Everett vs. Lynnwood ADU rules
Height is the headline difference, and it's messier in Everett: its 2025 rewrite caps detached accessory buildings in NR zones at just 18 ft (24 ft on alley lots with a steep roof), with the older 24/28-ft ADU allowance surviving only in UR4/UR7 zones — genuinely unsettled per the city's own tables (EMC 19.22.020). Lynnwood sets no ADU-specific height limit at all; a detached unit can reach the RN zone's 35-ft maximum. Everett also requires a separate water meter and dedicated side-sewer connection for detached ADUs, a real cost line Lynnwood's code doesn't mention. Both cap size near 1,000 sq ft and require zero parking for a conforming ADU.
✓ Verified against code · August 19, 2026
Everett rules run under EMC 19.08.100 Table 8-6, under the Everett 2044 zoning (NR / NR-C), adopted by Ordinances 4101-25 / 4102-25, in effect since July 8, 2025.
✓ Verified against code · August 19, 2026
Lynnwood rules run under LMC Title 8 (Unified Development Code) — no standalone ADU section, adopted by Ordinance 3481 (amended by Ords 3492, 3507), in effect since July 1, 2025.
Rule by rule
| Rule | Everett | Lynnwood |
|---|---|---|
| ADUs allowed per lot | Two ADUs per lot in all zones except industrial — attached, detached, or a combination, with no minimum lot size.EMC 19.08.100 Table 8-6 | No ADU-specific cap — the units-per-lot rules govern: RN zones allow 3 units per lot base (a house plus two ADUs), 4 with one affordable unit or within a quarter-mile walk of a major transit stop. ADUs are a permitted use in the RN, RM-45, NC, and CDM zones.LMC 8.30 Table 8.30.03; Table 8.35.01 |
| Maximum size | 1,000 sq ft of gross floor area, excluding garage and accessory-structure space. No size cap for an ADU located within one floor of the principal dwelling.EMC 19.08.100 Table 8-6 row 3; EMC 19.04.030 | 1,000 sq ft — written into the ADU definition itself (a cap added by Ord 3492 in November 2025; the original UDC had none). No garage or storage exclusion is stated.LMC 8.99.0250 (Ord 3492 §18) |
| Detached ADU height | Contested in the current code. The 2023 ADU ordinance allowed 24 ft (28 ft on alley lots), but the 2025 rewrite's Table 22-2 caps detached accessory buildings in NR zones at 18 ft on non-alley lots (24 ft on alley lots with a steep roof), with the 24/28 allowance surviving only in the UR4/UR7 zones. This sits in tension with the state-law height minimums — confirm your specific lot with Everett planning before designing.EMC 19.22.020, Tables 22-1/22-2; RCW 36.70A.681 | No ADU-specific limit — a proposed 24-ft ADU cap was dropped at adoption. Detached units fall under the RN detached-configuration maximum of 35 ft.LMC 8.30 building-form tables |
| Detached ADU setbacks | Detached ADUs use the principal-building setbacks: front 10 ft; interior side 5 ft (none where the side lot line abuts an alley); rear 5 ft (none on alley lots).EMC 19.06.020(F) Table 6-4; Table 6-2 | RN detached configuration: 10 ft from the street, 5 ft interior side and rear, 10 ft between buildings. No reduced alley setback — but where an alley exists, vehicle access must come from it.LMC 8.30 Tables 8.30.04–05 |
| Off-street parking | Effectively none: every dwelling unit under 1,200 sq ft is exempt from off-street vehicle parking, which covers every conforming ADU, citywide, with no transit test. Bicycle parking is required.EMC 19.34.050(C); 19.34.160 | Zero. Dwelling units under 1,200 sq ft of gross floor area require no parking — which covers every conforming ADU, citywide, with no transit test.LMC 8.40.0720(A); Table 8.40.70 |
| Owner-occupancy | None. The Everett 2044 rewrite deleted the owner-occupancy requirement effective July 8, 2025. (It existed as recently as the 2023 ordinance, so pre-2025 sources will say otherwise.)EMC 19.08.100 (current); Ord 3963-23 §5 (former rule)Previously: Owner occupancy of the principal dwelling or ADU was required (Ord 3963-23) — changed by Ord 4102-25, effective July 8, 2025 | None — no owner-occupancy requirement exists anywhere in the adopted UDC. (Pre-UDC city guides described one; they're obsolete.)LMC Title 8 (verified absence) |
| Lot coverage / floor area | 50% maximum lot coverage in NR (35% NR-C), plus 5% for two-unit lots, plus an additional ADU-specific bonus: up to 5% more of the lot's ground area may be used for up to two ADUs. No FAR limit in NR.EMC 19.06.010 Table 6-1; Table 8-6 row 4 | RN zones use FAR by unit count — 0.6 for one unit, 0.8 for two, 1.0 for three, 1.2 for four — plus building-footprint standards instead of lot coverage, and required amenity space (shared 10% of the lot or 120 sq ft private per unit at grade).LMC 8.30 building-form tables |
| Permit path & timeline | Permitted outright with no discretionary review (except historic-overlay DADUs, which get historical commission review). Residential building permit plus trade permits; no published typical timeline.EMC Table 5-1; Table 8-6 row 8 | An ADU Permit is a Type 1a ministerial decision processed with the building permit — no notice, no hearing. Completeness review within 28 days; no codified final-decision deadline.LMC 8.90.0330; 8.90.0320 |
Everett: worth knowing
- Detached ADUs require their own water service and meter (attached ADUs may share under single ownership) and a dedicated side-sewer connection — a real cost line many budgets miss.
- Traffic impact fees are waived for the first ADU and triggered at the second; park impact fees run per bedroom.
- A 4-ft hard-surface emergency walkway is required from the ADU's front door to the street.
- Frontage improvements are waived for up to two ADUs when the principal dwelling remains.
Everett: on our watchlist
CB 2512-91 (January 2026) amends EMC 19.04/19.06/19.08/19.22/19.34 — including the height section at the center of the DADU-height ambiguity. The city says more housekeeping ordinances may follow. We re-check EMC 19.22.020 each verification pass until the height question resolves.
Lynnwood: worth knowing
- A pre-approved DADU plan program is in development — the designer-submission window closed July 2, 2026, but no plan sets are published yet.
- A proposed fire-sprinkler mandate for DADUs was rejected at adoption — it is not in the code.
- Edge case worth knowing: because ADUs count toward the 3-base/4-max units per lot, a lot that already holds two or more principal units can't always add two ADUs — a point of tension with the state statute's 'two ADUs per lot' that the city hasn't addressed publicly.
- Cleanup ordinances keep amending Title 8 (two in late 2025–2026 so far) — expect continued drift.
Lynnwood: on our watchlist
Pre-approved DADU plan sets pending publication (submissions closed July 2026).
Ongoing UDC cleanup ordinances (Ords 3492, 3507, 3508 so far) keep amending Title 8 — we re-check the ADU-relevant tables each pass.
The draft fee schedule listed a $640 ADU permit fee; the adopted fee schedule is unverified.
Full detail: Everett · Lynnwood · back to the Washington hub. Not legal advice — every fact above cites the code section it comes from; check the cite, or ask your city’s planning department to confirm your specific lot.