Housing

Seattle City Councilmembers and top planning officials are making the rounds visiting homeowner-dominated community councils in their district to get feedback on the One Seattle growth plan.

Senate Bill 5156, approved by the Washington Senate this week, could open the door to more accessible small apartment buildings built around smaller European-style elevators, reducing overall housing costs at the same time.

Though it was amended to exclude cities with less than 20,000 residents, Senate Bill 5184 still represents one of the most robust statewide parking reform packages to move forward in any state. It now must pass the House.

Tacoma is striving to pick up its pace of housing growth. The City hopes newly enact multiplex zoning while help it hit 325,000 residents in a few decades time, a population gain of nearly 50%.

In Seattle, any person can nominate just about any building for historic landmark status — even without the consent of the building owner — which can delay or upend housing projects. The Washington State Legislature is advancing legislation that would place guardrails on historic landmark programs.

The appeals, filed by residents in Madison Park, Mount Baker, and Hawthorne Hills, seek to require additional environmental review, pushing back the City's plan to allow more housing.

Proposition 1A has won the special election to decide the fate of social housing in Seattle. After leading by 15 points on election night, Prop 1A continued to expand its lead in subsequent ballot counts, reaching a 20-point advantage on Thursday. Ultimately, it ended up being a 26-point win.

Proposition 1A grabbed nearly 58% of the election night vote tally, signaling social housing is on the way to victory in Seattle. The measure would tax big businesses to raise about $53 million annually to fund social housing.