Three more HALA-upzoned parcels on 41st SW in Morgan Junction have a redevelopment proposal: Two buildings totaling 56 units, according to this early-stage site plan (PDF) filed with the city this week. The parcels are 6308 and 6314 41st, plus, on the corner, 4023 SW Graham. The site plan shows a three-story, 14-unit building fronting 41st, with a five-story, 42-unit building behind it. A Texas-based company, StoryBuilt, is proposing the project, described in city files as follows:

The project is made up of 56 homes with a mixture of townhomes, flats, and split-level residences along with 33 surface and below grade parking spaces access(ed) off an alley.

There’s already an apartment proposal across Graham to the north, and townhouse proposals to the south. The latter sites, plus the parcels in this new plan, were part of the upzoning-anticipation listing we reported in 2017, but records don’t yet show a sale.

That century-old house is on one of two parcels that have a just-filed two-part early-stage proposal for 12 townhouses. The parcels are at 9442 and 9446 20th SW, immediately north of a parking lot that’s across SW Roxbury from Holy Family Church. They were upzoned to Lowrise 2 (M1) under HALA-Mandatory Housing Affordability. The initial site plans show 8 offstreet-parking spaces for the 12 units, to be built in four 3-unit buildings.

(King County Assessor’s Office photo)

That’s the latest Morgan Junction house proposed for replacement by multi-family development made possible by HALA MHA upzoning. But this one, at 6056 41st SW (corner of Graham) is not set for townhouses like multiple parcels a block south. The early-stage proposal here is for two small three-story apartment buildings on the 6,250-square-foot lot, with 10 units total and five offstreet parking spaces .

(King County Assessor’s Office photo)

That house at 9256 26th SW, on the corner of Cambridge, south of Westwood Village, is proposed for demolition, to be replaced by 10 rowhouse-style townhouse units and 7 offstreet parking spaces. The block of single-family houses was upzoned to Lowrise 1 by the passage of HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability. It’s an early-stage proposal; here’s the site plan (PDF).

(King County Assessor photo)

Another HALA MHA-upzoned site in Morgan Junction has a redevelopment plan, and the project team sent word of an Early Community Outreach meeting. It’s 6035 42nd SW, currently holding the 94-year-old house shown above, upzoned to Lowrise 1 by HALA MHA and now proposed for five townhouses, with two more to be built behind the not-to-be-demolished house to the south at 6039 42nd SW. The project team invites interested community members to come to C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor) 7-8 pm Monday, October 14th. They’ve also set up a project website here.

(King County Assessor photo)

Just filed with the city today, an early-stage plan to build four townhouses in a rowhouse building on a site that currently holds a church. The Admiral District site at 4409 SW College is currently home to a Jehovah’s Witnesses‘ Kingdom Hall, though the denomination’s website does not show a schedule of meetings. The site was rezoned from single family to lowrise in the city’s HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning. The site plan (PDF) only shows these four rowhouses on about half the church’s 12,000-square-foot parcel, which could mean something more for the rest of the site, but nothing is on file yet.

Two years ago, we reported on the for-sale listing of seven Morgan Junction single-family-zoned parcels in anticipation of their HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning to Lowrise 3. That happened, and now two of those parcels are set for redevelopment into townhouses and listed on the city’s Early Design Community Outreach site – 6326 41st SW [map], planned for nine 4-story townhouse units with no offstreet parking, and 6320 41st SW, planned for six 4-story townhouse units with four offstreet-parking spaces. Neither parcel has a sale showing in county records yet. Meantime, while it’s not listed in the Early Design Outreach program with those two sites, a different set of city records shows a similar proposal for the also-upzoned lot just north of them – six 4-story townhouse units with four offstreet parking spaces.

If you just looked at the unanimous final vote, you’d never guess that the Housing and Livability Agenda‘s Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning had traveled a long and sometimes-bumpy path before final City Council approval late today. (The Seattle Channel video above shows the three-hour council meeting, including 46 minutes o public comment.)

