Bellevue Planning Commission: Bell Red LUCA Public Hearing and Downtown Livability 2.0 Study Session (October 29, 2026)

The Bellevue Planning Commission met on Oct. 29, 2026, in hybrid format. The transcript repeatedly refers to the meeting as Oct. 28; per the provided meeting timestamp, this summary uses Oct. 29, 2026. The commission heard public testimony on the Bell Red Look Forward Land Use Code Amendment, held a study session on the Downtown Livability 2.0 Land Use Code Amendment, received a written update on Great Neighborhoods, and approved routine items.

Consent Calendar

• Agenda approved by voice vote; minutes of Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 approved by voice vote; meeting extended to 10 p.m. by voice vote.

Reports and Schedule Updates

• Staff liaison Kate noted three meetings remain in 2026; the Nov. 18 meeting will be held in council chambers because of the Veterans Day holiday and a conflict with the Parks Board.
• Great Neighborhoods Program Lake Hills and West Lake Sammamish was provided as a written update; outreach/discovery is underway, the resident survey recently closed with a very good response rate, and an update is expected around February/March.

Public Comments & Testimony

Written Communications Summary

• Staff received four additional written comments after the 11 a.m. cutoff: two requested clarification of definitions, two urged protection of affordable housing in Bell Red, and one raised concern about stream impacts.

General Oral Communications

• Rachel Mazer (Holland Partner Group) requested that the pedestrian bridge code language for the Filament project be included in the Downtown Livability LUCA rather than a separate comprehensive plan amendment; she said the comprehensive plan supports the proposal.
• Patrick Hanks (Bellevue Chamber) introduced himself as a new public policy manager; he said the Chamber has identified issues with the Downtown Livability draft and is confident they can be resolved with staff and the commission.
• Candice Schwartz requested that the ecological framework/anchor tree provision not be deleted from Downtown Livability, citing residents' desire for trees, wildlife habitat, and ecological balance.
• Nicole Myers urged prioritizing trees and greenery, retaining the Compass Plaza anchor tree or a replacement significant tree, and studying reflected heat impacts on downtown residents.
• Jesse Clausen encouraged incentivizing rather than simply requiring small business spaces and raised a Grand Connection FAR bonus detail for staff follow-up.
• Deborah Mailman, a downtown resident, requested resident parking permit options and partnerships, such as with the downtown library, to make parking workable.
• One speaker, Alex Zimmerman, was asked to leave after warnings about off-topic remarks.

Bell Red Public Hearing Testimony

• Youth speakers from Indian American Community Services (IACS) urged the commission to protect and expand affordable housing, saying essential workers cannot afford to live in Bellevue and that Bellevue is falling behind neighboring cities.
• Lalita Upala (IACS / East Side Affordable Housing Coalition) said affordable housing is a must-have, not a nice-to-have, and asked the commission not to sacrifice affordable housing to catalyze development; she urged letting the council pair any incentive with MFTE and require publicly accessible analysis.
• Patrick Hanks (Bellevue Chamber) said Bell Red would have the most expensive land use code in Bellevue; by the Chamber's count, 83 parcels are impacted by the street grid, 95 by streams, and 9 by both; a Chamber-commissioned Echo Northwest analysis found rents would need to be 28% higher than the city's own study assumes for a typical project to pencil. He urged removing map streets or using a 1,200-foot block perimeter standard, adopting a catalyst and dollar-for-dollar cost credit, pairing with MFTE, and opening development agreements to sites under four acres.
• Brady Nordstrom (Housing Development Consortium / East Side Affordable Housing Coalition) said Bellevue produced about 4,000 units from 2020 to 2026, less than neighboring jurisdictions, and urged treating affordable housing as a must-have; he cautioned against residential catalysts that reduce affordable housing funding and noted the proposed 116th life-science catalyst could forego about $7 million in affordable housing revenue, equivalent to more than 100 affordable units.
• Property owners and developers, including Justin Ursus (UDC Properties), Layla Kademi, Eric Holzer (Albertsons), Derek Bottles, Thomas Ambry, Ron Mayers, Chantel Rosori, Jenkins Chan (Sue Development), Felicity Hollenbeck (Columbia Pacific Advisors), Cassandra Courtney (Heidelberg Materials), and Hal Wright, opposed or requested major changes to the street grid, arguing mapped streets, topography, critical areas, and other requirements make many sites economically unviable. Several requested elimination of the grid entirely or specific segments, a constrained-site relief process, and greater flexibility. Some expressed support for a general development catalyst and public-good infrastructure cost credit.
• Christian Gunter (Alexandria Real Estate) strongly supported the life science/medical catalyst and asked that it be expanded beyond the 116th corridor to all of Bell Red.
• Nick Bratton (King County DNRP) asked that TDR use be open-ended in the new code, noting the previous 75-credit cap was exhausted by one project and limited later use.
• Charlie Bauman (Bellevue resident) said his six-acre site has been waiting for this code for four years and eight months; he urged support for the Bell Red Catalyst program and infrastructure cost credit, warning that without it, housing could remain unbuilt for another 17 years.
• Hayden Hoppert asked for sequencing language to avoid a high-rise being built at the Bell Red/Redmond edge before surrounding areas develop.

