CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to land use and zoning; establishing the Roots to Roofs Bonus Pilot Program; and adding new Sections 23.40.090 through 23.40.097 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council finds and declares:
A. In April 2021 the City published Market Rate Housing Needs and Supply Analysis, which identified that:
1. Approximately 46,000 Seattle households are cost burdened, meaning that those households spend more than half of their incomes on rent;
2. Housing supply is not keeping pace with demand;
3. Housing costs are increasing more quickly than income;
4. The rental housing market has a shortage of housing affordable and available to lower income households;
5. Approximately 34,000 lower-wage workers commute more than 25 miles to Seattle demonstrating a latent demand for affordable workforce housing; and
6. As Seattle's share of higher income households grows, development of housing for those households increases economic and physical displacement of lower income residents.
B. With the passage of Chapter 332, Laws of 2023, Seattle must modify current land use regulations to accommodate a range of middle housing types. The City has an interest in exploring development pilots to demonstrate development types and partnerships that leverage community assets to provide equitable development that will not contribute to economic and physical displacement of current residents.
C. Implementing the pilot program created by this ordinance is implementing an affordable housing incentive program under RCW 36.70A.540. The pilot program applies in most zones where residential development is allowed except some highrise zones, historic districts, and industrial areas that allow residential uses. Additional development cap...
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