There is a lot that goes into understanding Washington House Bill 1110
In 2023, the Washington State Legislature passed E2SHB 1110, which substantially changes the way many cities in Washington are to plan for housing. The bill requires cities of certain sizes and locations to allow multiple dwelling units per lot in a middle housing type of form.
What is middle housing? "Middle housing" is defined in the bill as “buildings that are compatible in scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain two or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing.” What are cities required to do? Table 1 summarizes the middle housing requirements that apply to cities in each of the population tiers established by the bill. 1 Commerce will provide more detail in the coming year on the requirements of the bill and implementation tools.
Which cities are required to allow middle housing? Over the 2024-2027 periodic update cycle, cities that must allow middle housing, in accordance with the bill, include cities over 25,000 in population, as well as any city of any population size that is in a county of over 275,000 population, and which is contiguous with an urban growth area that includes the largest city in the county.
When does a local government need to allow middle housing? Section 3(11)(a) of E2SHB 1110 requires cities to implement the bill’s requirements no later than six months after their next periodic update required under RCW 36.70A.130.
Cities in the central Puget Sound region (within King, Kitsap, Snohomish and Pierce counties) have the earliest upcoming periodic review deadline in the state, that being December 31, 2024, which means that they must implement E2SHB 1110 by June 30, 2025.
Additional cities may be added to this list over time or moved to the next tier, should they meet the population threshold using OFM population estimates in future years. Commerce recommends cities look ahead to when their population might meet the thresholds in the bill and be prepared to meet the requirement if applicable, within 12 months after their next implementation progress report.
Right now we are watching King, Kitsap, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Cities of special interest include; Seattle, Shoreline, Bothell, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Lake Stevens, Everett, Marysville, Bellevue, Kirkland, Sammamish, Issaquah, Redmond, Mercer Island, Renton, Des Moines, Seatac, University Place, Federal Way, Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup and Bremerton.
What tier your city falls in?
Per your cities Zoning what types of housing are allowed?
