Eight Months and Two Remaining Questions: Our Parking Reform Letter to Council

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce  |  September 8, 2026

Ahead of the City Council's September 8 study session on the Parking Reform Land Use Code Amendment, our PLUSH Committee wrote to Mayor Malakoutian and councilmembers in support, and narrowed what is still unresolved to two items. Patrick Hanks, the Chamber's Public Policy Manager, signed the letter and testified before the Council the same evening.

Eight months of the same position

The letter opens on continuity rather than a new argument. We have supported this amendment "since our January 13, 2026 letter to the Council, and we followed up with written comments and testimony to the Planning Commission this July," with credit to the Council, the Planning Commission and city staff for their willingness to hear industry concerns and act on them.

The economic case, in two sentences

"Parking requirements add significant per-stall costs that undermine project feasibility, particularly amid high interest rates and construction costs. Eliminating excess parking requirements is one of the most direct tools the City has to support housing delivery and economic competitiveness." — PLUSH Committee letter to the Bellevue City Council, September 8, 2026

That is the whole of the economic argument as the letter states it, and it is the reason the Committee has stayed with this amendment through three rounds of drafting.

What is still open

Reviewing the current draft, the Committee found two provisions worth flagging, and reported that both are moving.

"Through conversations with staff, we believe these issues are being addressed." — PLUSH Committee letter to the Bellevue City Council, September 8, 2026

The first is the vertical clearance required for below-grade parking. The second is flexibility on visitor parking requirements. Neither is a disagreement with the amendment's direction; both are questions about whether the drafting adds cost the policy was written to remove.

Support with the conditions named

The letter does not offer open-ended support. It states the two conditions that would make the update work, and ties its endorsement to them.

"If the minimum heights required for below grade parking do not exceed what is required under the Washington State Building Code and there is flexibility on visitor parking requirements, we believe this update will improve housing feasibility over the current code." — PLUSH Committee letter to the Bellevue City Council, September 8, 2026

Council took the amendment up at its September 8 study session. If the below-grade clearance standard holds at the state building code minimum and the visitor parking requirement carries the flexibility staff has discussed, the position stated in January closes out in support.