Subarea Studies

North Lake, North Corner, & Central West Subareas Study

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Subarea Map

The Project

City leaders want to know if housing opportunities can be increased and fiscal sustainability enhanced by rezoning portions of three subareas where the current predominate designation is Single-Family.  


A portion of each of the three subareas – North Lake, North Corner, and Central West – include unincorporated areas that potentially could be annexed into the city.

Rezone Discussions

The Planning Commission will be discussing potential rezones in the North Lake Subarea as part of the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Periodic Update. 

How did this come about?

At the January workshops, residents of North Lake identified an area where growth and housing would be appropriate. That area is shown on the post-workshop map where it says medium or medium-high density. In March, staff began reaching out to property owners of those parcels to learn what they would like to happen to their property. Follow-up letters were sent in April, and staff also canvassed in June to try to reach owners that had not yet responded. 

What did the City do with owner preferences?

Staff tracked owner preferences and in all cases attempted to adhere to them. This isn't possible in a few areas due to the "patchiness" of the zoning preferences, so staff is forwarding different alternatives to the Planning Commission for discussion.

What is the next step?

The Planning Commission will discuss rezones in July and August, and they will be included in the Comprehensive Plan public hearings.

  1. 1 Map showing North Lake rezone area 1
  2. 2 Map showing North Lake rezone area 2, alternative 1
  3. 3 Map showing North Lake rezone area 2, alternative 2
  4. 4 Map showing North Lake rezone area 3
  5. 5 Map showing North Lake rezone area 4
  6. 6 Map showing North Lake rezone area 5, alternative 1
  7. 7 Map showing North Lake rezone area 5, alternative 2

Public Outreach

Public involvement in this project is necessary for it to be successful, as some of the potential rezones would have a significant impact on how Snohomish grows.  That growth must reflect the community’s vision. 

In January 2024, a design workshop was held with residents of each subarea. Attendees provided their ideas and preferences for the future on large maps. City staff was there to listen and answer questions. Summary maps that have each small group's input consolidated onto a single map are shown in the slideshow below.  

You can also learn more about what was said in the Comprehensive Plan Community Engagement Report.

To comment on this project, contact Planning Director Brooke Eidem.

  1. 1 North Corner summary map
  2. 2 North Lake summary map
  3. 3 Central West summary map

Analyses

The City selected LDC, Inc. and ECONorthwest as the project team to conduct a land use and economic analysis for each of the three subareas.  Their work is now complete and can be reviewed here.

The consultant team analyzed each subarea by providing a:

  • Land use inventory to better understand how the subareas are currently developed;
  • Buildable lands analysis to understand the development potential of each subarea after considering areas made unbuildable due to wetlands, other critical areas and easements;
  • Development potential analysis under a variety of zoning scenarios including the possibility of rezoning portions or all of a subarea to a higher density or mixed use designation to understand the effects rezoning might have;
  • Market analysis to understand the demand for non single-family development; and
  • High-level cost-benefit analysis of the unincorporated areas in each subarea to provide base information regarding future potential annexations.

The results of the consultant team’s analyses were presented to the City Council and Planning Commission in June 2022.

Schedule

The three subareas were identified in November 2021 through the 2022 Comprehensive Plan Amendments Final Docket.  The Council direction was to study each subarea and to consider the feasibility and impact of rezoning to encourage the creation of more housing options and to broaden the city’s tax base.

In 2022, the Comprehensive Plan was amended to include basic policies to help guide future planning efforts in these areas.  These policies did not include any map changes or rezones. 

In January of 2024 the subareas design workshop were held. The next step is to discuss potential rezone options with individual property owners, based on the resident feedback and areas that were identified at the workshops for growth. In March of 2024 those property owners were contacted via mail and asked to reach out to City staff.

Eventually, the results of this project will also be used to develop an annexation strategy for the unincorporated areas within each subarea.  No annexation is currently being proposed, nor has a solid timeline been discussed to annex any areas into the city.