This afternoon, after years of work, the City Council gave final approval to the “city-wide” MHA legislation, which upzoned and applied affordable-housing requirements in the city’s urban villages .
Category Archives: housing
Rentberry takes a double-loss in its case against the city’s moratorium
Friday was a bad day for Rentberry in Seattle. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones ruled against it in its lawsuit challenging the City of Seattle’s moratorium on rent-bidding web sites. And in a separate case, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a blow to Rentberry’s key argument — and its best hope of winning on appeal.
Continue reading Rentberry takes a double-loss in its case against the city’s moratorium
Anti-displacement bill gets first discussion
This morning, Council member Lisa Herbold’s bill requiring developers to replace any affordable housing units demolished by construction projects got its first hearing, in the Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee. And it didn’t get the warm welcome that one might expect. Rather, there was a complicated and sometimes frustrating conversation.
Continue reading Anti-displacement bill gets first discussion
Know your city: downtown development
The Downtown Seattle Association, a local advocacy group boasting 2,000 corporate, nonprofit and residential members, has published a report on downtown construction in 2018, and what we can expect for the next 2+ years.
MHA legislation passes out of committee after showdown over amendments (UPDATED)
It took about fours hours, but the Council worked its way through all of the proposed amendments to the city-wide MHA legislation and passed it out of committee this afternoon (and evening).
Here’s how it played out.
Continue reading MHA legislation passes out of committee after showdown over amendments (UPDATED)
Preview of Monday’s pivotal MHA meeting
Two weeks ago the Council walked through all of its proposed amendments to the city-wide MHA ordinance; I wrote up the results here. Tomorrow afternoon, they are scheduled to vote on those amendments, vote it out of committee, and then give final approval to the ordinance on March 18th..
The Council will also start discussing a draft companion resolution to accompany the MHA bill that commits the Council to several other actions.
Here’s a preview of how things are shaking out, and the awkward conversations the Council members will need to have tomorrow as they vote on amendments.
Durkan, Herbold take on displacement
This morning, Mayor Jenny Durkan and Council member Lisa Herbold announced some specific actions they are each taking to address displacement in Seattle.
MHA issues come into focus as Council debates amendments
Last Friday, the City Council held its first public discussion of the amendments formally proposed for the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) “upzone” ordinance. While no official decisions were made (that will happen on February 25th), it became clear which ones had consensus support — and on others, where the battle lines are being drawn.
Continue reading MHA issues come into focus as Council debates amendments
MHA enters the endgame
Two notable things happened today with regard to the proposed city-wide MHA “upzone” legislation: the city published the anticipated Final EIS addendum expanding on the historic resources analysis, and the City Council’s list of proposed amendments was released in advance of tomorrow’s MHA committee discussion.
Fair Chance Housing court challenge stayed
The legal challenge to the city’s Fair Chance Housing ordinance has been put on hold by U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, who is overseeing the case, in order to ask the Washington Supreme Court to clarify a point of state law.