Shoreline's new cottage housing ordinance

One example of cottage housing

The Shoreline City Council passed a cottage housing ordinance which became effective earlier this month.

Here are some highlights:

• Cottages are permitted in R-4, R-6, R-8 and R-12 zones
• Cottages are eligible for density bonuses based on the level of green building and their proximity to transit
• Cottages have a maximum height of 24 feet (two stories)
• Cottages have a maximum size of 1,500 square feet
• Cottages require one parking space per unit
• Cottages must provide both private open space and common open space

You can read the entire ordinance which includes the cottage code online: Ordinance No. 984

The Seattle Times wrote an article about this action. Read it here.

Pam Cross was part of the Focus Group and shares her thoughts on the ordinance and the process:

This is how it’s supposed to work. The Shoreline City Council listened to and implemented the public input on Cottage Housing.

As I reported in SAN on September 30, 2022, part of public outreach included a September 2nd virtual meeting of the Cottage Housing Focus Group. I was a member of the Focus Group and was impressed by the comments of all members. Clearly everyone had given it a lot of thought and was familiar with the existing Cottage Housing in Shoreline.

There’s no guarantee that multiple developments of Cottage Housing will be built. There is never a guarantee that a proposed new idea will succeed. 

But let's start with something that reflects the wants and needs of the Shoreline residents as well as their elected officials.