Short answer: under the City of Bothell, Washington’s May 2026 code table, an R-L1 or R-L2 lot allows a house 35 feet tall with 5 foot side yards, 15 feet from the street and 15 feet from the rear line. Roofs, driveways and patios together may cover 55 percent of an R-L1 lot and 60 percent of an R-L2 lot.

This is the City of Bothell, which the city’s own map divides between King and Snohomish counties. My work here is on my Bothell architect page.

The city’s code host sits behind a bot check I did not bypass. Figures come from copies on the city’s own site, read October 19, 2026: Bothell Municipal Code (BMC) 12.14.030 current through Ordinance 2483 (May 12, 2026), the redlined zoning ordinance in the December 10, 2024 council packet, the 2026 fee forms and checklists, and the 2012 shoreline program. Confirm every number.

Bothell’s residential zones and the zoning map

BMC 12.14.030 has eight columns: R-C, R-L1, R-L2, R-M1, R-M2, R-M3, R-M4 and R-AC (always combined with OP, NB, CB or LI zones). The city says the new zoning rules took effect January 1, 2025. As of October 2026:

Source: BMC 12.14.030(A). In R-L1 through R-M4 an alley makes the rear yard 0 feet (3 at garage doors). A garage sits at least 20 feet from streets (B)(4). Activity centers such as Downtown, Canyon Park and North Creek may have their own height, density and floor area rules (B)(5).

What changed. In the December 2024 redline, hard surface limits rose from 45 to 55 percent in R-L1, 50 to 60 in R-L2, 65 to 70 in R-M1 and 70 to 75 in R-M2. Height in R-C through R-M2 went from 30 feet (35 in certain situations) to 35.

The zoning map. The city posts a Zoning Map PDF (last modified June 2026) and an interactive map, COBMap. A zoning confirmation letter is $316 plus 5 percent, $331.80, on Form C, with 2 weeks on Form B. Form 71, the request form, still prints a 2025 fee of $322.35 and says allow 10 business days; it lists a check that the structure matched code when built. I use the 2026 figure; ask Planning which fee it invoices.

Yards, height and hard surface coverage

• Front yard. No hard surface except driveways, walkways and permitted projections. A driveway is no wider than three vehicles need, a walkway no wider than 5 feet (B)(6).
• Height runs from city approved average finished grade: the average of the ground at the midpoint of each side of the smallest rectangle around the building, berms excluded (Form H, March 2024). Within 2 feet of the limit, or on any sloped lot, a licensed surveyor verifies height at the roof sheathing inspection (BMC 12.14.110(D)(2), per Form H). I could not read BMC 12.14.110, so ask Planning which roof point counts. A second question: the May 2026 table says 35 feet flat, yet the July 2025 new house checklist still asks for a narrative above 30 feet, citing footnote 6, which in the May 2026 copy covers hard surface measurement.
• Hard surface follows BMC 12.14.140. The city’s checklists count roof area by vertical projection from the widest points, plus driveways, walkways, patios, porches and decks. A panhandle lot’s handle is left out. Hard surface legally built before December 31, 2016 that exceeds today’s limit falls under the nonconforming rules. If a critical area is anywhere on the lot, the table says Title 14 regulates impervious coverage further, and I could not read it.
• Building coverage. The December 2024 redline had a row for it, raising R-L1 and R-L2 from 35 to 45 percent. The May 2026 copy has none, yet the city’s July 2025 addition checklist still asks for the calculation. I cannot tell whether a cap applies. Ask Planning (planning@bothellwa.gov).

How big a house the rules allow: two worked lots

Both lots hit the hard surface cap before the envelope: 3,960 square feet of roof fits on the R-L1 lot against a 6,300 envelope, and 3,160 on the R-L2 lot against 4,000. Two stories on the R-L2 footprint is 6,320 square feet above grade; the residential table lists no floor area ratio. The envelope uses the 15 foot front yard (a street facing garage door needs 20). If a building coverage cap like the redline’s 45 percent applied, the R-L2 footprint would stop at 6,600 x 0.45 = 2,970 square feet; the R-L1 lot would still be held by hard surface (9,600 x 0.45 = 4,320). This is zoning arithmetic only, before slopes, trees and drainage.

City, King County and Snohomish County

The city’s City County Map shows the King and Snohomish divisions inside its limits. The zoning table has one set of numbers and I found no house rule it splits by county. The checklists name other agencies without saying which side each serves:

Slopes, streams and wetlands

The city’s critical areas form lists studies for wetlands, streams, geological hazards, aquifer recharge areas, frequently flooded areas and fish and wildlife habitat (Form 25). It asks about slopes over about 15 percent and critical areas within 300 feet of the site; the tree page names slopes steeper than a 40 percent grade.

• On the checklists. The addition and alteration site plan, not required for an interior only remodel, shows wetlands, steep slopes and streams on the site, adjacent or within 200 feet. The same checklist asks for a soils report under BMC 14.04.210 where an environmentally sensitive area is on the area to be altered (Form 3b).
• If you touch one. A Critical Areas Alteration is $4,845 plus 5 percent, $5,087.25; an Exemption is $1,031 plus 5 percent, $1,082.55 (Form C). Form B lists 8 weeks for an alteration, then 3 to 5.
• Buffer widths and the slope grade that triggers review are in BMC 14.04, which I could not read in a city copy, so I am not quoting them.

