#Board of Directors
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Brandon Baucom
MBA, ERIS Vice President, Commercial Insurance Hub International NW, LLCMember -
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Todd Buchanan
AIA, LEED AP Managing Director, Principal Perkins&Will 425-208-1917Member -
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Yuliya Hemerlein
Leadership Executive MBA Vice President, Relationship Manager at Key Private Bank KeyBank - Bellevue Main Key Center (425)410-5737Member -
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Garrick Hughes
Principal | Senior Project Manager GLY Construction, Inc (425)451-8877Member -
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Nancy Khoury-Zuanich
Associate Commercial RM Banner Bank - Bellevue Downtown 4255761514Member -
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Christine Liu
Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking Middle Market Director Columbia Bank (425)531-3914Member -
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Scott McClellan
Vice President for University Affairs Seattle University (703)310-8142Member -
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Beth Osborne
Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Community Partnerships Symetra (206)769-2745Member -
Beth Osborne
Director, Public Affairs & Strategic Community Partnerships Symetra (206)769-2745Member
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Megan Ouellette
Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines (206)304-2657Member -
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Tiffany Rogers
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer First Choice Health (206)484-0274Member -
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Brandon Stone
Elite Benefits Manager IMA (formerly Parker, Smith & Feek) 2067696202Member -
Francesca Vega
Vice President, External Affairs and Community Relations Seattle Children's 2066182980Member -
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Patrick Bannon
President Bellevue Downtown Association (425)453-3113Ex-Officio (Permanent) -
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PLUSH Committee
Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability & Housing:
championing livability and smart growth in Bellevue.
Mission & Scope
The Bellevue Chamber’s Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability and Housing (PLUSH) Committee brings together housing and development experts, including property owners, builders, architects, affordable-housing advocates, and other professionals, who share a commitment to keeping Bellevue livable, competitive, and buildable.
The committee focuses on the land-use, permitting, sustainability, and housing policies that determine how Bellevue grows. PLUSH members help shape the rules that govern where homes can be built, how projects are permitted, and whether new housing remains feasible for a range of incomes. To help the region grow, PLUSH members engage with City Hall and regional partners, submit detailed comment letters, and contribute technical analysis on permitting, land use, sustainability and housing affordability.
PLUSH sits within the Chamber’s publicāpolicy portfolio and meets monthly. The committee works with developers, architects, general contractors, affordableāhousing experts and others to shorten construction timelines, prioritize growth and improve local and state landāuse policies. Jessica Clawson, a landāuse attorney at McCullough Hill Leary, serves as committee chair.
45+
advocacy letters since 2024
10+
major code or ordinance updates engaged on
3
rezoning/subarea frameworks.
Millions
of dollars saved for employers and housing providers
What We’ve Done
2026
Affordable Housing Strategy: Council accepts PLUSH's recommendations
PLUSH submitted a formal letter supporting the City's draft Affordable Housing Strategy while urging feasibility-focused refinements, prioritizing flexible development incentives over mandates. The Bellevue City Council accepted the committee's key recommendations. The outcome marked a meaningful win for PLUSH's central position: that housing affordability and project feasibility must be advanced together, not treated as competing goals.
2026
Old Bellevue IOC letter
PLUSH submitted a letter to the Bellevue City Council on land use and development standards for the Old Bellevue IOC area, continuing the committee's practice of direct engagement on subarea and district-level planning decisions across the city. The letter reflects PLUSH's approach of providing targeted technical input at key decision points, before city processes are finalized rather than after.
2026
Housing Strategy letters and City Council engagement
In February, PLUSH submitted a letter ahead of a City Council meeting on housing policy, urging the Council to ground its Affordable Housing Strategy in tools that pair affordability goals with the financial realities facing Bellevue developers. Later that month, City housing staff briefed the committee directly on the draft strategy, creating a feedback loop between PLUSH members and the City while the strategy was still being shaped.
2026
HOMA advocacy: from Planning Commission to City Council
Through a series of letters and meetings in early 2026, PLUSH made a sustained case to both the Planning Commission and City Council for pairing HOMA requirements with flexible tools, including an MFTE supercharger and fee-in-lieu options, that keep multifamily development viable. At the January PLUSH meeting, City staff previewed the BelRed Land Use Code Amendment and walked through near-term HOMA changes, and the committee flagged that the area's constrained street grid required design flexibi
2026
Parking Reform LUCA letter
PLUSH submitted a letter in support of Bellevue's Parking Reform Land Use Code Amendment, advocating for right-sized parking minimums aligned with state law and transit-oriented development goals. The committee made the case that updating outdated parking standards is foundational to project feasibility, particularly in emerging districts like BelRed where the City is counting on new housing production near light rail.
