Council member Kshama Sawant has decided that 2019 is the year to push for rent control in Seattle — even though there is still a statewide ban on it. She held a rally last week announcing that she would be introducing rent control legislation (to become effective if/when the state lifts its ban), and earlier this week she invited the Seattle Renters Commission to present in her committee (video here) on why they are recommending that the city implement rent control. I’m not an economist, not a landlord, nor a renter. But since we’re having this debate, I went to …
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Update to vacant building monitoring program advances
This morning, the Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee took up a bill that makes some adjustments to the city’s vacant building monitoring program.
Continue readingCouncil passes “city-wide” MHA legislation
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 .
Continue readingRentberry 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 readingAnti-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 readingKnow 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.
Continue readingMHA 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 readingPreview 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.
Continue readingDurkan, 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.
Continue readingMHA 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.
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