It dates back to an advisory committee convened in 2014 that delivered its report to then-Mayor Ed Murray in 2015. What he announced at the time as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing with a promise of 20,000 “affordable homes” in 10 years morphed to Mandatory Housing Affordability with an expectation of 6,000 affordable units in 10 years. In exchange for the upzoning – which in most cases adds an extra floor – developers must create affordable units either as a specified percentage of what they build or by paying the city a fee to fund affordable-housing projects. Here’s how today’s post-vote city news release explains “affordability”:

People must income-qualify for affordable housing; for example, an individual earning less than $42,150 will pay no more than $1,128 for a one-bedroom unit, while a family of four earning less than $60,200 will pay no more than $1,353 for a two-bedroom unit.

The upzoning affects commercial and multifamily property citywide, and some single-family-zoned property in or adjacent to urban villages. You can look up how – or if – the changes would affect any specific part of the city by using this map (but be aware that it doesn’t reflect some changes that were made toward the end of the review).

Today’s votes followed speeches by most councilmembers; West Seattle/South Park’s Lisa Herbold said that while she supports MHA, she remains deeply concerned that it will cause displacement, and her separate proposal on that front is pending. Another who spoke at length was citywide Councilmember Lorena González, whose remarks included how much she enjoys living in The Junction as a dense neighborhood with good access to transit, businesses, and services.

Next step is for Mayor Jenny Durkan to sign the MHA legislation into law (the bills finalized today are linked in the council news release); she issued a statement late today saying she’ll do that before the week is out. The legislation would then become law a month later.

The citywide coalition of community groups (including five from West Seattle) that lost its appeal of MHA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, SCALE, has issued a statement too. The group says it’s “considering appealing the inadequately considered impacts of the MHA legislation to the Growth Management Hearings Board.” (That state board is explained here.)

For the second time in five days, the City Council had a four-hour-plus meeting on the HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning plan. Above is Seattle Channel video of the Monday afternoon/evening meeting, mostly devoted to considering dozens of potential amendments to the plan proposed by individual councilmembers. We were unable to monitor the entire hearing this time around so we checked with West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office today to see how her proposed amendments fared. The ones that were approved, according to legislative assistant Alex Clardy, moving forward to the final HALA MHA vote next month, are, in brief:

*1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6 all relate to “reduc(ing) … proposed rezones from Single Family within the West Seattle Junction Urban Village to Residential Small Lot.”

*1-12 and 1-13 both involve removing the Pedestrian zone designation for two stretches of California SW in Morgan Junction

*B-4 – not West Seattle-specific:

The proposed amendment would allow off-site performance if a development to which MHA-R requirements apply is located in a lowrise zone, and the development containing the off-site performance housing a) is located in a lowrise zone, b) provides re-sale restricted, affordable homeownership opportunities for income-eligible buyers, and c) receives no public subsidy.

*B-6 – also not West Seattle-specific, meant in case someone sues over MHA once it’s passed:

This amendment would add a new section to CB 119444 expressing Council’s intent to take steps, if the imposition of requirements under MHA are determined to be unlawful, to prevent the continuance of the new zoning and increased development capacity in the absence of substantial affordable housing requirements.

*B-7, explained as:

This amendment would require that at least five percent of revenue from the Mandatory Housing Affordability – Commercial (MHA – C) and Mandatory Housing Affordability – Residential (MHA – R) programs be allocated for capital investment in homeownership projects.

Under the current framework cash contributions from the payment option may be used for either rental or ownership housing. However, the framework does not prescribe a minimum allocation for either type of project.

*Comprehensive Plan amendment D-2 – related to Morgan Junction – “encourage(s) a mix of housing stock” and:

MJ-P23.1 Use community engagement and neighborhood planning tools to identify potential solutions for land use and housing affordability issues when more than 25 percent of the urban village could be affected by proposed zoning changes. Consider community planning to address land use, housing and other issues if the growth rate in the urban village accelerates to become significantly higher than anticipated in the Comprehensive Plan.

