21.08.290 Cottage Housing Developments

21.08.290 Cottage Housing Developments.

A. Purpose. The purpose of the cottage housing requirements is to:

1. Provide a housing type that responds to changing household sizes and ages (e.g., retirees, small families, single-person households);

2. Provide opportunities for ownership of small, detached dwelling units within a single-family neighborhood;

3. Encourage creation of more usable open space for residents of the development through flexibility in density and lot standards;

4. Support the growth management goal of more efficient use of urban residential land; and

5. Provide guidelines to ensure compatibility with surrounding land uses.

B. Applicability. The requirements in this division apply to all cottage housing developments in the City. Cottage housing may be located in the various residential neighborhoods of the City as provided in subsection F.1 of this section.

C. Cottage Housing Development Size. Cottage housing developments shall contain a minimum of four and a maximum of 12 cottages located in a cluster, on no less than one-half acre, subject to density requirements listed below, to encourage a sense of community among the residents. A development site may contain more than one cottage housing development.

a. Intent. The site requirements chart establishes the basic dimensional requirements for cottages. Development standards are intended to define design parameters of cottages to achieve compatibility with adjacent single-family residential uses. For site requirements not specified below that may apply, see the zone summary for the R-6 zoning district.

Table 21.08.290A Cottage Housing Developments: Site Requirements
	Site Requirement	Notes
Cottages Allowed in Place of Each Standard Single-Family Home Allowed by the Density of the Zone.	1.75 for cottages of 1,000 square feet or less in floor area; 1.5 for cottages 1,001 square feet to 1,200 square feet in floor area; 1.25 for cottages between 1,201 square feet and 1,500 square feet in floor area.	In no case shall the number of cottages allowed in place of each standard sized home exceed two.
Minimum Lot Frontage (in feet).	20 feet	May be reduced to 14 feet on private access corridors serving less than three lots and accessing directly onto a public street.
Setbacks for All Structures from Adjacent Property Lines Along the Perimeter of the Site (except front or any public street setback)	10 feet	Except standard architectural projections up to a maximum of 18 inches in depth and six feet in width, and eaves up to 1.5 feet. When access to a cottage development is from an alley or access corridor, a minimum rear setback of 4 feet is allowed.
Front or any Public Street Setback	15 feet	Front orientation shall be determined by the lot on which the cottage housing development is located as it addresses a public street or access corridor.
Minimum Distance Between Structures (including accessory structures)	10 feet	Except standard architectural projections up to a maximum of 18 inches in depth and six feet in width, and eaves up to 1.5 feet.
Maximum Lot Coverage for Structures	40 percent
Maximum Impervious Surface Area	60 percent
Minimum Open Space	See subsection D.3 of this section, Required Minimum Open Space
Maximum Height for Cottages and Accessory Structures	18 feet
Maximum Height for Cottages with Minimum Roof Slope of 6:12	25 feet	All parts of the roof above 18 feet shall be pitched. The maximum height of any portion of the roof, except chimneys or cupolas, shall not exceed 25 feet anywhere on the site.
Parking Spaces per Cottage	Minimum 1.5 Maximum 2.0	The Technical Committee may reduce parking requirements based on the applicant’s demonstration of site-specific factors that justify a lower standard, such as opportunities for transit service or anticipated number of residents.

i. Scale of Development. To ensure that the overall size, including bulk and mass of cottage structures and cottage housing developments, remain smaller and incur less visual impact than standard-sized single-family dwellings, particularly given the allowed intensity of cottage dwellings.

ii. Variety. To provide variety in cottage housing developments through a mixture of building sizes and building footprints.

b. Requirements.

i. The total floor area of each cottage shall not exceed 1,500 square feet. Attached garages shall be included in the calculation of total floor area.

ii. Cottage areas that do not count toward the total floor area calculation are:

A. Unheated storage space located under the main floor of the cottage.

B. Architectural projections, such as bay windows, fireplaces or utility closets not greater than 18 inches in depth or six feet in width.

