2025 Streets & Parking Code Updates

When you travel around Lake Stevens, you probably have a favorite route that feels safe or is the fastest way to get where you need to go.

This year, the city is taking a fresh look at its street design standards. The rules for streets and sidewalks in Lake Stevens were established in 1995. Since then, only minor changes have been made. The current rules do not follow current best practices for design or new laws.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the city completed its periodic update to the Comprehensive Plan, which included new goals and policies for the transportation element. Now that the City Council has adopted the Comprehensive Plan Update under Ordinances 1188 and 1189, the city staff is updating the rules for:

• Streets and Sidewalks
• Parking
• Concurrency
• Traffic Impact Mitigation Fees
• Subarea Codes

These LSMC Chapters and the City’s Engineering Design and Development Standards (EDDS) will be updated. Planning & Community Development, in coordination with Public Works, is updating the EDDS. See the EDDS update web page for additional information. The goal is to modernize and update these codes for consistency. The city’s parking code was adopted in 1995 and has had no significant updates. The city must ensure the parking calculations align with best practices, recognize electric vehicle needs and provide sufficient flexibility to address unique circumstances. To learn about the city’s proposed parking updates, please visit the 2025 Parking Code Update. (hyperlink will be posted when available).

Public Participation:

The city will seek public participation through various methods such as surveys, meetings, and stakeholder groups. If you are interested in participating or providing input on these code amendments, please email Christi Schmidt, Planning Manager, at cschmidt@lakestevenswa.gov.

The purpose of these code amendments is to:

• The city intends to submit an empirical parking study to the Department of Commerce per SB 5184
• Make the rules and processes clear for each chapter
• Make sure the street rules match the city's design standards and industry standards
•  Ensure parking standards align with industry standards and support the subarea regulations
• Focus on building in a way that is good for the environment
• Identify standards, exceptions, and flexibility needs that balance aesthetics and property rights.

Presentations to Date:

If you are curious about why the city is proposing these changes, many questions may be answered by “attending” previous Planning Commission meetings via our YouTube channel.

Planning Commission Meeting February 19, 2025

Planning Commission Meeting March 5, 2025

Planning Commission Meeting of June 23, 2025 (agenda packet)

Timeline:

• Approximately 8 months, with final adoption by December 2025 (schedule below).

PC = Planning Commission; CC = City Council