The documents with full details are linked from Monday’s agenda. Nothing’s final until the full Council vote, currently scheduled during the council’s regular 2 pm meeting on (corrected) March 18 – you can watch this page for the agenda when it gets close.

Last night – as we chronicled live for more than four hours – 107 people spoke at the City Council’s last major public hearing before they vote next month on the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda’s Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning plan. Before that final vote, councilmembers are set to debate and decide on myriad proposed changes next Monday. Here’s the agenda, with links to everything proposed so far. P.S. If you’re still catching up on what HALA MHA would do in your area, here’s the city’s interactive map.

(Substituted Friday morning: Seattle Channel video of Thursday night hearing)

5:38 PM: Click into that stream and you’ll be watching the event we’re at City Hall to cover – the City Council’s last big public hearing before its vote next month on HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning. (You can follow along with the agenda, and its relevant materials, here.) It’s been eight months since the council’s hearing in West Seattle; this one is for the entire city, and the chambers are full – with five of the 9 councilmembers here (Lorena González is chairing in the absence of vacationing committee chair Rob Johnson; also here are Lisa Herbold, Debora Juarez, Teresa Mosqueda, Kshama Sawant). We’ll be chronicling highlights as they happen.

First to speak is a representative from the SEIU. “Middle- and low-income workers will continue to be priced out of the city” if there’s not more housing stock, she says, expressing support for HALA MHA.

Second is also a HALA MHA supporter who says the process has taken too long. “Working families are struggling,” she says. “… More people need housing, and this is the chance to mitigate that need.”

Third and fourth are two members of 350 Seattle’s “housing team.” They say “housing is a climate issue” and express relief that “MHA is so close to the finish line.” They express opposition to some proposed amendments including the ones that would reduce the level of upzoning in some areas (including part of West Seattle).

Fifth is another MHA supporter who says, “We’ve been working on getting to the Grand Bargain [with developers] since the Nickels administration.” (That former mayor left office in 2009.)

Sixth, a representative of the city Planning Commission, in favor of MHA, who says they’re excited about its potential to “distribute more development capacity” to neighborhoods that could use it.

Seventh, the first opponent to speak, who says “tech bros” who are “strip-mining the city” and “venture capitalists” among others will continue to “pour in” and redevelop the city. She says that she and her husband feel they are being “pushed out of Seattle” so it’s “time to leave.” She draws a smattering of boos.

Eighth, an opponent who calls MHA “fundamentally flawed.” She also says she supports Councilmember Herbold’s anti-displacement proposal (announced yesterday). She wants to see neighborhood planning restored.

6 PM: Ninth, a speaker who says that MHA will lead to more displacement. So she wants the 23rd/Jackson urban village to not be upzoned. She specifically appeals to CM Sawant, saying her district, 3, has had “sacrificial lambs” already displaced. She draws strong applause (we should note that the pro-MHA speakers had drawn some applause too).

AHEAD: THE REST OF OUR 4 1/2 HOURS OF AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE: Read More

“If you take away affordable housing, you have to replace it.” That’s how one community member at tonight’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting summarized their take on the goal of proposed city legislation announced earlier in the day by West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who wants to bundle it with consideration of HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability, the subject of a council public hearing tomorrow night. Here’s the announcement sent by Herbold’s office:

Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle, South Park) will introduce an anti-displacement ordinance that would authorize additional displacement mitigations for housing projects located in South Park, Rainier Beach, Othello, Bitter Lake, and Westwood-Highland Park. These neighborhoods have been identified as having a high risk of displacement and low access to opportunity, according to Growth and Equity: Analyzing Impacts on Displacement and Opportunity Related to Seattle’s Growth Strategy, in the Comprehensive Plan Seattle 2035, an analysis conducted by the Office of Planning and Community Development.

