Contacts available for comment and background:
- Dan Bertolet, Senior Director of Housing + Urbanism, Sightline Institute, dan@sightline.org
- Catie Gould, Senior Researcher (parking focus), Sightline Institute, catie@sightline.org
OLYMPIA, WA – Washington lawmakers have passed a slate of bills to unblock new homes in cities and towns statewide and to lower home costs and rents for Washingtonians. They now head to the Governor’s desk for final approval.
“These are big wins for the people of Washington,” said Dan Bertolet, Senior Director of Housing and Cities at Sightline Institute. “In cities large and small, people are struggling to find homes they can afford, thanks to decades of local policy choices that have limited what we build. We’re finally starting to correct that with smart, targeted reforms that eliminate barriers and empower communities to shape their growth sustainably and fairly.”
“As of the passage of the Parking Reform and Modernization Act, Washington state now leads the US on parking reform,” said Catie Gould, a Senior Researcher with Sightline who helped draft and advocate for parking reform (SB 5184). “SB 5184 means more homes at lower costs, more great neighborhoods and thriving local businesses, and less red tape and excess asphalt, sprawl, and pollution.”
Major housing bills that passed in Olympia this year include:
- Parking reform: One of the strongest parking reform packages ever passed in the United States, SB 5184 caps the minimum number of parking spots local governments can mandate for new homes and businesses. It gives more flexibility to certain building types, including daycares, senior living facilities, affordable housing, and small-footprint housing and commercial buildings.
- Transit-oriented development (TOD) (HB 1491) legalizes larger apartment buildings near the state’s major transit stops, providing more affordable options within reach of jobs, schools, and opportunity. The bill includes an important funded inclusionary zoning measure to offset the cost of the affordable homes required in every new apartment building constructed near transit.
- Historic landmarking: To honor the intent of historic building designations and prevent weaponized landmarking, HB 1576 requires owner consent to landmark any property less than125 years old, and sets a minimum age of 40 years for a building to be nominated for landmark status.
- Lot splitting: HB 1096 allows owners to sell part of their lots. For a homeowner struggling with rising costs, this can help them keep their home and stay put in their community. And for first-time buyers, it means smaller, more affordable starter homes in Washington’s desirable neighborhoods.
- Production accountability: SB 5148 ensures cities and towns are doing their part to build the homes Washington needs. It grants the Department of Commerce new authority to review and approve the local housing plans required by state law.
- Setbacks and façades: HB 1183 is a sort of “goodie bag” of code upgrades, including a prohibition on local requirements for facade modulation or upper-level setbacks for mass timber, passive house, modular construction, and affordable housing.
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Several other good bills failed to win passage, including SB 5156, for smaller, economical elevators that improve accessibility in small apartment buildings, and HB 1443 for Mobile Dwelling Units (a low-cost, fast-build, flexible housing option). Read the full list of bills we were watching this session.
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Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of housing, democracy, energy, and forests policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.