2026
MFTE reform letters
Building on its multi-year push to strengthen Bellevue's Multifamily Tax Exemption program, PLUSH submitted formal MFTE letters at the start of 2026 as the City prepared to finalize program changes. The committee continued advocating for a financially viable supercharger approach: pairing mandatory affordability requirements with incentives strong enough to keep workforce housing projects moving forward across a range of project types and income levels.
2025
Sign Code letter
Ahead of the City's anticipated sign code overhaul, PLUSH submitted an early letter flagging priorities from the business and development community. The committee identified concerns around commercial flexibility and practical standards for established businesses, laying groundwork for deeper engagement when Bellevue formally launched its first full sign code rewrite in decades in early 2026.
2025
Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) modernization
PLUSH submitted multiple letters on Bellevue’s Critical Areas Ordinance, advocating a performance-based, science-driven framework that protected habitat without blocking transit-oriented housing, especially in BelRed. The committee pushed to remove man-made steep slopes from regulation, end density penalties, and rethink blanket buffer expansions beyond the state’s “no net loss” standard.
2025
BelRed walking tours for policymakers
To show real-world impacts of the CAO and the planned street grid, PLUSH and the BelRed Property Owners Group led walking tours for councilmembers, commissioners, and staff in the Spring District and around the 130th Link station. The tours highlighted redevelopment hurdles and opportunity sites and helped secure CAO revisions that reflected PLUSH’s recommendations while maintaining environmental safeguards.
2025
Support for building permit extension ordinance
PLUSH backed Bellevue’s building permit extension ordinance (Ordinance 6853) and submitted a committee letter in support. The ordinance was designed to extend the life of key building permit applications and issued permits, giving projects more time to pencil and preserving the existing development pipeline.
2025
Using the Bellevue Development Committee to fix permitting
Through the Bellevue Development Committee (BDC), created in partnership with the City, PLUSH leaders and chamber staff pushed for broader permitting and entitlement reforms. Sub-teams (inspections, engineering and site design, Wilburton LUCA, and others) and an internal issue tracker helped flag bottlenecks, clarify policies, and improve coordination with Development Services.
2025
Downtown Center Redesignation feedback
PLUSH submitted a letter on Item 25-438 that supported the Downtown Center Redesignation as a way to position Bellevue for future federal transportation funding. The committee also cautioned against scope creep and urged the City to keep the update focused on mobility and economic competitiveness.
2025
Affordable housing strategy feedback
Early in 2025, PLUSH submitted formal feedback on Bellevue’s citywide affordable housing strategy. The committee flagged feasibility concerns and delivery timelines as the City updated tools for both low-income and workforce housing.
2025
HOMA initiative letter
PLUSH followed with a letter on the Housing and Opportunity Market Affordability (HOMA) initiative, urging the Planning Commission to keep new requirements consistent, predictable, and aligned with market realities so they did not unintentionally stall mixed-use or transit-oriented projects.
2025
MFTE “supercharger” and mass timber focus
Throughout 2025, PLUSH dedicated multiple meetings to Bellevue’s Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) policy, including a September session on mass timber and the proposed “MFTE supercharger.” The committee advocated for a financially viable, more inclusive MFTE that supported workforce housing (roughly 80 to 120 percent AMI) and combined mandatory and incentive-based participation near jobs and transit.
2025
Affordable housing and MFTE briefings with City and Council
At an October PLUSH meeting, the City’s Office of Housing debriefed the affordable housing strategy update and mixed-use areas rezone, and members emphasized how permitting timelines, critical areas rules, and incentive structures would affect whether promised units were actually built. A November session with Councilmember Naren Briar gave PLUSH a preview of MFTE strike-draft changes and a direct channel for implementation feedback.
2024
Wilburton LUCA advocacy
PLUSH worked closely with the Wilburton Property Owners Group on the Comprehensive Plan, Wilburton Vision Implementation, and Future Land Use Map. Committee testimony and a formal “PLUSH weighs in on Wilburton” letter offered targeted edits to the Wilburton Land Use Code Amendment, shaping a framework that added housing and job capacity near transit while avoiding provisions that would have undermined feasibility.
2024
BelRed subarea and tree code groundwork
City staff briefed PLUSH on how the BelRed subarea plan and tree code updates would follow the Comprehensive Plan periodic update. PLUSH highlighted how tree retention, critical areas rules, and redevelopment potential intersected in BelRed and laid important groundwork for the 2025 CAO letters and BelRed walking tours.
