The interim ordinance was adopted just one day before Bainbridge Island would have been required to permit development of any size that met certain affordability requirements. Now the Council will turn its attention to permanent regulations that will likely scale back these capacity increases.
In the first six months of 2026, Bellevue saw at least 1,585 new multifamily units enter the pipeline, compared to just 1,137 housing units in Seattle. The numbers illustrate Bellevue's success in spurring development... and Seattle's continued slump.
An ordinance from Rod Dembowski would have thrown a wrench into King County Metro's next service change, set for August 29, by restoring Route 372 without any funding to do so. Ultimately, the move seemed to be symbolic to show support for impacted riders.
The five-part order directs changes across multiple City departments intended to improve safety outcomes. Most notably, SDOT will speed up work on a slate of Vision Zero projects, and start to include intersection daylighting in routine work moving forward.
As a city of 70,000 residents, Sammamish has a dearth of commercial space, and its long-planned Town Center remains half-finished. This fall, the council will decide whether to fully pivot away from that plan and distribute housing capacity to other areas.
Thru traffic would be diverted off Pike Place only on weekend days from October to March, under SDOT's latest proposal for the pedestrian pilot's next phase. The recommendation came from vendor surveys conducted by UW's Urban Freight Lab, and appears to be based more on anecdote than actual data.
Just months after touting the idea of building 40 affordable units in downtown North Bend, City officials quietly pulled the plug. While a lack of financing is being blamed for the project's collapse, opposition to density and parking worries clearly played a major role as well.
After the state's Commerce Department signaled it won't give the city any more leeway, the Bainbridge Council voted 6-1 to advance interim development regulations that will modestly upzone Winslow with the aim of getting into compliance with the Growth Management Act.
On top of concerns about lack of city resources, officials in Lynnwood have cited a relatively low number of road fatalities compared to other cities and an inability to make a difference in impaired and distracted driving as reasons to shy away from a Vision Zero action plan.
Another environmental analysis of the longstanding Fort Lawton housing plan tees up another public hearing at the end of this month. Some worry that the State Environmental Policy Act is leading to an endless loop of study on projects like this one.