Rethinking the BelRed Street Grid: Our Case for Flexibility

Bellevue Chamber  |  June 10, 2026

As the Planning Commission works through the BelRed Land Use Code Amendment with the next study session on July 8th, we've been making the case that the subarea's prescriptive street grid requirement is the single biggest obstacle to housing delivery in BelRed. The grid dates to the 2008 subarea code, costs roughly $1,000 per lineal foot to build, depends on coordination among more than 30 separate property owners, and was never identified in the city's own environmental review as necessary for traffic.

A grid drawn for land that doesn't match it

Matt Roewe, an architect and development planner with 40 years of experience, walked through an aerial analysis of the subarea. The required grid traces back to the original 1890 township plat, and on the ground it runs directly through occupied buildings, across a 30-foot grade change, and up against parcels that cannot move, including Fire Station 6 and T-Mobile's 5G testing facility. Any single street segment can require nine to twenty property owners to cooperate before it connects one arterial to another.

"It would work beautifully if we had a big piece of property and it was one single ownership and there are no streams in it and no steep slopes and no buildings on it, and there weren't 32 property owners to deal with. So that's the challenge we're dealing with here." — Matt Roewe, Roewe Works

The cost falls on whoever builds first

The first developer on a block must construct two-thirds to three-quarters of the full street cross-section at their own expense while also surrendering developable land for the right-of-way, with no guarantee a neighbor ever develops. The Covina project gave up roughly 50 feet of property to a required street segment. Imagine Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer near the NE 130th light rail station, would need to surrender 44.5 feet of land plus full construction costs before building a single unit.

"Whoever goes first ends up doing the lion's share of that right away. And they have to give up more land, not just build it, but give up more land. And who knows if the guy next door will ever do anything." — Matt Roewe, Roewe Works

The streets aren't needed for traffic

Land use attorney Jessica Clawson noted that the city's Environmental Impact Statement for the BelRed upzone did not include the grid streets as traffic mitigation, and transportation staff have confirmed the grid is not operationally necessary for current or projected volumes.

"If they really needed it from a transportation perspective, they would do it. They're actually obligated to do it." — Jessica Clawson, PLUSH Chair

What we're recommending

We've asked the Commission to consider four changes:

1. Eliminate the prescriptive grid and rely on the block perimeter limit plus organic interior lanes.
2. Allow shared-use paths for pedestrians and cyclists to fulfill connectivity where a vehicular street is impractical.
3. Raise the stated block perimeter limit from 1,200 to 1,300 feet for consistency with the existing 105,000 square foot exception.
4. Add street construction to the amenity incentive menu so developers who build infrastructure are rewarded for it.

Read the Coalition Letter (Eastside Housing Roundtable + Futurewise)

Read the June 1 Follow-Up Letter to the Planning Commission