One of the more common complaints I hear when I work on various volunteer efforts I’m a part of, or following local news, is that Seattle is growing too much and too fast; too many people moving here, the growth is unsustainable; the cost of living is out of control from so many high-paid new employees (e.g. Amazon) and a litany of other related things. Without getting into whether or not these views are accurate or the goals are good or bad, how could you really legally stop growth under our Federal, state, county or city laws?

Say the “anti-growth people” or “restricted growth people,” broadly defined, actually got a majority of the City Council and the Mayor’s office in an election:

1. How could you actually limit the ability of businesses to move to Seattle?
2. How could you actually limit the ability of businesses to add more employees to Seattle locations?
3. How could you actually limit the ability of Seattle businesses to pay higher wages to employees, to keep the cost of living from escalating?
4. How could you stop builders from building when zoning is already in place and many, many projects are already green lit legally?
5. How do you stop the cost of real estate and rentals from rising? Note: Rent control is illegal under state law and no one but extremely fringe political thinking says this will change any time soon.
6. How could you simply stop new people from moving here?

If 1-6 aren’t your goals — they seem to be, based on the constant complaints — what are the explicit end-game goals and how would you actually enact their achievement?

Any answers have to be compliant with the Constitution, Federal law, and state law. I’m genuinely curious as to what solutions are proposed to these ends, which are not pie-in-the-sky improbable or illegal. What remedies exist to reach the desired ends?

Even if you’re not in favor of these things, weigh in — how COULD they legally be done? I’m at a loss of figuring some of them out.

 

Joe Szilagyi is a West Seattle resident, and volunteer with the Westwood-Roxhill Arbor Heights Community Council and the West Seattle Transportation Coalition.