Published February 7 2013
The City Council will hold a public hearing Monday, Feb. 11, to take comments on proposed amendments to Bellevue's land use code that will govern permitting, development standards and design guidelines related to the future East Link light rail project.
The hearing will take place at 7 p.m. in the city council conference room of City Hall, 450 110th Ave. NE. A short background presentation by city staff will precede the public comments.
Proposed changes would create a light rail "overlay" district that would be added to the city's land use code. The overlay is intended to:
- Provide certainty and predictability for the public, Sound Transit (the agency that will build East Link) and the city, regarding land use code processes;
- Allow the council, through a development agreement, to establish a comprehensive and consolidated permit process for the project;
- Add provisions in the land use code to accommodate light rail facilities and systems as a permitted use;
- Involve a Citizen Advisory Committee in achieving a context-sensitive design for light rail through Bellevue; and
- Furnish a mechanism to address land use code requirements that are impractical or infeasible for the project.
The public hearing follows a previous one on the same topic last October. Since then, the council has discussed different aspects of the proposed overlay at seven of its meetings.
Bellevue has been working with Sound Transit on cost savings options for the $2.8 billion East Link project, which will run from Seattle, through Bellevue, to the Overlake Transit Center in Redmond. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2015 and service is scheduled to start in 2023.