The Seattle City Council actually did the right thing yesterday, passing Councilmember O’Brien’s legislation to permit encampments for people who are homeless and including an amendment by Councilmember Sawant to study encampments in single-family zones. We supported the legislation and the amendment, agreeing with Councilmember Sawant who said in yesterday’s discussion that:

We are all residents whether we have a roof over our head or not.

Very true. As we pointed out in our letter of support, why would we rule out any square inch of the city for new housing. But there is an irony here in what Councilmember Licata said:

We all have to look out for our fellow human beings in trying to give them a roof over their head an  opportunity to have a decent life.

I wanted to add, “unless they are living in a new single-family home on a small-lot, or in microhousing, or an a building that is ‘out of character’ with the other houses on the block.” 

I am glad the Council supported Councilmember Sawant’s efforts to study tent cities in single-family zones. In fact I sent a thank you note to all the Councilmembers:

Thank you for passing legislation to allow additional shelter options for people struggling with homelessness. And a special thanks for supporting Councilmember Sawant’s amendment to take a look at every neighborhood and part of our city for these kinds of permits and options. As you’ll remember from our attached letter, we supported Councilmember Sawant’s proposal.

I’d echo Councilmember Licata who said we should be supporting our “fellow human beings in trying to give them a roof over their head an opportunity to have a decent life.”

But this is true not only for people who want to find shelter in tent cities, but also for new people moving to our city who want to live on a small-lots in a single-family neighborhood in house that might not fit the “character” of the houses around it, in microhousing, or in other unique or dense housing options that are different than the prevailing single-family typology.

Please consider the same broad allowances for other types of housing like duplexes, triplexes, town homes, flex homes, cottage housing, and courtyard housing in single-family neighborhoods for the same reasons you passed this legislation: we need to provide housing opportunities for everyone who wants to live in our city, and single-family zones shouldn’t be off the table.