Puyallup Planning Commission Meeting – October 28, 2026

The Puyallup Planning Commission met Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall (333 S. Meridian), with online access via Zoom. Five of seven commissioners were present (Commissioners Washburn, Martin, Crosby, Landon, and Chair Taylor; Commissioners Barney and DeGro excused), establishing a quorum. The commission approved its agenda and prior minutes, held a public hearing on the Phase 2 Zoning Map and Zoning Code Amendments (Package 6), and voted 5-0 to recommend approval to the City Council.

Consent Calendar / Routine Approvals

• Agenda approved by unanimous voice vote.
• Minutes of the September 23, 2026 meeting approved as amended, correcting the call-to-order time in the draft minutes from 7:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Citizen comment period: no speakers came forward. An emailed comment from Amber Bellinger was deferred to the public hearing because it addressed the hearing topic.
• Public hearing opened at 7:00 p.m. and closed at 7:10 p.m.; each speaker was limited to three minutes.
• A resident opposed the proposed upzoning of Washington State Fair properties to Central Business District (CBD), stating the fairgrounds are not the central business district. He also raised concerns about traffic congestion and choke points (including SR 512), pedestrian safety and walkability, noise and the removal of trees along Meridian, fairgrounds expansion without public transparency, hospital-related traffic on 7th Avenue, and conditions on Shaw Road, urging the commission to keep Puyallup from becoming a through-route for the county.
• Tom Udderback, representing the Washington State Fair Event Center, supported the amendments. He stated the rezoned fair properties are entirely designated Fair in the comprehensive plan and have been zoned for years for intensive urban uses, that CBD and UCX are better-fit zones, and that the north side of 9th Avenue lies within the downtown regional growth center where the comp plan seeks a better fairgrounds-downtown transition. He described the parking overlay extension as a legal-conformity cleanup that does not affect base zoning, citing a fair employee lot used for 40 years that faced maintenance problems without the overlay, and requested the commission's approval.
• John Woody Lotz (334 Ninth Avenue SE), an HOA treasurer living next to a fair employee parking lot, expressed appreciation for the Washington State Fair's community partnership (including a 50-50 fence project) and supported the process, while urging the commission to balance growth against its effects on residents over the next 20-25 years.
• The chair read into the record an email from Amber Bellinger raising concerns that growth be thoughtful, that design processes be adhered to, and about the scale of development entering neighborhoods.

Discussion Items

Staff presentation. Associate Planner Rachel Brown (Planning Division) presented Package 6, the second phase of zoning map and code amendments implementing the 2025 Comprehensive Plan update. Phase 1 changes took effect in March 2026; Phase 2 addresses more complex changes requiring coordination with property owners such as Benaroya, the Washington State Fair, and Step by Step. The clerk first reviewed conflict-of-interest and ex parte communication disclosure questions; no commissioner recused themselves.

• Mixed-use zones: The SHA Pioneer Community Mixed Use zone would be eliminated from the zoning map and code. The Professional Office (OP) and Limited Commercial (CL) zones would also be eliminated, with most affected sites rezoned to Limited Mixed Use (LMX), including the Golden Rule Grocery, Bellatela Spa, and an auto repair site at West Pioneer and Tacoma Road. LMX would permit small-scale neighborhood-serving uses (coffee shops, small groceries, laundromats, health spas, live-work units, middle housing) and prohibit bars, gas stations, churches, adult uses, hotels, and motels. New commercial uses abutting residential sites would require an Administrative Conditional Use Permit (ACUP) with neighbor notification; dwellings would require two parking spaces per unit.
• Commercial zones: The CL zone is eliminated. In the General Commercial (CG) and Community Business (CB) zones, the existing rule limiting residential use to a maximum of 50% of total building area is removed to comply with state law requiring residential uses in commercial zones; the Central Business District (CBD) zone retains its mixed-use requirement along the Meridian Street corridor. The old Jason's restaurant site, previously considered for mixed-use rezoning, would retain General Commercial zoning after property-owner outreach. Storage-container standards are added for clarification.
• Manufacturing and business park zones: Fencing and daycare standards are added; multifamily residential becomes a permitted use in the Business Park (MP) zone; the Benaroya site frontage is rezoned and its future land use designation changes to MEBP, so future business-park rezones elsewhere in the city would require a future land use map amendment.
• Fair zone and parking overlay: CBD and UCX (Urban Center Mixed Use) would be added as implementing zones, alongside the existing Fairgrounds and Public Facilities zones, for Fair-designated properties, including the Gold Lot, Blue Lot, and properties north of Ninth Avenue SW, enabling future mixed-use development on fair-owned land outside the fairgrounds. These properties are currently zoned General Commercial and RM20 (multifamily). The Fair Parking Overlay would extend to additional fair-owned properties historically used for parking. The overlay code is amended so an RV parking area operated for over 30 years is not restricted to fair-event uses, without expanding its footprint; the maximum RV count is reduced from 750 to 130 vehicles to match physical capacity; allowed occupancy is extended from 7 to 14 days per event; on-site hosts are required; and a geographic restriction on special events is added to address prior concerns about non-contiguous parcels such as the Silver Lot. Existing performance standards (landscape setbacks, storage restrictions, parking setbacks) continue to apply.
• General amendments: The zoning code's zone list is updated; definitions are revised, including middle housing now defined to include detached single-family housing; existing utility sites are rezoned to Public Facilities; and comprehensive plan text is aligned with the zoning changes. The Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) Plan is also amended as part of the packet, updating inventories, incorporating 2025-2026 community input, a needs assessment emphasizing geographic access and a 10-minute walk approach, and implementation language.
• Next steps: a planning commission recommendation tonight, a City Council public hearing (staff first said November 10, then corrected to November 17), and final adoption anticipated December 8.

Commissioner discussion. A commissioner asked whether the Jason's site was the last remaining General Commercial zone; staff confirmed General Commercial remains in several other areas of the city. Commissioners asked about review and enforcement of larger fair-overlay events, including neighbor notification, generator hours, code enforcement, and fire lane, emergency access, and sanitation requirements; planning staff (Nabila Comstock) responded that events must meet overlay standards, the overlay would not increase the number of special events, code enforcement applies, and standard citywide requirements govern fire lanes and sanitation. Commissioners Martin, Washburn, Landon, and Crosby raised concerns about infrastructure lagging behind state-mandated growth, traffic, and the need to plan 15-20 years ahead; Commissioner Crosby cited 13 to 16 failing intersections from the comprehensive plan. Commissioner Landon noted these concerns are minimally connected to the package before the commission, Commissioner Washburn stated the package is the best plan achievable at this point, and Commissioner Martin asked what comes next after council approval.

Key Outcomes

• The commission voted 5-0 to recommend approval of Package 6 (Phase 2 Zoning Map and Zoning Code Amendments) to the City Council.
• The recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council, with a council public hearing on November 17, 2026 (the presentation initially said November 10 before correcting) and final adoption anticipated December 8, 2026.
• Planning Manager Chris Beale previewed upcoming work: battery energy storage system (BESS) development regulations under the council's one-year moratorium passed in June; a lahar preparedness and emergency response update related to Mount Rainier; an infrastructure planning presentation with the city engineer and capital engineering supervisor; a discussion of State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) environmental review thresholds; and the 2027 work program (noting the division processed nine or ten ordinances this year).
• Meeting adjourned at 7:29 p.m.