Marysville City Council reviewed first batch of middle housing and ADU code amendments at April 7 work session

What the records say

At the April 7, 2025 City Council work session, Community Development staff presented the first batch of proposed code amendments implementing Washington's 2023 middle housing law (HB 1110) and ADU law (HB 1337). The item was listed as 'a discussion item only. No action requested' ¹. The staff memo describes the largest proposed structural change: consolidating the city's four single-family residential zones (R-4.5, R-6.5, R-8, and WR-R-4-8) into a single Neighborhood Residential zone, with middle housing allowed at 2 units per lot, or 4 units per lot for lots within a quarter mile of a major transit stop or projects including one affordable unit ¹. The ADU proposals would eliminate the owner-occupancy requirement, cap ADUs at 1,000 square feet or half the house's floor area (whichever is greater), prohibit using an ADU as a short-term rental, allow a reduced 15-foot rear setback (10 feet for one-story structures), and raise the allowed height to 30 feet ¹. Parking minimums for middle housing would be reduced based on lot size and proximity to future bus rapid transit ¹. The packet does not establish what the Council said at the work session or whether the amendments were later adopted ¹.

• The April 7, 2025 City Council work session agenda listed Middle Housing and Accessory Dwelling Unit Code Amendments as a discussion item with no action requested ¹.
• The proposed Batch 1 amendments would consolidate the city's four single-family residential zones into one Neighborhood Residential zone and allow middle housing at 2 units per lot, rising to 4 units per lot near a major transit stop or with an affordable unit ¹.
• Proposed ADU changes include eliminating the owner-occupancy requirement, a 1,000-square-foot size cap, a short-term rental prohibition, a reduced rear setback option, and a 30-foot height allowance ¹.
• Staff laid out a proposed timeline: remaining amendment batches to the Planning Commission on April 8 and April 22, a proposed May 13 public hearing, the full package to Council at a June 2 work session with action requested June 9, to meet a June 30 state adoption deadline ¹.
• The supplied record is pre-meeting material and does not establish the outcome of the April 7 discussion or any later adoption ¹.

Why it matters

If adopted as proposed, these amendments would change what can be built on lots across most of Marysville's residential land: duplexes through sixplex-style middle housing would be permitted in areas previously limited largely to one detached house per lot, and homeowners could add or convert ADUs without living on the property. Residents weighing a future ADU, a lot split, or a neighborhood's development trajectory would be working under materially different rules. The packet does not document any decision, so no change has taken effect based on this record ¹.

What changed / what's next

• Nothing was adopted on April 7; the item was scheduled and presented for discussion only, with no action requested ¹.
• Whether the full amendment package reaches the Council as scheduled, with action requested at the June 9, 2025 meeting ahead of the June 30 state adoption deadline ¹.
• The proposed consolidation of all single-family zones into a Neighborhood Residential zone, which staff said would allow density in historically single-family areas previously achieved only through density incentives ¹.
• The available records do not establish the meeting's outcome.