Brennon Staley/Dennis Meier/Aly Pennucci OPCD MHA DTSLU Implementation ORD D1d

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CITY OF SEATTLE

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ORDINANCE __________________

 

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COUNCIL BILL __________________ 

 

3 ..title 4 AN ORDINANCE relating to land use and zoning, amending the Official Land Use Map 5 (Chapter 23.32 of the Seattle Municipal Code) to rezone certain land in Downtown, 6 South Lake Union and adjacent IC zones; amending Sections 23.41.012, 23.48.220, 7 23.48.225, 23.48.230, 23.48.232, 23.48.235, 23.48.245, 23.48.250, 23.48.285, 23.49.008, 8 23.49.011, 23.49.013, 23.49.014, 23.49.041, 23.49.058, 23.49.156, 23.49.158, 23.49.164, 9 23.50.020, 23.50.026, 23.50.028, 23.50.033, 23.50.039, 23.50.053, 23.50.055, 10 23.58B.040, 23.58B.050, 23.58C.025, 23.58C.030, 23.58C.035, 23.58C.040, 23.58C.050, 11 and 23.76.006 of the Seattle Municipal Code; amending the Downtown Overlay Maps in 12 Chapter 23.49 of the Seattle Municipal Code; and adding new Sections 23.48.223, 13 23.48.231, 23.49.007, 23.49.039, and 23.50.041 to the Seattle Municipal Code to 14 implement Mandatory Housing Affordability requirements in Downtown and South Lake 15 Union. 16 ..body 17 WHEREAS, in May 2013, the City Council adopted Resolution 31444, which established a work 18

 program for reviewing and potentially modifying the City’s affordable housing incentive

19  programs; and 20 WHEREAS, according to Resolution 31444, the City Council commissioned reports examining 21 national best practices for increasing the availability of affordable housing to identify 22 new strategies for Seattle; and 23 WHEREAS, in September 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution 31546, in which the 24 Council and Mayor proposed that a Seattle Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda 25 (HALA) Advisory Committee be jointly convened by the Council and the Mayor to 26 evaluate potential housing strategies; and 27 WHEREAS, the HALA Advisory Committee provided final recommendations to the Mayor and 28 City Council on July 13, 2015; and 29

 

Brennon Staley/Dennis Meier/Aly Pennucci OPCD MHA DTSLU Implementation ORD D1d

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WHEREAS, the HALA Advisory Committee recommended extensive citywide upzoning of 1 residential and commercial zones and, in connection with such upzones, implementation 2 of a mandatory inclusionary housing requirement for new residential development and 3 commercial linkage fees for new commercial development; and 4 WHEREAS, the HALA Advisory Committee recommended that the mandatory inclusionary 5 housing requirement offer developers the option of building affordable housing or 6 making a cash contribution to fund preservation and production of affordable housing, 7 and that the requirement be implemented upon approval of extensive citywide upzoning 8 of residential and commercial zones; and 9 WHEREAS, the City has the authority to require mandatory housing affordability for residential 10 development according to its police power; and 11 WHEREAS, a mandatory housing affordability requirement for residential development is one of 12

many actions the City intends to undertake to implement the Comprehensive Plan’

s goals 13 and policies for housing affordability; and 14 WHEREAS the Countywide Planning Policies, as ratified by the King County Council, provide 15 that jurisdictions may consider a full range of programs, from optional to mandatory, that 16 will assist in meeting

the jurisdiction’s share of the countywide need for affordable

17 housing; and 18

WHEREAS, one of the City’s planning goals under the Growth Management Act, chapter

19 36.70A RCW, is to make adequate provision for the housing needs of all economic 20 segments of the city; and 21 WHEREAS, the Affordable Housing Incentives Program Act, RCW 36.70A.540, authorizes and 22 encourages cities to enact or expand affordable housing incentive programs providing for 23

 

Brennon Staley/Dennis Meier/Aly Pennucci OPCD MHA DTSLU Implementation ORD D1d

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the development of low-income housing units through development regulations or 1 conditions on rezoning or permit decisions, or both; and 2 WHEREAS, according to the Affordable Housing Incentives Program Act, jurisdictions may 3 establish a minimum amount of affordable housing that must be provided by all 4 residential developments in areas where increased residential development capacity has 5  been provided; and 6 WHEREAS, the July 13, 2015, Statement of Intent for Basic Framework for Mandatory 7

Inclusionary Housing and Commercial Linkage Fee (commonly referred to as the “Grand

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Bargain”)

 states that the mandatory housing affordability requirements for residential and 9 commercial development should achieve a projected production level over ten years of no 10 less than 6,000 units of housing affordable to households with incomes no greater than 60 11  percent of median income, and that, if the projected production level falls below the 12 target, all parties agree to develop and consider options to achieve the agreed-upon 13  production target; and 14 WHEREAS, in November 2015, the City Council adopted Ordinance 124895, which established 15 the framework for an Affordable Housing Impact Mitigation Program for commercial 16 development; and 17 WHEREAS, in November 2015, the City Council adopted Resolution 31612, stating the 18

Council’s intent to make changes to zoning and

 land use regulations to implement a 19 mandatory inclusionary affordable housing program for residential development 20 recommended by the HALA Advisory Committee and the Mayor; and 21 WHEREAS, in August 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance 125108 which established the 22 framework for mandatory housing affordability for residential development; and 

 

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