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Middle Housing
The City Council held a public hearing on June 2nd, 2025, and adopted the Middle Housing Ordinance. The ordinance included not only amendments to the University Place Municipal Code but also the additions of Chapter 19.47 Middle Housing Design Standards and Chapter 21.75 Unit Lot Subdivisions.
University Place Middle Housing
In 2023 the Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1110, or more commonly referred to as “HB 1110”, and in 2024 the bill was subsequently modified by Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2321 (“HB 2321”), which cleaned up and clarified certain parts of the bill. Overall, HB 1110 is known as the State’s missing middle housing bill and requires cities and counties to allow diverse housing buildings in areas that have been traditionally dedicated to detached single-family housing. A number of materials have been published on the topic from various groups within the following links:
State Department of Commerce: Middle Housing in Washington
Municipal Research Service Center (MRSC): Missing Middle Housing
Sightline institute: Washington’s 2023 Middle Housing Bill, Explained
South Sound Housing Affordability Partners (SSHĀ3P): Middle Housing Fact Sheet
What is Middle Housing?
"Missing Middle Housing" refers to housing types that are between (or in the middle of) single-family houses and large apartment complexes. Buildings such as townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, courtyard buildings, cottage housing, mother-in-law units (accessory dwelling units), backyard cottages, stacked flats, and live/work lofts are all housing types that are predominantly missing from many cities developed post World War II.
Middle housing buildings are commonly found alongside single-family homes in neighborhoods built before 1940; however, these housing types have been largely prohibited in residential neighborhoods in favor of exclusively detached single-family houses on individual lots. Below is a graphic developed Opticos Design that has been widely used to illustrate the missing middle housing concept.
Image © Opticos Design, Inc. | For more information visit www.missingmiddlehousing.com.
Who is Middle Housing for?
Individuals and families in different life stages need a variety of housing types. Middle housing can offer housing options that meet the needs of different households such as multigenerational households, single individuals, people who prefer not to maintain a large home and yard, or workers who want to live near their workplace. More options enable people to remain in their community, like a young family who needs to be close to relatives for support, someone experiencing hardship to stay near friends, a young adult starting out who wants to remain in the neighborhoods they grew up in, or an older adult who prefers to downsize to a smaller home.