We’ve been calling for a comprehensive housing plan from the Seattle City Council, including with our video and petition. For too long the Council has taken a piecemeal approach to housing and land use and has largely relied on regulations, rules, fees, and taxes which simply add costs to housing, reduce supply, and ensure higher housing prices. But last week we got a draft resolution from Councilmember Clark’s office proposing a committee. We are working on a response to the resolution. Things have to start somewhere, and this is the first step. We’d like to get your thoughts on the resolution. What do you think? Any ideas? Let us know. Send me an e-mail at roger@seattleforgrowth.org

A RESOLUTION concerning the development of a Comprehensive Housing Strategy for the City of Seattle and calling for establishment of a Comprehensive Housing Strategy Advisory Committee that would be jointly appointed by the Mayor and Council.

WHEREAS, the availability of housing throughout Seattle is integral to the health and well- being of residents and to the vitality and vibrancy of the City; and

WHEREAS, the City is experiencing strong economic growth that has fueled the demand for rental and homeownership housing for households of all income levels; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council desire to ensure that the growth and vitality occurring in the City translates into opportunities for high quality housing options for all its residents; and

WHEREAS, according to the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates 2006-2010, the households with the greatest need for assistance in accessing affordable housing today are those with incomes at or below 80% of AMI; and

WHEREAS, there are currently 321,700 housing units in the City, and it is expected that the City will add 70,000 new units over the next 20 years; and

WHEREAS, of those 70,000 new units, it is anticipated that more than 40% or 27,000 units will need to be affordable to those at or below 80% of AMI, assuming income levels of households living in Seattle today remain essentially the same; and

WHEREAS, the City has a variety of existing programs and policies that assist in providing housing affordable to households at or below 80% of AMI including: The Rental Housing Production and Preservation program; homeownership assistance programs; rental assistance programs; the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, the Incentive Zoning Program, and others; and

WHEREAS, these existing programs and policies are unlikely to provide the number of affordable units that will be required to meet the future affordable housing needs of households across the City; and

WHEREAS, in 2013 the Council adopted Resolution 31444, which set out a work program for reviewing affordable housing programs and policies including the Incentive Zoning Program; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Resolution 31444, the Council has commissioned reports looking at best practices used nationally for increasing the availability of affordable housing in an effort to identify new programs or policies or revisions to existing programs and policies that could increase the availability of affordable housing in the City; and

WHEREAS, as a result of this work, the Council will make policy decisions in the Fall of 2014 regarding the Incentive Zoning Program and other affordable housing programs that will be incorporated in the proposed Comprehensive Housing Strategy described in Section 1; and

WHEREAS, the City is in the process of reviewing and updating the Comprehensive Plan, including the Housing Element of that plan, which will include goals for the availability of affordable housing across the City over the next twenty years; and

WHEREAS, the Planning Commission produced a white paper entitled “Family-Sized Housing An Essential Ingredient to Attract and Retain Families with Children in Seattle” detailing needs and potential solutions for family housing; and

WHEREAS, the City will soon begin planning efforts for the next Housing Levy that provides significant funding for the preservation and production of affordable housing and is anticipated to be put on the ballot in 2016; and

WHEREAS, the City could use these efforts as the foundation for the development of a Comprehensive Housing Strategy that would: project likely housing development over the next 20 years; clearly identify the current and projected affordable housing needs over the next five to ten years; the ability of the existing programs and policies to meet those needs; the estimated gap(s) that exist in meeting those projected housing needs; and recommendations for new or revised programs and policies that could help fill the gaps and meet the City’s housing needs over the next five to ten years.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Section 1. The Council requests the Executive to work collaboratively on the development of a Comprehensive Housing Strategy that will seek to support the overall development of housing in Seattle and ensure the availability of more affordable housing for the residents of the City over the next five to ten years.

Section 2. To assist with this work, the Council proposes that a Comprehensive Housing Strategy Advisory Committee be jointly appointed by the Council and Mayor. This advisory committee would be supported by the staff of the Office of Housing, Department of Planning and Development and other appropriate city agencies. The work of the advisory committee should be informed by the recent consultant reports commissioned by the Council, as well as the other studies that have been done by other jurisdictions looking at strategies for increasing the availability of affordable housing. At a minimum, the strategy should include:

• current and estimated development of housing units, as articulated in the City’s Comprehensive Plan;
• current and estimated needs for affordable housing;
• current and estimated funding for housing programs and expected production from such funding;
• existing programs or policies and expected availability of housing from such programs;
• recommendations concerning new programs or policies for housing production and preservation and/or revisions to existing program or policies and expected availability of housing from such recommendations.

Section 3. The Comprehensive Housing Strategy Advisory Committee should complete its work and issue a report to the Mayor and Council by March 31, 2015.