“I appreciate Mayor Durkan’s efforts to address the displacement impacts of development by proposing to introduce legislation that the Council requested in 2017 by Resolution 31754. As described in the March 2018 status report to the Council, a community preferences policy will be useful for our non-profit developers. Nevertheless, we also desperately need a tool to address the displacement that occurs when for-profit developers build. Displacement is a challenging issue and we need many tools to address it,” said Herbold.

Councilmember Herbold will this week send the proposed bill to the Council’s Introduction and Referral Calendar. Councilmember Herbold has requested that the Council hear this bill concurrently with the MHA Citywide legislation.

“This ordinance would use authority granted under the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) to create a requirement for developers to mitigate the impacts resulting from the loss of affordable housing in those areas of the city that, if we didn’t do so, the result would be a failure to fulfill our obligation to ‘affirmatively promote fair housing’ — in other words, in areas where disproportionate displacement of communities of color and other protected classes is likely to occur,” Herbold said. (See upper left-hand corner of this image.)

“MHA Framework legislation, passed in 2016, Section 2.A.2.a, stated: The Council intends to consider whether to include higher performance and payment amounts, subject to statutory limits, for those areas where the increase in development capacity would be likely to increase displacement risk. Resolution 31733, passed in 2017, stated: The Council intends to consider a range of strategies to increase affordable units sufficient to offset the affordable units at risk of demolition due to new development.”

“I’m proud that the Council has a long legislative record of its commitment to address displacement. Now it’s time to act again,” Herbold continued.

“I have, over the years, expressed my great concern that the City describes MHA as ‘housing displacement mitigation tool,’ but has badly analyzed how development removes more affordable housing than the resources from MHA are sufficient to replace.

“For example, in the case of the University District MHA upzone in 2017, the City estimated that only 40-275 units of existing affordable units of housing would be demolished over 20 years. The EIS estimated likely demolition by identifying specific redevelopable parcels and quantifying their existing housing (zero, for parking lots and commercial buildings). The “full build out” scenario wherein construction occurs on all redevelopable parcels to the full capacity of the proposed rezone was estimated to result in the demolition of 275 homes over 20 years. In less than 2 years, based upon a Council Central Staff analysis of new development projects that are currently in some stage of having their Master Use Permit issued or Early Design Guidance reviewed and that are subject to the new zoning put in place in 2017, 96 units of affordable units are already planned for demolition.

“Using the same approach used in the University District in 2017, the City estimates that over 20 years 574 units of housing will be demolished in MHA rezone areas. My concerns about displacement today are heightened, especially considering how far afield the University District estimate has proven to be.”

This announcement comes on the eve of the council’s HALA MHA public hearing, 5:30 pm Thursday at City Hall downtown (600 4th Ave.), as previewed here Monday.

(West Seattle section of map featured on City Council’s MHA committee page)

Out of the snowstorm, into the fire. Just as we emerge from the all-consuming wintry weather, major projects and policies are approaching big decisionmaking points. Here’s another one: The city’s proposal for HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning. Thursday night at City Hall, it’s the final big public hearing before the City Council votes on the proposal, which has been more than three years in the making. Before the vote, councilmembers will consider possible amendments to the plan. Among them are amendments proposed by West Seattle/South Park (District 1) Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who explained them in her most-recent weekly update:

… I have been working with community members in each of the Urban Villages in District 1, specifically South Park, Admiral, West Seattle Junction, Westwood-Highland Park, and the Morgan Junction. They have helped me to develop a number of amendments that will, if passed, make changes to the current proposal to reflect the goals held by the community organizations representing those communities, while still implementing MHA in all areas proposed from MHA implementation.

Specifically, I am proposing five amendments with the Junction urban village that would upzone those five areas currently zoned as Single Family to Residential Small Lot (RSL), as opposed to the Executive’s proposal for Low Rise 1, 2, and 3 zoning. The reasoning for this is that the Junction has been identified as the location of a future light rail station; however, the specific alignment and location of the station have not yet been determined. Once that is determined, it will become more clear which properties Sound Transit will need to acquire. This is important because increasing development capacity in these locations may increase the value of the land, and Sound Transit is required to pay for the highest and best use of the land. Sound Transit is already needing third party funding for the development of these lines, and I do not want to see that problem exacerbated. The Community has expressed a desire for additional zoning capacity, but in accordance with the light rail station. To that end, the Office of Planning and Community has committed to beginning a neighborhood planning process in 2019 and 2020.

