BelRed Land Use Code Heads to a July 8th Hearing as the Street-Grid Question Comes to a Head

Bellevue Chamber  |  May 27, 2026

The Bellevue Planning Commission spent its May 27 study session working through the BelRed Land Use Code Amendment and asked staff to schedule a public hearing for July 8, with several commissioners pressing for one additional study session before that date. Most of the night centered on the question that's been raised for months: whether BelRed's prescriptive local street grid is helping or holding back the development the area is zoned for. The commission also got a first look at the scope of Downtown Livability 2.0.

The Street Grid at the Center

Staff brought a revised approach to the grid that removes the most impactful required segments, aligns others to property lines, and, where a defined street still is not feasible, introduces a new option to substitute a private street through the development review process. We submitted a June 2025 consultant analysis of the grid for the record, and staff engaged with it directly, agreeing with its central conclusion while defending the public grid on local-access grounds.

Staff's remaining concern is long-term risk: private streets can serve local access, utilities, emergency response, and maintenance, but those obligations may not hold up as properties change hands, and the city could be left to enforce them at its own expense. Commissioners wrestled with the same trade-off. The central tension, as commissioner Carolynn Ferris put it, was finding a pathway that promotes development while keeping streets functioning as a public utility. Ultimately, the discussion landed on building real accountability into any private-street option rather than rejecting flexibility outright.

Base FAR, Affordable Housing, and the Amenity System

Beyond the grid, staff walked the commission through the rest of the package heading to the hearing. Base floor area ratio for mid-rise districts would rise to 2.5, with up to one FAR of active-use space, affordable commercial, and qualifying affordable housing exempt from the base limit. The 116th Avenue corridor keeps its emphasis on medical and life-science uses. Staff will return with fee-in-lieu language, since BelRed currently sets no limit on how much of a project's bonus can be satisfied through fee-in-lieu payments. Commissioners also relayed public comment asking the city to broaden the amenity incentive system beyond open space and streets to include uses like child care and sports facilities, a direction we support as a way to make the incentives actually pencil for the development the city wants.

Downtown Livability 2.0, In Brief

Staff also previewed Downtown Livability 2.0 as information only, with community outreach over the summer and a first draft expected in the fall. Since the 2017 Downtown Livability update, downtown has added roughly 3,500 residents, 2,200 homes, six million square feet of office, and two of the new 600-foot towers, but small businesses have not kept pace. Staff was candid that the current ground-floor active-use requirements are working against the small businesses the city wants downtown.

“Many of the spaces created through that [original DTL] program are too large for most small businesses, and we are having difficulty leasing them. This is something we will look to reverse through these code amendments.” — Mathieu Maynard, City of Bellevue Senior Planner

This is a tweak-and-improve effort rather than a full rewrite. Staff confirmed there are no plans to change downtown building heights or the wedding-cake form. The focus will be on post-5pm and weekend vibrancy, right-sizing active-use requirements, streamlining the land use tables, and adding an incentive for affordable commercial space.

What Comes Next

The BelRed public hearing is targeted for July 8, with several commissioners preferring one more study session first so the hearing reflects a near-final draft, particularly on the street grid and the fee-in-lieu approach. We will continue to make the case that the local street grid should not stand in the way of feasible development, that any private-street option come with real assurances for public access, and that the amenity incentive system be broad enough and calibrated correctly to deliver the housing and commercial space BelRed is planned to hold.