New Washington Commercial Zoning Law - SB 6026

 

SB 6026 Explained: What Washington's New Commercial-Zone Housing Law Means for Snohomish County By Nathan, October 7, 2026 Washington's Senate Bill 6026 took effect June 11, 2026, and it changes what many commercial properties in Snohomish County are allowed to become. In most of the county's larger cities, commercial and mixed-use land must now be open to housing, and cities can no longer require ground-floor retail across most of that land. For owners of aging strip centers, vacant big boxes and oversized parking lots, that opens a new path to value. What the law does SB 6026 has three main parts, according to the Legislature's final bill report. Housing must be allowed in commercial and mixed-use zones. Cities and counties with 30,000 or more people (and non-rural counties) that plan under the Growth Management Act can no longer exclude residential uses from land zoned commercial or mixed-use. Ground-floor retail mandates are capped. These jurisdictions can't require ground-floor commercial or retail as a condition of building housing on more than 40% of their commercial and mixed-use acreage. Affordable housing that is publicly subsidized can't be required to include ground-floor commercial at all. Waivers must be available. Cities and counties must offer an administrative process for owners to ask for a reduction or waiver of ground-floor retail rules, weighing the number of homes the change would add. What's excluded. The housing requirement doesn't apply to parts of a lot that are: in an industrial zone; within 3,200 feet of an active oil or gas refinery; where housing is barred because of a military installation or a public general aviation airport; in a tax increment financing area created before the law took effect; outside the urban growth area; in a critical area or its buffer, or next to shorelines where multifamily is prohibited; or where development would require demolishing a designated historic landmark. Station areas and zones allowing buildings of at least 85 feet also don't count toward the 40% retail cap, so cities can keep ground-floor retail rules there. Where it applies in Snohomish County Six cities in Snohomish County are above the 30,000-person threshold, along with the county itself for unincorporated commercial land inside urban growth areas next to covered cities. Jurisdiction 2025 population Covered by SB 6026? Everett 114,700 Yes Marysville 75,640 Yes Bothell (King and Snohomish counties) 51,760 Yes Edmonds 43,510 Yes Lynnwood 42,540 Yes Lake Stevens About 42,100 Yes Snohomish County (unincorporated) Non-rural county Yes, in qualifying urban growth areas Mountlake Terrace 24,640 Not yet Mill Creek 21,630 No Mukilteo 21,600 No Smaller cities such as Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Monroe and Arlington aren't covered, though they can choose to adopt similar rules. Mountlake Terrace is worth watching: it has grown about 16% since 2020, and it's still well short of 30,000. Owners in any city should confirm their parcel's status with the local planning department, since the exclusions above can apply lot by lot. A local example: the Evergreen Way Walmart For a preview of what SB 6026 is meant to encourage, look at 11400 Evergreen Way in south Everett. The Highway 99 Walmart there closed in April 2023 and has sat empty since. D.R. Horton, the nation's largest homebuilder, now plans to replace it with 248 for-sale homes in a project called Rowan Park (Everett Herald). Site Just under 19 acres Homes 92 single-family, 156 townhomes Replaces ~147,000 SF store and ~715 parking stalls Amenities Playgrounds, dog areas, basketball and pickleball courts Rowan Park was filed in April 2026, before SB 6026 took effect, but it's exactly the kind of project the law is built around: a dark big box and its parking lot turned into homes, with no ground-floor retail required. The City of Everett supports it, saying it fits its South Everett strategy of connecting residents to nearby manufacturing jobs. The Paine Field/Boeing industrial center nearby holds about 44,370 jobs (PSRC). As of May 2026, the project was on a city correction hold pending more information. Watch for preliminary approval and demolition of the old store. This is something that we think will become more and more common in Everett and throughout Snohomish County. The county and state are implementing laws to increase housing and there is an abundance of big box retail and large parcels that will start to turn into these mixed use and neighborhood centered builds. I like this direction and think it is good for the community, we need more spaces and laws like this to promote growth. What it means for owners and investors More potential uses, more potential buyers. A commercial parcel in a covered city can now attract homebuilders and apartment developers as well as retail and office users. That wider buyer pool can support land values on underperforming sites. Retail requirements get easier to remove. If your site carries a ground-floor retail mandate that has kept a project from penciling out, the new waiver process gives you a formal way to ask for relief. Industrial land stays industrial. The law excludes industrial zones, so places like the Paine Field/Boeing manufacturing center aren't affected. That protects industrial owners from residential encroachment. Retail landlords may benefit too. Each big box converted to housing removes retail space and adds nearby households, which can help the remaining well-located storefronts. Timing matters. Cities are rewriting their codes now. Owners who track these updates and comment early will be better positioned than those who wait for the December 2027 deadline. Key dates March 27, 2026: Gov. Ferguson signs SB 6026 in Everett. June 11, 2026: The law takes effect. December 2027: The 18-month deadline for cities and counties to update their codes. After that, state rules override conflicting local regulations. For more information on Snohomish County Commercial Real Estate, please contact our Everett Commercial Real Estate Brokerage.  Scott Weitz Scott@weitzcommercial.com  T: 206.306.4034