Additionally, three other amendments I have proposed, one in the Morgan Junction and two in the Westwood-Highland Park urban village, would provide better stair-stepping and avoid harsh transitions from one zone to the next.

At the last meeting of the Council’s Select Committee on Mandatory Housing Affordability, I presented these amendments and some of my colleagues expressed concern. I am proud of District 1, for the most part, embracing the conversion of Single Family Zoning in Urban Villages to RSL. This is significant progress from a year ago when there was fierce opposition in some corners to any changes to Single Family Zoning in Urban Villages. I believe it’s my responsibility, in governing to collaborate with my constituents, and in that spirit, I will continue to champion these amendments. I encourage you to come to the public hearing on Thursday the 21, to share your thoughts about these amendments, because I could use your help. …

Herbold also talked about HALA MHA and her proposed amendments at last Thursday’s West Seattle Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting:

If you can’t make it to Thursday’s hearing (5:30 pm in Council chambers, 600 4th Ave.) you can also voice your opinion to councilmembers by emailing council@seattle.gov.

TIMELINE: After Thursday’s hearing, the council expects to vote on amendments and other related bills next Monday afternoon (February 25th), after their regular weekly afternoon meeting, around 2:30 pm. The final vote on HALA MHA, amended or not, is expected during the 2 pm council meeting on March 18th.

NOT SURE WHAT HALA IS? Herbold’s aforementioned weekly update includes a short primer/recap. The city’s interactive maps will show you how any particular property will or won’t be affected by the upzoning proposals, as they stand now.

Jam session from veteran jazz combo featuring Charlie Akeley and guests. 8 pm. No cover.

Ages 21+ only.

ORIGINAL REPORT, 11:58 PM TUESDAY: More than tbree years have passed since then-Mayor Ed Murray proposed the upzoning plan eventually named HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability,to affect commercial and multifamily property citywide, as well as other property in the city’s “urban villages.” Now it’s moving toward a final vote, expected in mid-March. First, councilmembers will consider potential amendments to the plan. Wednesday morning at 9:30 am, they will look at 10 amendments proposed for West Seattle, as well as 1 for South Park, plus dozens in three other City Council districts. From the agenda documents, here are short descriptions of the 10 amendments proposed to modify what HALA MHA upzoning would otherwise do in West Seattle:

1-1

Intersection of SW Carroll St and Beach Dr SW
Do not rezone the Residential – Commercial node at the intersection of SW Carroll St and Beach Dr SW.

That’s the area by Weather Watch Park, best known businesswise for La Rustica.

1-2 through 1-6

Single-family zones within the West Seattle Junction Residential Urban Village: Modify all proposed rezones from Single-family within the West Seattle Junction Urban Village to Residential Small Lot.

Otherwise, the single-family-zoned areas there are slated for upzoning to Lowrise 1.

1-7

West Seattle Junction Residential Urban Village: Triangle Area
Increase proposed maximum heights of Neighborhood Commercial zones within the Junction triangle area from 75′ to 95′.

The Triangle area went through its own planning process early this decade.

1-8

Area west of Fauntleroy, south of SW Graham Street
Reduce the proposed zone designation in the Morgan Junction Urban Village south of SW Graham Street and northwest of Fauntleroy Way SW to a less intense Lowrise multifamily zone designation.

That would be LR2 instead of LR3.

1-10

Area bounded by SW Barton, Barton Pl SW and 21st Ave SW
Reduce the proposed zone designation within the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village in the area generally between SW Barton Pl and Delridge Way SW from Lowrise multifamily to Residential Small Lot.

Here’s an explainer of RSL and other zoning designations.

