The road to diversifying Seattle’s housing market took a solid step forward as the Select Committee on the Comprehensive Plan, chaired by Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth, rolled out the modified version of the ‘middle housing’ bill, known officially as interim HB 1110. In a unanimous decision, the committee has sent the legislation charging towards the next milestone – a full Council vote scheduled for May 28, as reported by Seattle Council’s website.
“I want to thank my colleagues, Council Central Staff, and all the legislative staffers who worked so hard over the past several months to create interim HB 1110 legislation that our city can be proud of,” Chair Hollingsworth expressed in a statement following the committee’s approval. The interim legislation is a bridge, not just physically in the form of constructed duplexes and townhouses, but also metaphorically, as it buys the city time to consider the Mayor’s larger One Seattle Comprehensive Plan and to iron out the permanent details for HB 1110.
The urgent push for this interim bill comes as a response to the heavy hand of a looming deadline. Seattle must comply with the state’s middle housing mandate by June 30, a timeline that appeared increasingly fraught after a raft of legal challenges slammed the brakes on the permanent adoption process. The interim legislation allows for various housing forms – including multiplexes and cozy cottage setups – to share space with Seattle’s traditionally single-family zones. This shakeup promises to thread new diversity into the fabric of Seattle’s residential tapestry…