FILE - Bellevue, Washington

Alpine Lakes Wilderness mountain peaks rise behind the Bellevue, Washington, skyline.

(The Center Square) – The City of Bellevue may look to expand its fee waiver program to help speed up the rate of affordable housing development within the area.

Bellevue first implemented fee waiver programs in 1989 with the adoption of a transportation impact fee waiver for qualifying affordable housing projects. The city then enacted a school impact fee waiver for qualifying affordable housing projects in 1995. 

Currently, Bellevue’s fee waiver program does not go beyond impact fees. Starting in 2023, city council staff will look to expand the program to include exemptions from permit review and inspection fees, to help mitigate the cost of development for affordable housing projects.

To qualify, housing projects would have to be aimed squarely at residents whose annual incomes do not exceed 80% of the area median income. Permanent supportive housing projects, emergency housing projects and homeless service buildings would also qualify for the fee waiver program.

Council staff presented examples of the current cost of affordable housing projects to the full city council on Dec. 12. The amount of permit and inspection fees collected by the city can vary based on the size of the project and whether a project is subject to land use entitlements, according to the council staff’s memo

One example presented was the King County Housing Authority’s Highland Village project in Bellevue, which was charged $226,820 in permit and inspection fees. The project went through a design review, environmental review and a number of building permits in order to renovate 10 of the existing 12 buildings, demolish a two-story building and construct a three-story building with 36 new affordable units.

The fee waiver program expansion is an addition to the city’s Affordable Housing Strategy that was adopted in 2017. Bellevue's goal is to achieve 2,500 affordable housing units by 2027.

Neighboring Seattle has recently extended an exemption from mandatory design review for affordable housing projects within the city. City officials anticipate a faster rate of affordable housing development due to the projects having the option to skip steps in the process.

Affordable housing development projects in Seattle can opt-out of the design review process if at least 40% of its units are affordable to households with income not greater than 60% of the city’s area median income

The Bellevue City Council is expected to vote on implementing the fee waiver program expansion in the second quarter of 2023, following an analysis of fiscal impacts, consideration of a potential upper limit to the program and public engagement.