1-11

26th Ave SW between SW Barton & SW Roxbury ST
Reduce the proposed zone designation within the WestwoodHighland Park Urban Village along 26th Av S from Lowrise multifamily to Residential Small Lot.

(Close-up maps for each proposed amendment are toward the start of this document from the meeting packet.) The council will discuss these, and the amendments proposed for three other council districts, at Wednesday morning’s meeting (9:30 am, City Hall, live coverage as usual via Seattle Channel) with more discussion planned February 8th. An evening public hearing is planned February 21st, and then the council is scheduled to vote on amendments February 25th.

ADDED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: The video of today’s council committee meeting is now available online.

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Neighbors gathered Tuesday night for a meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, to discuss topics ranging from affordable housing to “Viadoom.”

The meeting, held at The Sanctuary at Admiral, was the first ANA meeting with David Hancock at the helm as the group’s president. The current slate of ANA officers includes:

• President: David Hancock
• Vice President: Larry Wymer
• Secretary: Delores Kannas
• Treasurer: Carrie MacCann
• Membership: Susan Staples and Sofia Velling
• Neighborhood Plan Stewardship: Matt Hutchins
• Summer Concert Series: Stephanie Jordan

Board members provided some brief updates, including the news that the likely dates for this summer’s Thursday night Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series would be July 18 through August 22.

Read More

That’s Seattle Channel video of today’s City Council committee meeting resuming consideration of HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning. The meeting was a refresher of sorts, including an update on city staffers’ progress working on a historic-resources addendum to the HALA MHA Environmental Impact Statement, as ordered by the city Hearing Examiner. It’s expected to be completed by the end of the month, councilmembers were told. (Here’s the slide deck from that part of the briefing.) The briefing also looked at potential amendments to the HALA MHA housing – those are detailed in this memo, along with a different type of amendments – proposed changes to the city comprehensive plan.

Among the latter are neighborhood-planning-related proposals made by the Morgan Community Association two years ago. Speaking in the public-comment period at the end of today’s meeting were MoCA’s Cindi Barker and Deb Barker, who observed that it’s been frustrating to await their fate; “We could have had a really nice neighborhood planning process since then.”

Of note, West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who met last week with local neighborhood advocates about HALA MHA issues, wasn’t at today’s council meeting. She and at-large Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda were in New York City speaking to an organization that is upset about Amazon’s plan to locate part of its second headquarters there, Make the Road. That group paid for Herbold’s trip, according to her staffer Alex Clardy. In case you’re interested in what she said – the event’s host, New York’s Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, published this video; Herbold’s speech starts about 39 minutes in:

The event included New York politicians with whom Herbold was shown in photos on Twitter:

Herbold and Mosqueda were not the only absences from today’s HALA meeting; also not there, Councilmembers Lorena González and Kshama Sawant. As Deb Barker detailed to the Southwest District Council last week (WSB coverage here), the council has a busy schedule of HALA-related meetings from hereon out – including Monday and Wednesday of next week (January 14 and 16) – with a final vote on the upzoning proposal expected in mid-March.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One day into 2019, West Seattle community advocates filled a room at the Sisson Building/Senior Center for the Southwest District Council‘s first meeting of the year.

Here are our toplines of what they heard and discussed:

POLICE UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Steve Strand said the precinct has three new officers and another one on the way, so is at or “close to” full staffing; there had been concern that the Bike Squad or another “proactive” group would be “taken away” but nothing has happened so far to indicate that’ll happen. The Bike Squad is “still active,” often in The Junction, sometimes at Westwood Village.

He also had year-end stats for the precinct’s jurisdiction (West Seattle and South Park):

Read More

Two weeks ago, the City Council talked about a “best-case scenario” for moving toward a vote on HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning, since the city Hearing Examiner upheld most of the plan’s Final Environmental Impact Statement. Today, neighborhood advocates sent us the schedule that councilmembers are circulating – including a deadline of tomorrow for potential amendments, and a final vote on March 18th if all proceeds without a hitch:

The timetable is not yet (as of this writing) on the official city page for the City Council’s Select Committee on MHA. The amendments will be closely watched, as our area’s Councilmember Lisa Herbold noted at the meeting earlier this month that they could be a way to address some of the concerns that led to the appeal.