2024
Design review streamlining letter
PLUSH urged the City to streamline downtown design review guidelines and submitted an October letter calling for clearer, more predictable standards tied to previously negotiated incentive packages. The committee emphasized that without updated design review, projects would struggle to realize the capacity envisioned in Next Right Work and related zoning tools.
2024
Regional housing coordination dinner
Working with the Eastside Multifamily Policy Group, the Chamber and PLUSH hosted a Wild Ginger dinner featuring Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Jenny Schuetz and elected officials from Seattle and Eastside cities. The discussion on evidence-based housing and land use reforms launched an ongoing effort to align pro-housing priorities across Bellevue, Seattle, and other East King County jurisdictions.
2024
Briefings on Amazon Housing Equity Fund and upcoming legislation
At multiple 2024 meetings, PLUSH members heard briefings on Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund and the City’s upcoming legislative actions. These conversations helped the development community understand how private capital, city tools, and regional legislation fit together in Bellevue’s housing pipeline.
2024
Rewriting Bellevue’s MFTE program
Following a year-long collaboration between PLUSH and the City, Bellevue City Council unanimously approved major changes to the MFTE program in July 2021. A PLUSH-convened working group of property owners, developers, and land use attorneys drafted code language that unlocked additional housing while remaining financially workable, expanded eligibility up to 80 percent of King County AMI (with micro-units at 65 percent AMI), and set aside up to 20 percent of units as affordable.
2024
Making the case on the jobs and housing imbalance
Media coverage and survey work, including stories such as “Bellevue has way more jobs than housing” and Puget Sound Business Journal coverage of residents cheering tech growth but wanting more affordable housing, highlighted the mismatch between job creation and housing supply. These narratives reinforced PLUSH’s case for robust but feasible housing tools, including MFTE.
2023
Comprehensive Plan DEIS comments and growth strategy
PLUSH submitted detailed comments on Bellevue’s Comprehensive Plan draft and DEIS and urged the City to adopt the highest-capacity growth option, with density focused in transit-rich centers like Wilburton and BelRed. The committee pushed for explicit recognition of workforce housing (80 to 120 percent AMI) and for both mandatory and incentive-based affordable housing tools to be evaluated side by side. These contributions were reflected in the 2024 to 2044 Comprehensive Plan.
2023
Next Right Work FAR and incentive calibration
As Bellevue launched its Next Right Work initiative to recalibrate downtown floor-area ratios and affordable housing incentives, PLUSH and Chamber partners provided data-driven feedback grounded in ECONorthwest analysis. That work helped right-size proposed market-to-affordable ratios and removed a proposed commercial linkage fee from the near-term agenda, keeping the focus on streamlining permits and accelerating production.
2023
Launching the Bellevue Development Committee
Responding to persistent concerns about delays and inconsistent interpretations, the Chamber, working closely with PLUSH, partnered with the City to establish the Bellevue Development Committee. The BDC held its kickoff meeting in September 2023, and PLUSH and staff used the committee and an internal issue tracker to drive inspection, engineering, and Wilburton-related process improvements.
2022
Early Comprehensive Plan engagement
In late 2022, PLUSH submitted early comments on the Comprehensive Plan update to Development Services and emphasized alignment between future land use capacity, job growth, and transit investments. This early engagement set the stage for more detailed DEIS comments in 2023 and for the high-capacity growth option the City ultimately adopted.
2022
Resetting PLUSH’s multi-year workplan
At an August 2022 meeting recapped in “PLUSH sips on their successes,” the committee reviewed early wins, including MFTE progress, and mapped a multi-year workplan focused on production, feasibility, and permitting reforms. That plan mirrored themes that later appeared in the Chamber’s advocacy highlights.
2022
Direct dialogue with Mayor Robinson
Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson attended a PLUSH meeting in early 2022 to discuss growth, housing, and the Council’s evolving strategy. The conversation reinforced a direct connection between PLUSH and City leadership on land use and housing policy.
“Our committee is solutionsāfirst. We pair data with onātheāground expertise to make Bellevue more affordable and more livable for everyone.”Jessica Clawson, PLUSH Chair
What We’re Working On
The committee continues to work on several initiatives that will shape growth in Bellevue over the next few years:
- Affordable Housing Strategy implementation: Following the Council's acceptance of PLUSH's feasibility-focused recommendations in March 2026, the committee is monitoring implementation closely to ensure that the strategy's incentive tools are designed and deployed in ways that actually move the needle on housing production.
