P&Z approves Highland Subdivision

The Bellevue Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the city’s first multi-family housing proposal submitted by developer Larry Wilson of Seattle.

The commission tabled the application April 16 when Wilson left the meeting midway through the two-hour deliberation.

The proposal will subdivide a 5.81-acre parcel east of Eighth Street between Elm and Muldoon into 13 lots, with a planned townhome on each, for a total of 26 residences. The homes will face Ninth Street, and Wilson agreed to landscape Eighth Street with four-foot evergreen trees at 25-foot intervals. He will maintain the trees for two years. He will also extend Oak Street from Eighth Street to the new Ninth Street.

Wilson came in like a lion and left like a lamb at the May 7 meeting.

"The reason I left last time is because the discussion was so far off base," he told P&Z members. "This project has great value, but it’s not going to be affordable with all these conditions you’ve asked for."

Wilson opposed extending Oak Street through the subdivision because of the extra cost, and referred to the subdivision ordinance, which states city blocks be 400 feet in length.

The extension of Oak Street creates two blocks in the subdivision that are 300 feet long. A majority of the city blocks in Bellevue are 300 feet in length.

The P&Z did not waver on its request. P&Z member Mike Mattias said the extension supports proper traffic circulation through the neighborhood, and alleviates traffic from Elm and Muldoon.

"We’ve asked for this since we first saw the plat," said P&Z member Mike Choat.

After an hour of discussion, Wilson presented a new plat and proposal, which was in his car, to the P&Z. The proposal complied with the commission’s conditions.

"Don’t be mad at me now," said Wilson to P&Z Administrator Diane Shay.

"You had this in the deck the whole time," Shay answered good-naturedly.