Open letter to Bellevue City Council from the WCA.

Wilburton Community Association Board Opposition to Bellevue’s Draft Middle Housing Code Amendments

Dear City Council Members:
The Wilburton Community Association board members, along with 27 residents who signed our online petition at https://www.wilburton.org/ oppose Bellevue’s current draft Middle Housing Code Amendments. We urge the council to direct staff to restrict the code amendments to only meet state law.

The Draft Code Amendments go far beyond what is required by HB1110 and HB1337. They increase the height of flat roof buildings by 8 feet, essentially adding another story to the structure. They allow additional units per lot that aren’t called for. They decrease setbacks and increase lot coverage. And they remove on-site parking requirements that will clog our residential streets—residential streets that have no sidewalks. All of these changes will do irrevocable damage to the neighborhood we love.

A huge number of additional housing units are already coming to Bellevue. Projects such as Pinnacle, Wilburton TOD, and Crossroads will add tens of thousands of additional housing units. The Wilburton TOD FEIS provides capacity for 14’800 units alone. All of these will soon be coming to Bellevue. The Bellevue housing target specified by King County, 35’000 by 2044, is more than satisfied by Bellevue’s current housing capacity.

Why must Bellevue radically change its single-family neighborhoods? Neighborhoods that have traditionally been Bellevue’s heart and soul.

Please do not do this to our neighborhoods. The Wilburton Community Association Board urges you to modify Bellevue’s residential code only as required to meet state law.

Wilburton Community Association Board of Directors
David Cagle, President
LeeAnn Guidotti, Vice-President
Jim Duong, Treasurer
Phyllis White
Dan Renn
Qiangsheng Wu
Pearl Nardella