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City Scores Early Victory Against MHA Appeal Brought by Homeowner Groups

by Doug Trumm @dmtrumm on June 11, 2018

On Friday, Seattle Hearing Examiner Ryan Vancil issued a pre-hearing ruling largely in the City of Seattle’s favor, taking some wind out of the sails of the homeowner groups that brought a lengthy appeal of the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) rezones. The various appeals sought to poke holes in the MHA Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)–the Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability, and Equity (SCALE) alone tried to poke 43 holes–but the Hearing Examiner has already taken some issues off the table.

The appeal of Seattle’s marquee housing affordability program that would enact inclusionary zoning as it rezones the city’s urban villages is far from over with several days of testimony slotted for the summer and a ruling expected in the fall. However, the rest of proceedings will be focused on smaller set of topics rather than the longer rambling list the homeowner groups original brought. SCC Insight broke down the case highlighting the following seven issues that are still in dispute:

“whether the FEIS alternatives analysis is adequate (the city asked for summary judgment on this issue, but lost);
whether the analysis concerning historic resources is adequate;
whether the analysis concerning the tree canopy is adequate;
whether the analysis concerning the impacts of zoning changes outside urban villages is adequate;
whether the analysis of the proposal’s consistency with all Comprehensive Plan policies is adequate;
whether the analysis concerning open space and recreation is adequate;
whether significant impacts would result from the expansion of the Roosevelt Village into the Ravenna neighborhood. The Friends of Ravenna-Cowen argued that there would be impacts, but failed to explain what those impacts would be.”

The City of Seattle filed numerous pre-hearing motions for summary judgment that convinced the Hearing Examiner to close the book on several of the challenges. Areas where the the City prevailed include the following, again explained by SCC Insight:

What We're Reading

What We’re Reading: Bourdain, Maritime Jobs, and The Chicago Way

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on June 11, 2018

Snuffing out life: According the National Health Service, each car in London costs British society upwards of $10,500.

Golf course wars: Will dead golf courses be the next urban redevelopment battle for communities?

Farewell dear urbanist: The beloved Anthony Bourdain has sung his last swan song, but he was more than just a chef, writer, and television personality, he was the definitive urbanist in his own way, a sociologist and anthropologist.

Talking affordability: How should we talk about housing affordability?

DC preservation: About one and five buildings in Washington, D.C. are designated as historic structures. Greater Greater Washington argues that it’s time for reform.

Metro Portland housing bond: Voters in the Portland are slated to vote on $653 million affordable housing bond this year.

Northgate housing plan: A new plan for Northgate Mall could include 1,200 apartments ($).

Business senses: How much do businesses care about people and the planet in your community?

EBT Detour: In preparing their new headquarters on Elliott Bay, Expedia will force a one-year detour for Elliott Bay Trail users ($).

Rezones: Vancouver, British Columbia reduced building heights in their Chinatown district for better cultural and historic compatibility. In Snohomish County, a stretch of SR-99 will allow more residential development capacity near South Everett and Mukilteo.

Standing tall: Can Seattle’s trees survive the city’s boom?

Influence of culture: How much does culture shape economic development?

Maritime jobs: Crosscut explores what the future of maritime might look like in Seattle.

Righting tenants: San Francisco voters backed a new law giving tenants legal representation if they are facing eviction.

Fighting in-need housing: A group against Seattle funding for homeless shelter and affordable housing have gathered 20,000 signatures in hopes of forcing a vote to repeal a tax on wealthy businesses and mega-corporations.

Bay depression: Almost half of all San Francisco Bay Area residents want to leave.

Suburban and bike-centric: People Places Bike explores a Dutch suburb that was never car-centric and doesn’t need a modern retrofit for a car-light community.

The Chicago Way: David Cole says that when it comes to housing, Seattle could use of a little more Chicago Way than Seattle Process.

Turning back the clock: The highway-building era made racial segregation worse, but can removing them turn back that damage?

Doomdoggle: The state highway department needs temporary private construction easements to take down portions of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Education dichotomy: Universities have brought economic innovation and success, but they also appear to be contributing to urban inequality and economic segregation, particularly in their own backyards.

Housing/Land Use & Development

Rezoned, Revitalized Aurora

by Ryan DiRaimo and Guest Contributor @urbanistorg on June 11, 2018

Travel north on Aurora Avenue, past Lake Union, and you will see the iconic patterns of the corridor. Low budget motels, used car lots, low rise buildings set back from the street, barb wire fences, and small scale warehouses.

One more item you’ll see is busses full of passengers on a bus route with the highest ridership in all of Seattle.

Wait, really?

That’s right, some of Aurora’s future exists in the present as it zips by the zoning relics of the past. The Rapid Ride E line travels on a bus only lane carrying King County Metro’s highest daily ridership of 17,000. This is, in large part, due to the urban villages along the route that bring swaths of riders at each stop on their daily commute.

In 1994, Seattle Mayor Norm Rice recognized the region’s foreseeable population growth for the next 20 years. Rather than settling for suburban sprawl, his office established 30 neighborhoods targeted for added residential growth with hopes of adding jobs, increasing diversity, and upgrading transit services.

In 2014, that goal of 75% growth was achieved by adding 74.7% of the city’s housing units within these 30 urban village boundaries. One of those neighborhoods, the Aurora Licton-Springs Urban Village, is centered on Aurora Avenue between N. 84th Street and N. 110th Street. The 212 acre urban village stretches several blocks to the east to the west of Aurora Avenue. Of the 212 acres, 155 acres is zoned residential while 57 acres is zoned commercial.

Civics & Culture/Transit/Transportation/Video

Sunday Video: When Do We Get A SkyTrain To UBC?

