KCC Title 21A grants density bonuses, height increases, and reduced parking when projects in unincorporated King County provide deed-restricted affordable housing or other public benefits.
KCC 21A.34 affordable housing incentives let developers build above the base density when they set aside units for households at or below specified area median income levels for at least 50 years. Bonuses scale with the depth of affordability and apply most strongly within urban growth boundaries near transit. Cities like Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland run their own Mandatory Housing Affordability or incentive zoning programs that layer on top of state law RCW 36.70A.540.
Failure to record covenants or maintain affordability triggers permit revocation, monetary recapture of the bonus value, and denial of future incentives across King County jurisdictions.
King County, WA
In unincorporated King County, fences 6 feet or less in height may be built on or within property lines without a building permit. Fences over 6 feet require...
King County, WA
Unincorporated King County's marine shoreline along Puget Sound and Vashon-Maury Island is regulated under the Shoreline Management Act (RCW 90.58), the King...
King County, WA
In unincorporated King County, an above-ground pool that can hold water more than 24 inches deep is regulated as a swimming pool under the Washington State R...
King County, WA
In unincorporated King County, a one-story detached storage shed of 200 square feet or less, accessory to a residential or agricultural use, is exempt from a...
King County, WA
Unincorporated King County requires private swimming pools to be enclosed by a barrier at least five feet high under K.C.C. 16.70.020, with self-closing/self...
King County, WA
King County Ordinance 18467 (2017) limits county cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and Washington's Keep Washington Working Act (RCW 10.93.16...
See how King County's density bonus law rules stack up against other locations.
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