A Code That Pencils: What We Asked For on Downtown Livability 2.0

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce  |  May 27, 2026

Bellevue is reopening its downtown rulebook for the first time since Downtown Livability 1.0 was adopted in 2017, and we went on the record at the start. On May 27, Nava Carlyle testified before the Planning Commission on behalf of the Chamber and our PLUSH Committee, supporting the City's decision to revisit the standards and naming the things we believe have to drive the process.

Why now?

We welcomed Downtown Livability 1.0 in 2017, and with nearly a decade of growth since then, the Grand Connection, intensifying housing pressure, the evolution of Old Bellevue, and updated city policy priorities through the Bellevue 2044 Comprehensive Plan and the 2026-2032 Affordable Housing Strategy, means the time is right to revisit those standards. Our support for reopening the code is not in question, but rather for how it gets done.

Feasibility first

"Feasibility must be the foundation." — Nava Carlyle, testimony to the Bellevue Planning Commission, May 27, 2026

The HOMA land use code amendment process that concluded in March is the working example of this. Affordable program design, mandatory obligations, and amenity requirements have to be grounded in real market conditions rather than, in the words of the testimony, "aspirational targets that look good on paper but make projects unrealistic."

The remedy we asked for is procedural: Build regular feasibility checkpoints into the process as the code develops, so the numbers get tested while there is still time to adjust them.

Predictability matters

Our members are the property owners and developers who actually deliver projects, and they need consistency. Parking requirements, stepback standards, ground-floor use requirements, and the amenity incentive system all have to reflect what the market can realistically take.

When programs are unpredictable or shift mid-process, investment decisions stall.

Old Bellevue deserves deliberate protection

Development pressure on that corridor is formidable, and the historic Main Street is an asset worth preserving on purpose rather than something to lose through an oversight in a code update.