See my sloped lot guide.

Sammamish River, North Creek and Swamp Creek shorelines

The city’s shoreline program names those three waters and reaches 200 feet landward of the ordinary high water mark. I read the May 2012 council approved program; it may have been amended. In Shoreline Residential and Urban Conservancy the buffer is 100 feet on the Sammamish River and North Creek and 150 on Swamp Creek; Natural is 150 on North Creek.

A lot 200 feet deep with the creek at the rear line loses 100 feet to the buffer, and a 15 foot front yard takes 15 more: 200 to 100, 15 = 85 feet for the house, before any reduction and assuming no other shoreline setback. The city lists a Shoreline Exemption at $2,461 plus 5 percent, $2,584.05, with 8 weeks for a first review. See my shoreline exemption guide.

Trees

The Permit Center page says a permit is generally not required only if the lot is an existing lot of record under 20,000 square feet, more than 5 years have passed since the subdivision, and there are no critical areas: wetlands, streams, slopes over a 40 percent grade or a shoreline designation. Non-exempt significant trees and any removal in a critical area or the shoreline need an arborist report, and replanting may be required. The city adopted an Urban Forest Management Plan in February 2026 and aims to adopt a new tree code by early 2027.

Remodel, rebuild or tear down

I could not read the codified BMC 12.26, so I cannot say whether it has a cost percentage that ends a nonconforming house’s protection. In the December 2024 packet’s version, a legal nonconforming building may be repaired, renovated or structurally altered if the nonconformity is not increased; one destroyed by fire may be rebuilt to the same or smaller nonconformity if the application comes within 12 months; and one moved any distance must meet the zone. The line is expansion; see when a remodel counts as a new house. A teardown starts from today’s rules.

• Additions need a water provider’s fire flow letter; if flow is short, sprinklers may be required. Growing floor area by more than 60 percent needs a water and sewer certificate first, about 2 weeks. Story additions need structural calculations, and a changed footprint needs footing and roof drains shown (Form 3b). See my structural engineer guide.
• A new house needs a geotechnical report unless adjacent data shows none is needed, 1,500 gpm of fire flow for 2 hours, and a drainage report if impervious area grows by more than 5,000 square feet (Form 3).
• Vesting. A valid and fully complete building permit application is considered under the building permit and zoning rules in effect on its date (RCW 19.27.095). Form 21 says a project does not vest at pre-application ($1,061.55 for a single lot remodel in 2026), nor to impact fees, connection fees or the building code; Form X says impact fees are due at the amount in effect at issuance. Ask the city how its building code line squares with the statute.

Energy rules are in my energy code guide, teardown steps in my demolition guide. The main structure demolition permit is $476 plus 5 percent and a state fee, $506.30 if that is the $6.50 residential fee.

ADUs

The residential table lists a maximum of 2 ADUs per lot in R-C, R-L1, R-L2 and R-M1, and the city’s Middle Housing page cites HB 1337 for up to two. Size, height and parking sit in BMC 12.14.135, which I could not read in current form. See my Washington ADU guide.

The building permit: who reviews it, how long, what it costs

Applications are online only, at MyBuildingPermit.com. The Permit Center in City Hall (425-806-6400, permits@bothellwa.gov) answers questions. Building questions go to buildingservices@bothellwa.gov. New construction uses the 2021 building codes.

How long. Form B, updated September 2025, lists first reviews of 3 weeks for an interior single-family remodel and 4 weeks for an addition or new construction, then 2 to 3 weeks per later review. It says to add 1 to 2 weeks, or more, when volume is high. Critical area and shoreline reviews list 8 weeks, then 3 to 5.

What it costs. A remodel with no added square footage is priced on its valuation, which includes tax; the city uses the higher of your cost or its ICC calculation, and the table assumes a $750,000 valuation. Form A says the permit fee follows Fee Resolution Table 20.02.155-A. The 2026 resolution the city links is one I could not open, so the figures come from Form A, updated December 2025.

At submittal you pay the plan check plus 5 percent: 4,498.65 + 224.93 = $4,723.58. The other $7,515.05 is due at issuance. Each added $1,000 of valuation above $500,000 adds $13.86 (8.00 + 5.20, plus 5 percent). Plumbing and mechanical work is priced by fixture, each from an $82 base permit fee (Form 9). An addition is priced instead from a fee quote form by square footage and construction type, with an $834 site review and a $231 planning review, each plus 5 percent.

A new house adds impact fees (Form X, 2026): fire $464.60 ($458.68 if sprinklered), school $16,550 plus $70, parks and open space $4,009.85 for 2,000 square feet or more, and transportation $13,387 plus a 3 percent fee of $401.61, together $34,883.06 unsprinklered. The form says a credit for the existing house is given on request after demolition passes final inspection. I do not know the amount.

Questions