That’s Seattle Channel video of the City Council’s first meeting to discuss HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning since the pre-Thanksgiving ruling on a citywide coalition’s challenge to it.

The council met Monday morning as the Select Committee on Citywide MHA. They got a briefing on the ruling, plus this potential timeline for what happens next:

Council staff cautioned that the timeline is a “best-case scenario.” (Among other potential complications, the coalition hasn’t yet announced whether it will pursue a court challenge to the city Hearing Examiner’s ruling. Its leader said during the meeting’s public-comment period that the coalition remained open to talking with the city.)

West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold noted that she had asked for urban-village-specific resolutions regarding planning, and didn’t see that reflected in the timeline. Committee chair Councilmember Rob Johnson said he intends for that to happen and it was an “oversight” that it wasn’t shown on the timeline. Herbold said that she felt specific resolutions would address some of the concerns that led to the appeal. Later in the meeting, she repeatedly stressed concerns about displacement that could result from the upzoning, including that city staff has underestimated how much of it could happen.

6:44 PM: One year after a coalition of neighborhood groups, including five from West Seattle, challenged the Final Environmental Impact Statement for HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning, city Hearing Examiner Ryan Vancil issued his ruling late today.

Short version: He says the city’s FEIS stands, with the exception of one section.

That’s Vancil’s decision, toward the end of the 38-page ruling:

The neighborhood groups had argued that the EIS was inadequate in a variety of ways, including contentions that it was “one size fits all” rather than addressing unique potential impacts on neighborhoods. They argued their case in hearings over a two-plus-month period this summer; documents and audio recordings are all linked on this page of the Hearing Examiner’s website.

HALA MHA would implement upzoning in urban villages, as well as on commercial/multifamily property throughout the city, in exchange for developer/builders either including a certain percentage of “affordable” units, or paying the city a fee to finance construction of such units elsewhere. The plan now needs City Council approval; the council has had months of hearings (including this one in June in West Seattle) but its vote has been awaiting the appeal decision. (You can use this interactive map to see how any specific property would or wouldn’t be affected.”

So what happens now?

The Hearing Examiner’s decision is the final word from the city but not necessarily the final say in the matter – the appellants could choose to pursue a court case. We’re awaiting their reaction to the ruling.

On the city’s side, Mayor Jenny Durkan has issued a statement calling the ruling “a step forward for more affordable housing in Seattle.”

We’ll be updating this story as the evening goes on.

7:26 PM: First appellant reaction is from the Junction Neighborhood Organization, which filed its own appeal as well as being a member of the citywide coalition:

“On behalf of our neighbors and friends along the West Seattle peninsula, we are deeply disappointed with this ruling,” said Carl Guess, a member of the Junction Neighborhood Organization’s land-use committee. “It’s a big setback for neighborhood-level planning, and represents a new low in the relationship between the City and its urban villages.”

Indeed, hearing examiner Ryan Vancil chided the City for its lack of neighborhood-level analysis even as he largely affirmed its final environmental impact statement.

“[T]he choice not to tell a more detailed story of the City’s neighborhoods contributed to why the City faced a very protracted appeal and hearing process from representatives in many of its neighborhoods,” he wrote.

JuNO made those details the centerpiece of its appeal, pointing to what it called deficiencies in everything from traffic-flow analysis to conflicts between the HALA/MHA legislation and the neighborhood plan of the West Seattle Junction Urban Village.

Guess said those deficiencies remain, despite today’s ruling.

“When we wake up Monday morning, the City will continue to tell us that it takes only eight and a half minutes to cross the West Seattle Bridge during peak traffic flows, which is absurd. It will tell us there is enough infrastructure to support development, when we showed that 90% Seattle’s sewer lines are at or above capacity. It will tell us there are no conflicts with our neighborhood plan when we cited those conflicts specifically and repeatedly.”

