The Snohomish Planning Commission holds two public hearings Wednesday night on code changes that affect how small housing projects and child care centers get built in Snohomish, Washington. The meeting starts at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at the Snohomish Carnegie building, according to the city's hearing notice, and can also be joined online.
Unit lot subdivisions, including Midtown
The bigger item rewrites the city's unit lot subdivision rules. A unit lot subdivision lets a builder sell townhouses, cottages or other attached and detached homes as individual lots while the development standards are checked against the original parent lot.
In 2025 the Legislature passed ESB 5559, which set new statewide rules for unit lot subdivisions. Planning Director Mike Stevens wrote in the meeting packet that the state law is meant to streamline approvals and open up fee-simple ownership for townhouses, cottage housing, detached homes, manufactured home parks and accessory dwelling units.
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The proposed Snohomish ordinance would:
- add the Midtown District to the zones where unit lot subdivisions are allowed, following an earlier planning director interpretation
- revise private open space rules, with an exemption for Midtown developments
- update parking rules for unit lot projects while keeping overall parking requirements
- keep development standards at the parent-lot level, with flexibility for individual unit lots
- add the state-required purchaser notes to final plats
- update rules for manufactured home park unit lot subdivisions and clean up definitions of lots, unit lots and dwelling units
The commission reviewed drafts in April and August. Staff recommends sending the ordinance to the City Council for approval.
Child care centers and adult family homes
The second hearing brings the code in line with another 2025 state law on siting child care centers. The draft would permit commercial child care centers outright in all residential, commercial, Business Park, Midtown and Pilchuck District zones, and allow them in the industrial zones by conditional use permit when they are tied to an industrial business on the same site. Subjective wording like "minimize impacts" would give way to objective development standards, and staff recommends keeping the requirements for a designated drop-off and pickup area and for screening outdoor play areas next to homes.
The change also raises the cap on adult family homes. State licensing allows up to eight unrelated residents, while the city code now limits them to six.
Bickford and Weaver signal out to bid
On the road side, the city has advertised the Bickford Avenue and Weaver Road intersection project for bids. The project adds a traffic signal to improve traffic flow and turning safety at the intersection, after the state Department of Transportation authorized the city to advertise it.
What's next
Recommendations from Wednesday's hearings go to the Snohomish City Council, which makes the final decision on both ordinances.
Sources
- Unit Lot Subdivision Code Amendment Notice of Public Hearing, City of Snohomish
- Planning Commission agenda packet, November 4, 2026, City of Snohomish
- Bickford Ave & Weaver Rd Project Officially Goes Out to Bid, City of Snohomish
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