C. Attached roofed porches.

D. Detached garages or carports.

E. Spaces with a ceiling height of six feet or less measured to the exterior walls, such as in a second floor area under the slope of the roof.
The Administrator may approve other exemptions similar in nature provided the intent of this section is met.
Although the areas set forth above are not included for purposes of calculating total floor area under this section, nothing in this section exempts such areas from being counted in total floor area for the purpose of any other code, including but not limited to the City’s RMC 15.08, Building Code, and RMC 15.06, Fire Code.

iii. The maximum main floor area for cottages is 80 percent of the total floor area. For the purposes of this calculation, the area of interior stairway may be allocated between floors served.

iv. The total square foot area of a cottage dwelling unit may not be increased. A note shall be placed on the title to the property for the purpose of notifying future property owners that any increase in the total square footage of a cottage is prohibited for the life of the cottage or duration of City cottage regulations.

a. Intent. The minimum open space requirements are intended to provide a sense of openness and visual relief in cottage housing developments.

i. Common open space shall:

A. Provide a centrally located focal area for the cottage housing development.

B. Be a minimum of 400 square feet per cottage.

C. Abut at least 50 percent of the cottages in a cottage housing development.

D. Have cottages abutting on at least two sides.

E. Be outside of wet stormwater ponds, wetlands, streams, lakes, and critical area buffers and on slopes of 10 percent or less and developed and maintained so it is usable for active or passive recreation activities.

ii. Cottages shall:

A. Be oriented around and have the main entry from the common open space.

B. Be within 60 feet walking distance of the common open space.

iii. Private open space shall:

A. Provide private area around the individual dwellings to enable diversity in landscape design.

B. Be a minimum of 300 square feet of private, contiguous, usable open space adjacent to each dwelling unit, for the exclusive use of the cottage resident. It shall be oriented toward the common open space as much as possible, with no dimension less than ten feet.

C. Additionally, cottages shall have a roofed porch at least 80 square feet in size with a minimum dimension of eight feet on any side.

a. Intent. To ensure that cottage housing developments do not create adverse visual impacts for residents of the cottage housing development and adjacent properties, and to maintain a single-family character along public streets. This subsection sets out requirements and guidelines for minimizing potential impacts resulting from the parking structures and other storage and waste facilities.

b. Parking Requirements. Parking shall be:

i. Located on the cottage housing development property.

ii. Screened from public streets and adjacent residential uses by landscaping or architectural screening.

iii. Located in clusters of not more than five adjoining spaces.

iv. Prohibited in the front yard setback area. (See note in Cottage Housing Developments: Site Requirements chart.)

v. Prohibited within 40 feet of a public street, except: single-loaded parking is allowed in a maximum 50-foot-wide area when set back a minimum of 15 feet from a public street. (See Figure 8.19 below.)

vi. Allowed between or adjacent to structures only when it is located toward the rear of the principal structure and is served by an alley or private driveway.

vii. A pitched roof design is required for all parking structures. If a parking structure is attached to a cottage unit, review by the Design Review Board shall be required.

viii. The Administrator may approve other methods provided the intent of this section is met.

c. Screening Requirements.

i. Boundaries between cottage dwellings and neighboring properties shall be screened with landscaping to reduce the appearance of bulk or intrusion onto adjacent properties, or otherwise treated (e.g., through setbacks or architectural techniques) to meet the intent of this section.

ii. Common waste and other storage receptacles shall not be placed in the front yard setback area.

iii. Common waste and other storage receptacles shall be architecturally screened and/or screened with landscaping so as to mask their appearance to residents, adjacent properties, and the public right-of-way.

5. Accessory Dwelling Units. RZC 21.08.220 provides for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in residential areas. For the purposes of this section, additional requirements for ADUs are as follows:

a. The number of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), either attached or detached, that are permitted in a cottage housing development shall be based on the underlying density calculation for standard-sized dwellings that would be attributed to that site. For example, if the density calculation for a site indicates that three standard size homes would be allowed, then three ADUs plus the number of cottages allowed would be the total number of dwelling units permitted on the site.

b. The size of an accessory dwelling unit shall be subordinate to that of the primary, or cottage dwelling. For any ADU, the total square footage of the ADU shall not exceed the lesser of (i) 500 square feet or (ii) 40 percent of the total square footage of the primary dwelling unit and the accessory dwelling unit combined. ADUs attached to a cottage shall count in the 1,000 square foot maximum floor area. ADUs in a detached structure do not count in the 1,000 square foot maximum floor area.

Figure 21.08.290 Cottage Housing Parking Requirements

Double-load or single-load in excess of 50 feet width not allowed within 40-foot setback.

c. Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are allowed in cottage housing developments only when proposed at the time of initial cottage development application.

d. Accessory dwelling units are not allowed with cottages in the Willows/Rose Hill or Education Hill Neighborhood.

