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Background

In 2023, the Washington State Legislature adopted House Bill 1110, which requires cities across Washington State to allow for middle housing on all lots zoned predominately for residential use. 

The City of Walla Walla is required to adopt new zoning and development regulations to be in compliance with these new requirements by June 30, 2026. 

The City received a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to support the City's efforts to study middle housing, engage the community, and ultimately develop new development regulations to be compliant with House Bill 1110. The City has hired consultant Kimley-Horn and Associates to support the City of Walla Walla in this effort. 

What is Middle Housing?

“Middle housing” refers to buildings that are compatible in scale, form, and character with single-family houses and contain two or more attached, stacked, or clustered homes. Examples include duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing.

Did you know that Middle Housing is not new for Walla Walla?

While middle housing is new for many communities, Walla Walla has a significant amount of existing middle housing, and has been proactively planning for these housing types since 2018 (more on that below). Middle housing types used to be very common, until planning practices and other forces began to prioritize detached single-family homes.

In 2018, the City of Walla Walla made significant zoning code changes; chiefly, the City combined all of the zoning districts that were previously only for single family homes, into a Neighborhood Residential zoning district, which allows up to four dwelling units per lot. This includes many middle housing types, including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, cottage housing, stacked flats, and others.  

Overview of Bill Requirements

House Bill 1110 has different requirements for cities with a population under 25,000; cities with a population over 25,000 but less than 75,000 (Walla Walla falls into this category); and cities with a population over 75,000. 

It is worthy to note that Walla Walla already meets many of the bill's requirements based on code changes that the City made in 2018. 

Below are the requirements for House Bill 1110 and whether Walla Walla already meets the requirements.

Project Schedule

Resources and Documents