CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to affordable housing on properties owned or controlled by religious organizations; modifying existing development standards to facilitate creation of affordable housing; amending Section 23.45.504 of the Seattle Municipal Code, renumbering Section 23.44.009 of the Seattle Municipal Code as Section 23.44.007 and Section 23.44.019 as Section 23.44.009; and adding new Sections 23.42.055, 23.44.019, 23.45.550, 23.47A.040, 23.48.100, and 23.49.037 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, Seattle has an acute shortage of and need for housing affordable to households with low incomes, particularly extremely low-income households; and
WHEREAS, roughly one in seven Seattle households pays more than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs, a phenomenon called housing cost burden, which leaves very little to pay for other basic necessities like food, transportation, healthcare, and child care; and
WHEREAS, housing cost burden is particularly high for Black households, half of which in 2018 paid more than 30 percent of their income toward housing costs; and
WHEREAS, from 2006 to 2018 the share of rental housing in Seattle affordable to low-, very low-, and extremely low-income households fell from more than 80 percent to less than half; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, with support from leaders in Seattle's religious communities, the Washington State Legislature adopted Substitute House Bill 1377 (SHB 1377), requiring cities and counties to allow additional residential density for long-term affordable housing on property owned or controlled by a religious organization; and
WHEREAS, Seattle's faith institutions have a long history of supporting and creating affordable housing for low-income families and individuals, with the help of the City's housing levy and other public funds; and
WHEREAS, religious organizations own property in multifamily, mixed-use, and single-fam...
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