- Sign Code rewrite: Bellevue is conducting its first comprehensive sign code overhaul in decades. PLUSH is engaged throughout the process to ensure new standards reflect the practical needs of businesses, avoid penalizing established uses, and support the commercial vitality of Bellevue's evolving districts.
- BelRed Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA): As the BelRed LUCA advances, PLUSH is providing input on how the code update handles the area's constrained street grid, HOMA obligations, and the balance between density goals and development feasibility near the BelRed light rail station.
- Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) and housing incentive reform: PLUSH continues to advocate for a stronger MFTE program, one that pairs mandatory affordability requirements with the financial incentives needed to make participation workable across a range of project types and income levels.
- Permitting and process reforms: Through the Bellevue Development Committee and direct engagement with Development Services, PLUSH continues to push for faster, more predictable permitting, including inspection coordination, engineering review timelines, and permit extension policies that keep projects from stalling mid-process.
Committee in Action
News & Updates
PLUSH weighs in on Wilburton
On November 5, the Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee submitted a letter to the City’s Planning Commission regarding the ongoing Wilburton LUCA project. Read the letter below!
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
November 1, 2024
Share
PLUSH debriefs what to expect locally, statewide for 2025 housing policy chats
Our PLUSH (Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing) Committee put their policy hats on this last month, as we received a briefing from the Association of Washington Business and our Committee chair, Jessie Clawson, on upcoming housing discussions across the state.
Morgan Irwin, Government Affairs Director for AWB, provided a pre-legislative-session rundown of what to expect in Olympia, and Clawson gave a “What to Expect at City Hall This Week”-esque update for the group. Specifically, the City of Bellevue is up to adopt its amended Comp Plan, and the Committee recently submitted a letter regarding objective design, which you can read here.
As for Irwin, his state legislation predictions were as follows:
On the topic of real estate excise tax (REET): “Expect to see bills similar to last year's HB 2276 and SB 6191 regarding REET,” he said. “Proposals to increase the lid limit on local tax increases from 1% to 3% annually, [and] proposals to bring school levies down to 50% or 55% approval threshold."
Regarding rent control: “Expect a suite of bills around rent control. And when I say a suite, I mean more than a dozen. Probably less than 25, but there will be a bunch of opportunities to continue the conversation around rent stabilization or rent control in the 2025 session.”
When it comes to the eviction process: “This backlog in the courts and difficulty in removing problem tenants creates safety issues for other tenants in the building.” Irwin also pointed out that even government-funded housing providers, like public housing authorities, have struggled to make their mortgage payments due to the challenges around evictions.
The next PLUSH meeting is November 12. Learn more about the committee and its members here!
Morgan Irwin, Government Affairs Director for AWB, provided a pre-legislative-session rundown of what to expect in Olympia, and Clawson gave a “What to Expect at City Hall This Week”-esque update for the group. Specifically, the City of Bellevue is up to adopt its amended Comp Plan, and the Committee recently submitted a letter regarding objective design, which you can read here.
As for Irwin, his state legislation predictions were as follows:
On the topic of real estate excise tax (REET): “Expect to see bills similar to last year's HB 2276 and SB 6191 regarding REET,” he said. “Proposals to increase the lid limit on local tax increases from 1% to 3% annually, [and] proposals to bring school levies down to 50% or 55% approval threshold."
Regarding rent control: “Expect a suite of bills around rent control. And when I say a suite, I mean more than a dozen. Probably less than 25, but there will be a bunch of opportunities to continue the conversation around rent stabilization or rent control in the 2025 session.”
When it comes to the eviction process: “This backlog in the courts and difficulty in removing problem tenants creates safety issues for other tenants in the building.” Irwin also pointed out that even government-funded housing providers, like public housing authorities, have struggled to make their mortgage payments due to the challenges around evictions.
The next PLUSH meeting is November 12. Learn more about the committee and its members here!
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
October 24, 2024
Share
PLUSH Recap: Sign Code, Housing Wins, and MFTE
Bellevue's first full sign code rewrite in decades took center stage at the March meeting of the PLUSH Committee
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
2 days ago
Share
PLUSH Supports Bellevue’s Affordable Housing Strategy
The Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee recently submitted a letter in support of the City’s draft Affordable Housing Strategy, while also encouraging several important refinements.
