Lake Stevens City Zoning Code

The following residential districts are hereby established: R4, WR, R6, R8-12, MFR. Each of these districts is designed and intended to secure for the persons who reside there a comfortable, healthy, safe, and pleasant environment in which to live, sheltered from incompatible and disruptive activities that properly belong in nonresidential districts. Other objectives of some of these districts are explained in the remainder of this section.

The following commercial districts are hereby established: Business district, Commercial district, Central Business district, Local Business zone, and Planned Business district. These districts are created to accomplish the purposes and serve the objectives set forth in the remainder of this section.

The Central Business district (CBD) is designed to accommodate a wide variety of commercial activities (particularly those that are pedestrian-oriented) that will result in the most intensive and attractive use of the City's Central Business district.

The Local Business (LB) zone is designed to accommodate commercial development along arterials to cater to commuters, or as a transition in some areas between a higher intensity zone (e.g., commercial, industrial, etc.) and a lower intensity zone (e.g., residential, park, etc.), or may provide for a smaller scale shopping center that primarily serves one neighborhood or area of the City.

The Planned Business district (PBD) is designed to accommodate commercial or mixed use development, including supporting residential structures, generally similar to the types permissible in a Central Business district or Mixed Use zone. It is intended that this zone be used on sites containing sensitive resources or other sites where, due to property-specific circumstances, detailed planning would benefit all property owners involved as well as the public by, among other things, allowing for comprehensive site planning and a transfer of densities among parcels in order to avoid impacts to sensitive resources.

The Business district (BD) is designed to promote community and regional employment and accommodate land uses such as corporate offices, general offices, research and development, medical clinics, public and civic uses, technology, and light manufacturing and assembly. This district should be located in areas with direct access to highways and arterials in addition to transit facilities, adequate public services and traffic capacity.

The Commercial district (CD) is designed to accommodate the high intensity retail needs of the community and regional market by attracting a mix of large to small format retail stores and restaurants to create a vibrant and unified regional shopping center. Transportation accessibility, exposure to highways and arterials with adequate public services and traffic capacity characterize this district.

The following Mixed Use districts are hereby established: Mixed Use (MU) and Mixed Use Neighborhood (MUN), to accommodate a mix of commercial and residential units at different intensities in transitional areas between commercial and residential areas.

The Mixed Use (MU) zone is designed to primarily accommodate a horizontally stratified mixture of residential and commercial uses. It is intended that this zoning classification be applied primarily as a transition or buffer zone between Commercial or Multi-Family zones and Residential districts.

The Mixed Use Neighborhood (MUN) zone is designed to accommodate higher density residential development in proximity to employment and retail centers and provide basic convenience goods and services in areas with available public services and adequate traffic capacities. This district would have a minimum density of 15 dwelling units per acre and create a transition between higher and lower intensity land uses.

There shall be a map known and designated as the Official Zoning Map, which shall show the boundaries of all zoning districts within the City's planning jurisdiction.

The Official Zoning Map dated May 11, 2009, is adopted and incorporated herein by reference. Amendments to this map shall be made and posted in accordance with Section 14.16C.090.

Should the Official Zoning Map be lost, destroyed, or damaged, the Planning Director may have a new map created. No further Council authorization or action is required so long as no district boundaries are changed in this process.

Amendments to the Official Zoning Map are accomplished using the procedures set forth in Section 14.16C.090.

The Planning Director shall update the Official Zoning Map as soon as possible after amendments to it are adopted by the Council. Upon entering any such amendment on the map, the Planning Director shall change the date of the map to indicate its latest revision. New prints of the updated map may then be issued.

No unauthorized person may alter or modify the Official Zoning Map.

The Planning Department shall keep copies of superseded prints of the zoning map for historical reference.

Whenever a single lot one acre or less in size is located within two or more different zoning districts, the district regulations applicable to the district within which the larger portion of the lot lies shall apply to the entire lot.

Whenever a single lot greater than one acre in size is located within two or more different zoning districts, each portion of that lot shall be subject to all the regulations applicable to the district in which it is located.