6. Community Buildings. A cottage housing development may contain community building(s) that are clearly incidental in use or size and related to the dwelling units. Such community buildings shall be located on the same site as the cottage housing development and be commonly owned by the residents.

7. Existing Dwellings. An existing detached or attached single-family dwelling that is incorporated into a cottage housing development as a residence and is nonconforming with respect to the standards of this section shall be permitted to remain on a site used for a cottage housing development. However, the extent of the noncompliance may not be increased unless the proposed change is determined by the Administrator to be consistent in character, scale and design with the cottage housing development. If the existing dwelling meets the requirements of this section with regard to size and is able to conform to other site standards, it may be counted as a cottage in the density calculation for the site. If the existing dwelling does not meet the size limitation for a cottage, then it shall count as one standard size dwelling.

E. Neighborhood Meeting. A neighborhood meeting is required for all cottage developments. Requirements for neighborhood meetings are set forth in RZC 21.76.060.C.

a. Cottage housing developments are allowed in:

i. Single-Family Constrained and Single-Family Urban zones in the North Redmond and Willows/Rose Hill Neighborhood, except properties zoned R-8; and

ii. Single-Family Urban zones in the Bear Creek, Grass Lawn, Education Hill, Southeast Redmond, and Overlake Residential Neighborhoods.

b. Developments of less than four cottages are allowed in the Willows/Rose Hill and North Redmond Neighborhoods.

c. Cottage housing developments shall not exceed eight cottages, not including accessory structures, within the East Education Hill subarea as defined by Map N-EH-2 in the Neighborhoods Element of the Redmond Comprehensive Plan.

a. Density in the Residential Innovative Zone. When cottages are used to fulfill the requirements for smaller dwelling units in the Residential Innovative zone, 1.5 cottages will be allowed in place of each smaller unit.

b. Design Standards. Supplemental design standards applicable to cottages are contained in the zone use charts for the R-4 zone (RZC 21.08.060), RIN zone (RZC 21.08.070), R-5 zone (RZC 21.08.080), R-6 zone (RZC 21.08.090), and R-8 zone (RZC 21.08.100).

i. NE Rose Hill Subarea. No more than five cottage housing development applications or 40 cottages (whichever occurs first) shall be accepted for sites within 500 feet of each other in the NE Rose Hill Subarea until an evaluation of compatibility with the neighborhood subarea is completed.

ii. Education Hill. Cottage housing developments shall be located on sites with a minimum distance of 500 feet from each other in the Education Hill Neighborhood until an evaluation of compatibility with the neighborhood subarea is completed. See Education Hill Neighborhood Policy N-EH-20 in the Redmond Comprehensive Plan.

3. Requirements for Cottage Housing of Less Than Four Dwellings. The requirements in RZC 21.08.290, Cottage Housing Developments, shall also apply to the development of one, two or three cottages in the Willows/Rose Hill and North Redmond Neighborhoods with the following exceptions and conditions:

a. Setbacks. All setbacks shall conform to those listed in the zone use chart for the R-6 zone district in RZC 21.08.090, RZC 21.08.170.H.2.e, Side/Interior Setbacks, shall apply. Refer to subsection RZC 21.08.290.D, Cottage Housing Developments Site Requirements Chart, for specific requirements concerning encroachments.

b. Cottage Floor Area. Subsection D.2.b of this section, concerning mix of building footprints, shall not apply.

c. Required Minimum Open Space. Open Space requirements shall conform to RZC 21.08.170.L, Minimum Open Space – Landscaping – Buffers, according to the underlying zoning in which the cottage is located. Additionally, if the development consists of three cottages, the dwellings should be clustered around a common open space consistent with subsection D.3.b of this section.

d. Parking Location and Screening. Subsection D.4.b.v concerning parking location shall not apply.

4. Demonstration Project. Consistent with Policy N-WR-E-4 of the Redmond Comprehensive Plan, a neighborhood demonstration project in the Willows/Rose Hill Neighborhood that incorporates innovative housing, including cottages, will undergo review of project design through community input and a Type III Review Process, including review by the Design Review Board. If the project can demonstrate adherence to the overall design intent of the cottage regulations, flexibility in standards for cottages may be allowed. (Ord. 2753; Ord. 3028)