The city passed a ‘bare-bones’ framework to comply with state housing laws that paves the way for more middle housing, but the debate over how and where to build is just getting started.
Seattle property owners can now build up to four residential units on one lot, reports Ryan Packer in The Urbanist, following a City Council vote that brings the city in compliance with state laws. The upzoning change, which expires in a year unless renewed, also allows up to six units near light rail and RapidRide bus stops.
As Packer explains, “The code adopted Tuesday is a bare-bones framework to comply with House Bill 1110, a sweeping state law that is intended to make it easier to build more times of small, multi-unit development (known as “middle housing”) like townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, stacked flats, and cottage housing.”
The new code is light on details for how Seattle will meet its housing goals and omits several key incentive programs, such as one for stacking units and one for including affordable units. However, it also omits “poison pill” amendments that could have added more barriers to building. Ultimately, Packer notes that the biggest debates over how to build denser, more affordable housing are still to come.
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