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
2 days ago
Share
PLUSH Committee Calls for a Flexible Path to Housing Affordability
On March 16 the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce’s PLUSH Committee submitted a letter to the Bellevue City Council
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
March 16
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City Briefs PLUSH on Affordable Housing Strategy Update
On Tuesday, February 17, City of Bellevue housing staff briefed the Chamber’s Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing (PLUSH) committee on the City’s draft Affordable Housing Strategy update
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
February 17
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Housing strategy front & center in PLUSH Committee letter to Council
The Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee recently submitted the following letter to the Bellevue City Council ahead of its February 3 meeting. Take a look below!
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PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
February 2
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BelRed Code Update Advances, with HOMA, Parking, and Housing Policy Front and Center at PLUSH
At our January 27, 2026 PLUSH meeting, the City of Bellevue shared a preview of a working draft for the BelRed Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA), alongside near term updates related to HOMA, parking reform, and changes to the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program.
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PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
January 26
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PLUSH weighs in on Wilburton
On November 5, the Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee submitted a letter to the City’s Planning Commission regarding the ongoing Wilburton LUCA project. Read the letter below!
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
November 1, 2024
Share
PLUSH debriefs what to expect locally, statewide for 2025 housing policy chats
Our PLUSH (Permitting, Land Use, Sustainability, and Housing) Committee put their policy hats on this last month, as we received a briefing from the Association of Washington Business and our Committee chair, Jessie Clawson, on upcoming housing discussions across the state.
Morgan Irwin, Government Affairs Director for AWB, provided a pre-legislative-session rundown of what to expect in Olympia, and Clawson gave a “What to Expect at City Hall This Week”-esque update for the group. Specifically, the City of Bellevue is up to adopt its amended Comp Plan, and the Committee recently submitted a letter regarding objective design, which you can read here.
As for Irwin, his state legislation predictions were as follows:
On the topic of real estate excise tax (REET): “Expect to see bills similar to last year's HB 2276 and SB 6191 regarding REET,” he said. “Proposals to increase the lid limit on local tax increases from 1% to 3% annually, [and] proposals to bring school levies down to 50% or 55% approval threshold."
Regarding rent control: “Expect a suite of bills around rent control. And when I say a suite, I mean more than a dozen. Probably less than 25, but there will be a bunch of opportunities to continue the conversation around rent stabilization or rent control in the 2025 session.”
When it comes to the eviction process: “This backlog in the courts and difficulty in removing problem tenants creates safety issues for other tenants in the building.” Irwin also pointed out that even government-funded housing providers, like public housing authorities, have struggled to make their mortgage payments due to the challenges around evictions.
The next PLUSH meeting is November 12. Learn more about the committee and its members here!
Morgan Irwin, Government Affairs Director for AWB, provided a pre-legislative-session rundown of what to expect in Olympia, and Clawson gave a “What to Expect at City Hall This Week”-esque update for the group. Specifically, the City of Bellevue is up to adopt its amended Comp Plan, and the Committee recently submitted a letter regarding objective design, which you can read here.
As for Irwin, his state legislation predictions were as follows:
On the topic of real estate excise tax (REET): “Expect to see bills similar to last year's HB 2276 and SB 6191 regarding REET,” he said. “Proposals to increase the lid limit on local tax increases from 1% to 3% annually, [and] proposals to bring school levies down to 50% or 55% approval threshold."
Regarding rent control: “Expect a suite of bills around rent control. And when I say a suite, I mean more than a dozen. Probably less than 25, but there will be a bunch of opportunities to continue the conversation around rent stabilization or rent control in the 2025 session.”
When it comes to the eviction process: “This backlog in the courts and difficulty in removing problem tenants creates safety issues for other tenants in the building.” Irwin also pointed out that even government-funded housing providers, like public housing authorities, have struggled to make their mortgage payments due to the challenges around evictions.
The next PLUSH meeting is November 12. Learn more about the committee and its members here!
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
October 24, 2024
Share
PLUSH Recap: Sign Code, Housing Wins, and MFTE
Bellevue's first full sign code rewrite in decades took center stage at the March meeting of the PLUSH Committee
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
2 days ago
Share
PLUSH Supports Bellevue’s Affordable Housing Strategy
The Bellevue Chamber’s PLUSH Committee recently submitted a letter in support of the City’s draft Affordable Housing Strategy, while also encouraging several important refinements.
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
2 days ago
Share
PLUSH Committee Calls for a Flexible Path to Housing Affordability
On March 16 the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce’s PLUSH Committee submitted a letter to the Bellevue City Council
Read more
PLUSH - Bellevue Chamber
March 16
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Resources & Letters
Plush committee directory
Ready to Join PLUSH?
Apply to JoinEligibility: Advocateālevel members and above may join this committee.