#Board of Directors
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Todd Buchanan, AIA, LEED AP
Managing Director, Principal Perkins&Will 425-208-1917Member -
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Yuliya Hemerlein, Leadership Executive MBA
Vice President, Relationship Manager at Key Private Bank KeyBank - Bellevue Main Key Center (425)410-5737Member -
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Garrick Hughes
Principal | Senior Project Manager GLY Construction, Inc (425)451-8877Member -
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Scott McClellan
Vice President for University Affairs Seattle University (703)310-8142Member -
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Beth Osborne
Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Community Partnerships Symetra (206)769-2745Member -
Megan Ouellette
Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines (206)304-2657Member -
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Tiffany Rogers
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer First Choice Health (206)484-0274Member -
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Brandon Stone
Elite Benefits Manager IMA (formerly Parker, Smith & Feek) 2067696202Member -
Francesca Vega
Vice President, External Affairs and Community Relations Seattle Children's 2066182980Member -
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Patrick Bannon
President Bellevue Downtown Association (425)453-3113Ex-Officio (Permanent) -
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PLUSH Committee
Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability & Housing:
championing livability and smart growth in Bellevue.
Mission & Scope
The Bellevue Chamber’s Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability and Housing (PLUSH) Committee brings together housing and development experts, including property owners, builders, architects, affordable-housing advocates, and other professionals, who share a commitment to keeping Bellevue livable, competitive, and buildable.
The committee focuses on the land-use, permitting, sustainability, and housing policies that determine how Bellevue grows. PLUSH members help shape the rules that govern where homes can be built, how projects are permitted, and whether new housing remains feasible for a range of incomes. To help the region grow, PLUSH members engage with City Hall and regional partners, submit detailed comment letters, and contribute technical analysis on permitting, land use, sustainability and housing affordability.
PLUSH sits within the Chamber’s public‑policy portfolio and meets monthly. The committee works with developers, architects, general contractors, affordable‑housing experts and others to shorten construction timelines, prioritize growth and improve local and state land‑use policies. Jessica Clawson, a land‑use attorney at McCullough Hill Leary, serves as committee chair.
50+
advocacy letters since 2024
12+
major code or ordinance updates engaged on
3
rezoning/subarea frameworks.
Millions
of dollars saved for employers and housing providers
What We’ve Done
“Our committee is solutions‑first. We pair data with on‑the‑ground expertise to make Bellevue more affordable and more livable for everyone.”Jessica Clawson, PLUSH Chair
What We’re Working On
The committee continues to work on several initiatives that will shape growth in Bellevue over the next few years:
- MFTE Catalyst Supercharger implementation: With the City Council's 2026 direction to create a four-year MFTE Catalyst Supercharger with no unit cap, PLUSH is focused on the follow-through: the Office of Housing's code amendments, vesting and fee-payment rules, the program's usage tracker, and the Q4 2026 report-back that will show whether the tool is producing homes. The committee has commissioned an independent pro forma analysis with ECO Northwest-affiliated consultants to keep the program grounded in real project economics.
- BelRed Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA): PLUSH is pressing for a BelRed code that is genuinely buildable, arguing the prescriptive street grid should be replaced with a flexible block-perimeter standard and infrastructure incentives. The committee presented its site-specific analysis to the Planning Commission on May 27 and submitted a written follow-up response to commissioner questions on June 1. The Commission returned to the draft in a September 9 study session, where PLUSH testified alongside the independent economic analysis the Chamber commissioned, and directed staff to schedule a public hearing. PLUSH is engaging the Commission ahead of that hearing.
- Downtown Livability 2.0: PLUSH is engaged as the City refines its 2017 downtown code for small-business and active-use flexibility, Old Bellevue's historic character, and a new amenity-incentive program. The Planning Commission confirmed the project scope at its May 28 kickoff, and PLUSH submitted its priorities to City Council. City planners previewed the draft code for PLUSH on September 22. Scope remains code refinement, with no change to height or floor area ratio, and the city is targeting Council action in early 2027.
- 2026 Omnibus Land Use Code Amendments: City Council adopted Bellevue's 2026 omnibus land use code package on July 28, 2026 as ordinances 6930 through 6934, including state-law compliance updates, a consolidated permitting-process chapter, and the East Main transit-oriented development fee-in-lieu that PLUSH supported. The committee is watching implementation, particularly how the consolidated review procedures in new Parts 20.30H and 20.30R work for applicants.
- Parking Reform Land Use Code Amendment: PLUSH is engaged as Bellevue rewrites its parking standards to comply with state law ahead of a January 2027 deadline. The committee submitted comments in January and testified when the Planning Commission's recommendation reached City Council on September 8. It argued that per-stall construction costs undermine project feasibility and raised two technical concerns: vertical clearance for below-grade parking, and flexibility for visitor parking. The draft now defers garage clearance to the building code in place of a fixed 8-foot-6-inch standard on every level.
- Permitting and process reforms: Through the Bellevue Development Committee and direct engagement with Development Services, PLUSH continues to push for faster, more predictable permitting, including inspection coordination, engineering review timelines, and permit extension policies that keep projects from stalling mid-process. That work is reinforced by Washington's HB 2418, the state's "Culture of Yes" permitting reform effective June 11, 2026, which adds application-date vesting for residential permits, procedural-only completeness reviews, and stronger permitting-timeline accountability.
- Sign Code rewrite: Bellevue is conducting its first comprehensive sign code overhaul in decades. PLUSH is engaged throughout the process to ensure new standards reflect the practical needs of businesses, avoid penalizing established uses, and support the commercial vitality of Bellevue's evolving districts.
- Powering BelRed's growth: Bellevue's Grid Capacity Study, produced with Redmond, finalized May 21, 2026 and presented to both city councils on June 23, found that Puget Sound Energy substations should have enough capacity to serve the city's expected needs over the next ten years with planned infrastructure improvements, and that building growth and electrification rather than electric vehicles drive 76% of load growth. PLUSH is focused on what the study leaves open: it does not account for where growth lands beyond a ten-year horizon, and its own recommendations call for substation and feeder level power flow analysis in priority areas, longer local planning horizons, and attention to permitting. Those are the questions that decide whether a given BelRed site can be served on a project's schedule, and the committee is pressing the city and PSE on them as staff return to City Council for direction.
Committee in Action
News & Updates
Resources & Letters
Plush committee directory
Ready to Join PLUSH?
Apply to JoinEligibility: Advocate‑level members and above may join this committee.