Kenmore Planning Commission sends Housing Strategy Plan to City Council

What the records say

The Kenmore Planning Commission voted 6-0 on October 6, 2026, to move its Housing Strategy Plan forward to the City Council. Commissioner Vanderlinde moved to send the plan to Council, Commissioner Thompson seconded, and the motion passed with 6 yes votes and none opposed ¹. This is a recommendation step, not a final adoption — the Council still has to take up the plan itself ¹.

• The Planning Commission voted 6-0 to move the Housing Strategy Plan to City Council ¹.
• Commissioners questioned the accuracy of the land capacity analysis; staff clarified the figures are a snapshot based on the Comprehensive Plan, not real-time development capacity, and commissioners noted that deed restrictions and covenants may further limit actual potential ¹.
• Commissioners discussed directing housing density toward downtown, SR-522, and the Transit-Oriented Development area, and expressed concern about concentrating density in established residential neighborhoods ¹.
• The Commission directed staff to remove numbering from the plan's strategies and add a note that they are not listed in priority order ¹.
• Commissioners asked that maintenance support for mobile home community residents be incorporated into the strategy's outcomes, and requested comparative information on how other cities handle similar housing strategies ¹.

Why it matters

The Housing Strategy Plan addresses where new housing density should go in Kenmore. Commissioners specifically discussed steering density toward places that can support walking and access to services — downtown, the SR-522 corridor, and the Transit-Oriented Development area — while voicing concern about adding density in established residential neighborhoods ¹. The plan also covers preservation of mobile home communities, and commissioners asked that ongoing maintenance support for those residents be built into the strategy, not just preservation ¹. Many of the housing targets themselves are set by the County, with the city's land capacity analysis serving mainly as a reference point ¹.

What changed / what's next

• The Planning Commission passed a motion, 6-0, to move the Housing Strategy Plan forward to the City Council ¹.
• Staff were directed to remove priority numbering from the strategies and add a clarifying note, and to incorporate maintenance support into the mobile home community strategy outcomes ¹.
• The City Council's next action on the Housing Strategy Plan; the packet does not specify a Council date for this item ¹.
• Staff agreed to provide follow-up comparative information on other cities' housing strategies for the Commission's consideration ¹.