CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to land use and zoning; removing regulatory barriers and simplifying and increasing permitting predictability for equitable development projects by modifying requirements for small institutions in residential zones; and amending Sections 23.44.006, 23.44.022, 23.45.570, 23.54.015, and 23.84A.018 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
body
WHEREAS, control over the use of land has been used in North America for centuries as a tool to further the colonization, segregation, exclusion, and disinvestment of communities of color, beginning in our region with European colonization of Coast Salish territory and continuing through the 20th century through public- and private-sector policies and practices like redlining and racially restrictive covenants; and
WHEREAS, once these explicitly racist practices were ruled unconstitutional, race-neutral zoning regulations supplanted them and served to solidify and further the exclusion of low-income people through minimum lot sizes, bans on lower-cost housing, and limits on housing supply, with particular impacts on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) households, which tend to have lower incomes and less wealth; and
WHEREAS, market forces and urban growth have increased displacement pressures on BIPOC communities, resulting in the documented dislocation of longtime residents, immigrants and refugees, culturally relevant businesses, and community anchors that provide stability and sustain community networks; and
WHEREAS, in 2016 the City established the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) to address financial barriers facing community-led anti-displacement projects, and EDI has since awarded funds to dozens of projects in neighborhoods at high risk of displacement; and
WHEREAS, many EDI-funded projects include activities, like community gathering space, arts and cultural space, and educational programming, that are mo...
Click here for full text