Bell Red Look Forward LUCA – Staff Presentation and Commission Discussion

• Staff (Christina Gallant and Charlie Engel) presented the proposed LUCA as a large increase in development capacity and flexibility in exchange for public benefits. They reported updates since September: sidewalk minimum on private streets reduced from 10 to 8 feet; development-agreement public benefit contributions changed from three categories to one; on-street parking exception eligibility widened; arts nonprofit affordable commercial space bonus added; critical areas language clarified; and some street grid segments adjusted.
• Staff explained TDR history (75 credits exhausted) and the proposed new interlocal agreement, with possible revenue sharing and conservation futures grants.
• Staff reviewed catalyst options intended to boost, rather than reduce, affordable housing, and said the Office of Housing will analyze MFTE incentives alongside the LUCA. Staff cautioned against overly broad reductions or waivers of mandatory affordable housing fees.
• Commissioner questions focused on the chamber's dollar-for-dollar cost credit, street segment removal, development agreement thresholds, TDR, and how flexibility actually works in development review. Staff said they do not generally support the chamber's full credit proposal, but see potential for credits tied to public streets, stream daylighting, and impact fees; they do not recommend crediting MHA fees or permit review costs.
• Several commissioners expressed support for TDR, asked for a prioritization of street grid segments, requested more modest catalyst options, and raised concerns about cumulative burdens on small or highly constrained sites. Vice Chair and other commissioners emphasized the need for certainty and a clear performance-based path for developers, while several commissioners opposed cutting affordable housing requirements.
• Chair Lou summarized the commission's requests: a scope of commission vs. council authority; street grid options including segment-level prioritization; catalyst and credit options; TDR options; relief mechanisms for extraordinarily burdened sites; analysis of expanding the life science catalyst beyond 116th; and more information on the development review process.
• The commission did not make a recommendation on the Bell Red LUCA at this meeting; staff will return with additional analysis.

Downtown Livability 2.0 LUCA – Study Session

• Staff (Matthew Menard and Arvin Kopala Krishna) presented the Downtown Livability 2.0 LUCA as a refinement of the 2017 downtown code, not a comprehensive plan amendment. They noted the 171-page strike draft includes about 80 pages of table changes/deletions, and the project has few new requirements.
• Outreach included virtual/in-person info sessions, an online survey, tabling at events, and meetings with stakeholders and city departments. The survey received about 92 responses; Arvin said well over 50% were downtown Bellevue residents, and Matthew later said approximately 70% were downtown residents. Respondents generally found downtown welcoming but lacking vibrancy; themes included walking/biking challenges, desire for plazas, greenery, nightlife, third places, affordable dining, and outdoor dining.
• Key proposed changes: reduce active-use frontage requirement from 100% to 75% on A/B rights-of-way (keeping 100% on Main Street/Old Bellevue); allow up to 15-foot building setbacks for outdoor dining/seating/entrances; add amenity incentive points for performance spaces and affordable commercial space; require benches and trash cans every 150 feet; clarify ground-floor transparency with visible light transmittance (VLT) standards; widen minimum sidewalks from 12 to 14 feet in certain areas; cap storefront widths at 15 feet on Main Street and ground-floor commercial spaces at 5,000 square feet in Old Bellevue; add FAR exemptions for affordable and small commercial spaces; and make building-design changes such as allowing residential rooftop amenity space, encouraging mass timber, and replacing land use tables with a 'permitted unless prohibited' approach.
• Commissioner questions addressed maintenance of rooftop amenities, the resident survey percentage, parking/transportation being outside LUCA scope, definitions of affordable commercial space, construction impacts, the Compass Plaza oak tree deletion, ground-floor office flexibility, and the pedestrian bridge request. Staff opposed including the pedestrian bridge in this LUCA, saying the comp plan first needs amendment.
• Commissioner Conloo raised concerns about rooftop greenery dying; staff said mechanical screening by vegetation would be removed and hard-surface screening required, while code compliance applies to bonus-credited green roofs.
• Commissioner Geppel asked about affordable commercial standards; staff referred to Wilburton's director's rule capping rent relative to operating costs.
• Chair and commissioners asked for additional consideration of shared office space incentives; staff took the comment.

Key Outcomes

• Routine approvals: agenda, Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 minutes, and meeting extension approved by voice vote.
• Bell Red Look Forward LUCA: No recommendation was made to council. The commission asked staff to return with additional analysis and options on street grid prioritization, catalyst/credit mechanisms, TDR, relief for highly constrained sites, life science catalyst expansion, and development review certainty.
• Downtown Livability 2.0: The commission directed staff to schedule a public hearing; staff indicated a tentative December hearing and anticipated council adoption in Q2 2027.
• The meeting was adjourned after the study session.