The Seattle City Council signed off on a temporary housing plan Tuesday that paves the way for added density in all the city’s neighborhoods.
By passing Tuesday’s bill, the city is in compliance with new statewide requirements dictating how much housing should be allowed in cities across Washington. Now that the council has checked that box, it will turn its attention to passing a permanent road map for growth in Seattle over the next 20 years.
Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, who shepherded the bill through a special committee, call the product a “council-inclusive approach rooted in livability, sustainability. It is a collection of all of your priorities from start to finish,” she told her colleagues.
The law closely hews to what state lawmakers passed in 2023. Areas of the city dominated by single-family homes must accommodate four units per lot. That could go up to six units if near transit or if two of the homes are affordable.
Most of the city already allows three units on each lot — a primary home and up to two accessory dwelling units. The new rules could mean more town homes, row houses, stacked flats or additional accessory units.
The council still needs to approve a long-term plan for growth. But the city fell behind in its deliberations and was unlikely to pass a permanent bill before the June deadline set by the state — first, because the proposed plan from Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office was late to be submitted and, second, because appeals to the city’s hearing examiner delayed the process.
Instead, the council opted for the temporary bill.
Most of the parameters for growth were preset by the state, leaving city leaders with less latitude than in previous housing debates. The mayor and members of the council did weigh how to regulate the size and scope of new development — namely how much total square footage would be allowed and how much of each lot would be used up. The council also debated how much yard space each new development should include.
Those technical details, along with interest rates and the state of the broader economy, will dictate how interested developers are in taking advantage of the new density allowances.
Much of the conversation around the permanent legislation will be a repeat of what the council just had. The exception are the 30 proposed “neighborhood centers” that would allow greater density near the city’s small-business areas, like Magnolia, Maple Leaf, Bryant Park, Madison Park and elsewhere.
The council set an October deadline to pass its permanent legislation.