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on June 10, 2018

In March, British Columbian leaders announced that SkyTrain in Vancouver would be extended partially on the 99 B Line, the busiest bus line in North America. However, the plan did not include the long-promised Expo Line extension to University of British Columbia (UBC), instead terminating halfway at Arbutus. Uytea Lee explains the rationale for why this might be (aside from dollars and cents) with humor, data, and graphics. Now it appears, however, that UBC may be poised to pay for the remainder of the extension.

Civics & Culture/The View From Nathan's Bus

358 Thoughts (on the 348)

by Nathan Vass on June 9, 2018

On the 348–

I’m going to describe him, and then I’m just going to let him talk, let the scene play out, that it might resonate for you as it did with me. We’re on Aurora, just about about to turn off and go burrowing west into the quiet residential tracts. He boards in true Aurora Avenue garb–gray carpenters and a white t-shirt dirty from work or play, jailhouse tats emblazoned on his arms, once pale but now tan and coarse. Stubble-faced traveller edging out his fourth decade, tough but friendly, companionable even, with the bass-heavy grit of life in his voice. He knows how to meet you on your turf.

“I think my transfer ran out,” he says. “Gimme a second with these bills.”
“Oh, just some coins is cool.”
“Points?”
“Coins. Just some coins, yeah. You’re all right.”
“Oh. Thanks, man.” He’s taken aback. I often feel I’ve seen more beautiful things with more regularity at this job than anywhere else: look at the face in his eyes now, the realization that he’s in a safe space, accepted. Among friends.

Civics & Culture/Plans & Policy/Transportation

Uptown Advocates Demand Better Multimodal Plan for Seattle Center Arena Renovation

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on June 8, 2018

On Wednesday, the Uptown Alliance, in conjunction with several other advocacy groups, issued a blistering comment letter on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS, Volume 1 and Volume 2) for the Seattle Center Arena renovation and expansion project. “We found the DEIS and accompanying mitigation measures, with its nearly exclusive focus on low occupancy vehicles, does little to change the status quo,” the advocates wrote. The Uptown Alliance and their allies argue that the DEIS does not go far enough to provide equitable, multimodal options as mitigation for expansion.

Oak View Group (OVG), the winning bidder to fully upgrade, expand, and operate the arena for 39 years, will spend upward of $600 million to the nearly double the total building square footage, relocate affected businesses, contribute to public benefits, and address transportation needs. In signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the city, OVG specifically agreed to covering all related transportation mitigation costs under the environmental review process in addition to contributing $40 million to a city mobility fund and participating in the city-led development of the North Downtown Mobility Action Plan.

The letter by the Uptown Alliance and their allies outlines six overarching objectives that should be analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS):

“Reduce dependency on low-occupancy vehicles enabling Seattle Center neighborhoods to be more livable, walkable, safe and welcoming.”
“Develop TMP and DMP programs with measurable performance goals and annual report card.”
“Mitigate impacts to surrounding neighborhoods.”
“Expand safety definition and improve safety conditions.”
“Narrow horizon year gap.”
“Ensure mitigation is in place by opening day of the Arena.”
Continue Reading »

Civics & Culture/Housing

Re-Legalize Family-Friendly Housing. Everywhere.

by Mike Eliason @bruteforceblog on June 8, 2018

The other day, one of the board members of the group organizing to kill the (MHA) Mandatory Housing Affordability program’s nominal upzones that will increase the construction of affordable housing, stated, “The only family-sized housing for rent is a house, and 23% of Seattle’s standalone single-family houses are rentals. Upzoning Seattle is anti-family.”

This is an, um, interesting statement. For one, most residents in Seattle don’t live in families – and the vast majority of new residents are single. Less than 5% of the city is composed of households greater than four people. Most of the renting families we know in the city don’t actually live in “stand-alone single-family houses”. Personally, we family rents a two-bedroom accessory dwelling unit (ADU). Many of our friends with kids live in apartments, townhomes, or duplexes. Several of our neighbors are single parents who live in apartments or condos–despite the claim above, these are all families, living in “family-sized housing”–that aren’t detached houses.

The belief that detached housing is the best option for families is dated and frankly privileged. Households in this city are incredibly diverse – nuclear families, blended families, single parents, cohabitating parents, extended families, intergenerational families, adopted families, and multitudes more. The notion that a singular form of housing (detached homes), increasingly accessible only to the wealthy, can accommodate them is, to say the least, misguided.

Land Use & Development/Plans & Policy

Seattle Considers Changes to the City Incentive Zoning Program

by Stephen Fesler @safesler on June 7, 2018

Seattle’s incentive zoning program could get much needed tweaks in the next year or so. On Monday, the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) unveiled an initial proposal consisting of more than a dozen objectives for reform. The overarching goal of the changes is to improve how the program operates. Changes will not expand the program to new areas or change overall incentive ratios.

Screen Shot 2018-06-06 at 13.19.58 — Areas where incentive zone applies. (City of Seattle)

Incentive zoning has operated in Seattle since the 1980s as a way to achieve certain public policy objectives while giving developers options to build more square footage. The first incentive zoning was implemented in the city center, primarily focusing on the central business district and retail core. Wider use of incentive zoning began in 2009 when Chinatown-International District and surrounding areas were added. Now forms of incentive zoning operate in South Lake Union (nearly the entire neighborhood) and portions of the University District, Uptown, and North Rainier.

Typical categories of incentives options include affordable housing contributions, privately-owned public spaces (e.g., plazas, accessible atriums, and hillclimbs assists), childcare facilities, Green Street improvements, and preservation of historic properties, open space, and vulnerable masonry structures through purchase of transfer of development rights (TDRs). Recent changes under the Mandatory Housing Affordability program has partially expanded the scope of some incentive options while also harmonizing them with mandatory requirements for affordable housing contributions.