A local writer evaluates the results of a 2014 ordinance that updated regulations regarding the development of microhousing. The Seattle City Council could once again revisit the regulations as part of the city's HALA process.
Ethan Phelps-Goodman reviews the outcomes of updated regulations for the development of microhousing in Seattle in 2014 now that some time has passed. According to Phelps-Goodman, neither affordable housing advocates nor opponents of microhousing should be happy with the results.
For opponents of microhousing, the rules failed to reign in development: about the same number of projects entered the pipeline in 2015 as the year before the rule change. But just as affordability advocates warned, the new projects no longer include the lowest priced units.
The article digs into the specific regulatory changes enacted by the 2014 ordinance, comparing permit data for the years before and after 2015. The questions is especially relevant in 2016, according to Phelps-Goodman, because the "Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda currently before City Council includes a recommendation to re-visit the new microhousing rules."
FULL STORY: A YEAR AFTER NEW MICROHOUSING RULES WENT INTO EFFECT, NEITHER SIDE SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research