PLUSH Committee: Downtown Livability 2.0 Brings a Light Touch to the Downtown Code

Bellevue Chamber of Commerce  |  September 22, 2026

Two senior planners from the City of Bellevue's code and policy team brought our PLUSH Committee a detailed, early look at Downtown Livability 2.0 — the first update to the downtown land use code since the original Downtown Livability package was finalized in 2017 — for our recent fall meeting. Let's get into it.

Building on the 2017 code

The update builds on existing policy, with no Comprehensive Plan amendment, no building height increases, and no shift away from open space or affordable housing. Many of the changes trace back to a 40-point comment spreadsheet members submitted during last year's housing code work, as well as feedback from summer community outreach.

"What we're trying to do here is make the code both easier to understand, easier to administer, and fill some gaps in implementation where we've seen things haven't quite worked out the way we wanted to since 2017." — City of Bellevue Staff

The amendments were organized around Vibrancy, Small Business, Building Design, Main Street and Old Bellevue, and Housing, and proposals included:

• Setbacks allowed without a departure when the space is used for outdoor dining or plazas,
• Extra amenity incentive points for indoor performing arts space,
• An affordable commercial space incentive,
• And a 5,000-square-foot cap on individual ground-floor commercial spaces in Old Bellevue, where storefronts would also be broken into widths of no more than 15 feet and preserving historic facades would earn incentive points.

Other notable proposals included that the active use requirement on the busiest right-of-way types would drop from 100 percent to 75 percent, and that rooftop areas now limited to mechanical equipment could hold residential amenity space. Minimum canopy height for weather protection would also rise from 8 to 10 feet, with added flexibility on sloped sites.

what our members asked for

Following the presentation, one of our downtown developer members asked the City to let seating in planter strips count toward plaza seating requirements, and to work out how rooftop amenities interact with the building, fire, and plumbing codes in mid-rise buildings. A different member urged staff to compile every departure granted since 2017, and write the recurring ones into the code.

Members also raised concerns around transportation impact fees charged to small businesses leasing existing downtown space, which the amendment does not address.

Committee members called the draft a "really, really, really solid first start," while noting that not every member comment made it in.

The public draft is expected around the first week of October, ahead of a Planning Commission study session on October 28 and council action targeted for the second quarter of 2027.

(Separately, the parking code amendment goes to the City Council for final action on October 20.)