PLUSH Recap: Sign Code, Housing Wins, & MFTE

Bellevue's first full sign code rewrite in decades took center stage at the March meeting of the Planning, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing (PLUSH) Committee, alongside a hard-won victory on the city's Affordable Housing Strategy and a continued push on Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) reform heading into May.

The meeting also marked a formal welcome for Diana Leo, who joined the Chamber as Head of Government Affairs and is now four weeks into the role. Diana brings a varied policy background spanning K-12 civic education legislation at the state level, a Washington state senate campaign, and several years in Washington, D.C., working across the Department of Defense, the executive branch, and the legislative branch. She will co-staff the PLUSH committee alongside Nikki, and the committee is glad to have her.

Bellevue's Sign Code Gets a Long-Overdue Overhaul

Charlie Engel, Senior Planner with the City of Bellevue's Code and Policy team, joined by Director Nick Whipple, presented a full rewrite of the city's sign code. The project began with a City Council directive in summer 2024, guided by three priorities: Simplicity, consistency, and a framework built for emerging sign technology.

The current sign code lives in Chapter 20-2B-10, whereas the updated version, Chapter 22-10, consolidates all sign regulations from both the land use code and the city code into a single location. That reorganization directly addresses one of the most persistent frustrations from staff and sign users: Having to cross-reference two separate documents to understand what is and is not allowed.

The rewrite works within the legal framework set by Reed v. Town of Gilbert, the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting cities from regulating signs based on their content. Several updates apply directly to commercial properties, and the previous code capped the number of signs on a multi-occupancy building based on its number of primary entrances. That restriction has since been lifted.

Rooftop signage on high-rises remains in place, while standards for electronic message center (EMC) technology have been updated, with a focus on the Grand Connection and downtown Bellevue.

On the temporary sign front, the draft introduces a new registration program. Yard signs would require a simple online application that generates a registration number and expiration date. Based on feedback, the city is moving toward narrowing the registration requirement to yard signs only, likely exempting a-frames and real estate signs. Signs placed in roundabouts and medians are prohibited outright for safety reasons.

Phase 1 of community outreach drew more than 130 survey responses, and a City Council study session is scheduled for April 14, with delayed effective date targets for early 2026.

A Win on Bellevue's Affordable Housing Strategy

PLUSH Chair Jessica Clawson and Chamber President Joe Fain also conducted multiple rounds of direct outreach to every councilmember, and submitted formal letters, on the City's Affordable Housing Strategy, which ended up producing real results. Rent control language, authorization for a local REET increase, and a rental registration program have all been removed from the draft, so the Committee is now supportive of the plan.

MFTE Supercharger: The Fight Continues Into May

Lastly, two specific code problems need to be fixed before the May deadline:

• (1) The current code prohibits using fee-in-lieu and MFTE on the same project; and
• (2) A 15% AMI penalty requires rent on permanently affordable units to drop from 80% to 65% AMI when MFTE is used, which member Kevin Wallace called "a poison pill."

PLUSH is working to remove both barriers and secure a supercharger provision in the HOMA ordinance, with the Downtown Livability 2.0 hearing being held on May 5.