – October 2024

Good morning – Redmond has been on our minds and we recently checked back in with them to see where middle housing changes are going and when it might be here. The answer is soon – Redmond is currently targeting the new middle housing codes being adopted and in effect by January 1, 2025! Current zoning code draft regulations are showing the new middle housing codes being grouped under Neighborhood Residential zoning (NR), with many other changes to Redmond’s zoning designations and standards as a result of ensuring NR zoning will comply with HB1110. Neighborhood Residential appears to regulate not by site density but by area per dwelling unit. See dimensional standards chart below – single family homes would be capped at 4,500sf in size if only one unit is present, and corresponding unit size drops sharply as more units are added.

Revised development standards such as setbacks are reasonable if not reduced, providing more flexibility for development of higher density housing options. Side setbacks can be reduced to 0 feet for zero lot line development like attached rowhouses.

One key change overall for Redmond is that middle housing is openly defined differently in the proposed zoning code from multifamily structures. Multifamily is nine or more attached dwelling units, while middle housing includes a wide variety of building typologies UP to eight attached dwelling units.

The Planning Commission is currently taking up the final Redmond 2050 comp plan in November for approval. Once the comp plan is in place, new zoning code changes may be formally approved. Sounds like additional and ongoing code updates, including permit process, engineering standards, and other parts of Remond’s process which potentially inhibit middle housing development by burdening applications with delays or financial barriers, will be addressed in ongoing City meetings over the first half of 2025. Early applications to Redmond therefore may not be as streamlined as later ones. We will keep an eye out for those items early next year to see how the Planning Commission takes up these additional topics and report back.