Shoreline Rezoned: Shoreline legalizes neighborhood commercial while expanding tree protections

By Oliver Moffat

Shoreline’s new development code legalizes neighborhood commercial businesses and increases tree protections 

At the Monday, January 13, meeting the Shoreline council up-zoned neighborhoods across the city allowing commercial businesses and higher density while strengthening tree protections and lowering hardscape maximums. 

A single family home next to a fourplex near the Shoreline North Link Light Rail Station
Photo by Oliver Moffat

Like other cities across the state, Shoreline updated its development code to comply with new laws intended to address the housing affordability crisis. Most of the draft code changes were mandated by the Middle Housing (HB1110), ADU (HB1337), Permit Streamlining (SB5290), Parking Reduction (SB6015), and Supportive & Emergency Housing (HB1220) bills.

But the Shoreline council went beyond the state mandates and also legalized commercial businesses in residential neighborhoods while strengthening tree preservation rules. 

Neighborhood Commercial Legalized: The city has lifted its ban on commercial businesses in residential neighborhoods, making it legal to operate a small business on almost any lot in the city. 

In Neighborhood Residential zones (NR1, NR2 and NR3) small cafes, brewpubs, grocery stores and hardware stores are all now allowed as are personal services and professional offices. Gas stations and drive-throughs are still not allowed and at least one accessible parking spot will be required at a business. 

After members of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce asked for larger space limits, the council raised the allowed size of a business to as large as 1200 square feet. 

And the council adopted an amendment proposed by councilmember Annette Ademasu to incentivize the reuse of existing buildings by allowing businesses to be as large as 2000 square feet if an existing house is converted to commercial. 

An amendment proposed by Mayor Chris Roberts requires retail businesses to be on a city street. Councilmember Keith Scully opposed and said, 

“I'm trying to imagine the business that might front an alley, and I’m thinking of a cool bicycle-up bar. Like, I would attend that!” 

Alas, in a 5-to-1 vote, the council banned alleyway retail businesses not on city right-of-ways but bicycle-up bars will be allowed as long as they front a street.

“I collect vinyl records and … there's a guy who has a … two-car garage in Lynwood at the end of a cul-de-sac. Sells records out of his two-car garage,” said councilmember John Ramsdell. 

“Is that the kind of commercial activity that would not be allowed in Shoreline?” Ramsdell asked. 

Under the new code, businesses may not be located on private drives and culs-de-sacs but garage record stores will be allowed as long as they are not on a dead-end street. 

Shoreline’s new zoning map uses a spectrum of colors, polka-dots and cross-hatches to represent the 21 different zones a map

Shoreline’s new zoning map: Shoreline’s new zoning map has 21 different zones - so many different zones that the city used a spectrum of colors, polka-dots and cross-hatches to represent them all on a map. 

In response to questions, the city provided a table to help tell the subtle differences between the MUR35, NR1 and TC-4 zones. 

The only difference between the NR1 and TC-4 zones is that TC-4 forbids bus bases and cottage housing. NR1 will also allow all the same businesses as the Neighborhood Business (NB) and Community Business (CB) zones. 

In the previous zoning map, most lots of the city were zoned R-4 (4 units per acre) or R-6 (6 units per acre). Anything that wasn’t a detached single family home and cottage houses were outlawed in those zones. 

That kind of exclusionary zoning is now illegal under Washington State law. In its place, most of the R-4 and R-6 lots across the city have been rezoned Neighborhood Residential 3 (NR-3) or Neighborhood Residential 2 (NR-2).

The NR3 zone has lower density: 7200 square foot lots compared to the 5000 square foot lot sizes allowed in NR2. Courtyard apartments, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and stacked flats are allowed in both NR3 and NR2. While fiveplexes, sixplexes, and multifamily homes are allowed in NR2, but remain illegal in NR3.

The number of homes allowed on an NR3 and NR2 property will vary depending on the size of the lot. The council increased the density allowed in NR3 from two to three units and most NR2 lots would allow four. The allowed density will also increase to as many as six units if some of those units are affordable and within a half mile of a major transit stop. 

Stronger Tree Protections: In 2023, Shoreline legalized cottage housing in single family home neighborhoods but required developers to retain 35 percent of significant trees while new single family homes were only required to retain 25 percent of significant trees under the city’s development code. 

Cottage housing developers were also required to pay $9,000 to remove large trees but new single family developments did not have to pay those fees. That is exactly the kind of shenanigans that Washington state’s Middle Housing (HB1110) bill from 2023 outlawed: cities are no longer allowed to favor single-family developers by penalizing middle housing developers.

The planning commission and city staff had recommended striking the cottage housing rules along with the 35% tree retention rule and the fees for removing big trees. City staff argued the tree code will be updated next year at which point the tree retention rules could be modified. 

However, in a series of amendments, Councilmember Annette Ademasu called for extending the more restrictive cottage housing tree retention rules to all residential developments citywide. 

“I really believe we can integrate the higher density that we’re building in Shoreline with green space. The cottage housing tree code is the last tree-related code that the council … spent a lot of time on. There was a lot of public comment.

"The older tree code, that has the 25%, was done a long time ago before a lot of the climate change crisis had gotten worse and worse every year. So, I have a lot of trust in the most recent cottage housing tree code that this council has already approved. So that's why I'm supporting that 35% of significant trees on a site be preserved,” Ademasu said. 

The council unanimously approved Ademasu’s amendments to impose the cottage housing 35% tree retention rule and the large tree removal fee onto all residential developments citywide.

A table compares the old maximum hardscape limits to the new maximum hardscape limits.

Lower Hardscape Maximums: When rain falls on hardscape like roofs, parking, and driveways in Shoreline, it flows into nearby streams, lakes and on into the Puget Sound - often taking pollution with it. 

Too much hardscape can also cause drainage problems and flooding because most Shoreline neighborhoods lack adequate stormwater infrastructure and is why the city wants rainwater to soak into the ground near where it falls as much as possible. 

The council adopted an amendment lowering the maximum percentage of a property that can be covered by hardscape in residential neighborhoods. In all three residential zones (NR1, NR2, and NR3) the council lowered the maximum allowed hardscape coverage to 50% for single family homes. When there are multiple units on a lot, hardscape coverage can increase to 60% in NR2 and 75% in NR1.

Councilmember Keith Scully, who proposed the amendment, said, 

“… we're trying to increase density everywhere. That is a good thing, but I don't want to sacrifice the other values that they have, including stormwater including tree cover, including just neighborhood feel… I don't think our infrastructures are in place yet to accommodate a massive hardscaping and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to see a massive hardscaping.”