Guess said JuNO will study the examiner’s ruling more deeply, then meet with its neighborhood to talk through possible next steps.

“Our neighborhood has been incredibly supportive throughout this process and we can’t thank them enough,” he said.

As for next steps beyond that meeting, one possibility for JuNO is to lobby the City Council in the ritual horse trading expected to take place as the HALA/MHA legislation moves toward approval. Another is to join a nascent effort to create an organization representing neighborhood groups within City Council District 1, now represented by Lisa Herbold.

“The City has destroyed a lot of goodwill in this process, and voters have very long memories,” said Guess.

ADDED 11:25 PM: We also asked Deb Barker, president of the Morgan Community Association – which joined the SCALE appeal as well as filing its own – for comment. Her reply:

MoCA is proud to have joined with the communities of SCALE. We took a stand against the city that acted without properly taking into account the voice of its residents and the impacts of its plan. SCALE made a tremendous effort to identify MHA FEIS deficiencies, and we are saddened how easily that effort was dismissed. MoCA is committed to ensuring that affordable housing remains in our community. To that end, MoCA will be evaluating options to achieve that goal as well as those of SCALE.

The MoCA and JuNO appeal documents were part of this 2017 WSB report.

After 19 days of testimony before city Hearing Examiner Ryan Vancil, the appeal of the HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning is now in his hands. Friday was the last scheduled day of testimony – the 19th, in sessions spread across 2 1/2 months – in the appeal challenging the city’s Final Environmental Impact Statement on the plan. We listened to audio from the hearing’s conclusion to find out what happens next: Both sides have deadlines to submit their wrap-up briefs to Vancil, and he indicated he doesn’t expect to announce his decision before November.

HALA MHA would upzone commercial and multifamily property citywide, plus residential property in “urban village” areas, with developers allowed to build higher/denser as a result, while being required to include a certain level of “affordable housing” in their projects or to pay the city a fee to fund construction somewhere else. (Check the interactive map here to see how/whether any particular site would be affected.) The coalition of more than 30 neighborhood groups that filed the appeal last November (plus some individual challenges that were heard concurrently) contends that the FEIS is inadequate for a variety of reasons and wants the city to have to go back to the drawing board and work directly with neighborhoods to address their specific challenges and conditions. Until the appeal is settled, the City Council’s vote on HALA MHA – a proposal initiated before Jenny Durkan was elected mayor – is on hold. They’ve had a multitude of meetings and hearings on it, including in-district hearings that concluded with one June 5th in West Seattle (WSB coverage here). Meantime, documents in the appeal case, as well as minutes (detailing who testified but not the substance of their testimony) and audio, can be found here. The Hearing Examiner (whose role is explained briefly here) has the city’s final say in matters brought before him; a court challenge would be the next step.

The city’s HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning plan has yet to go before the City Council for a final vote because the neighborhood coalition appeal of its Environmental Impact Statement remains unresolved. Testimony was scheduled to resume this morning before city Hearing Examiner Ryan Vancil. This is the 11th day of testimony, but the 10 days so far have not been consecutive; it began with one week in late June (June 25-29) and continued with one week in late July (July 23-27). This entire week is also blocked for testimony, Monday-Friday, and four more days are on the HE calendar too – August 30th and 31st and September 4th and 7th. This week, the neighborhood coalition is scheduled to wrap up its case with witnesses today and Tuesday and in the first hour of Wednesday, before the city calls more of its witnesses. Those testifying this week, according to a document provided to the HE, will include West Seattleites Christy Tobin-Presser and Cindi Barker as part of the appeal case; city witnesses will include city employees and consultants including Geoff Wentlandt, the city Office of Planning and Community Development lead in preparing the EIS. The proceedings are in the Hearing Examiner’s chambers on the 40th floor of the city Municipal Tower downtown (700 5th Ave.), open to the public; audio of each day’s proceedings is posted in the online case file.

BACKSTORY: The proposal would upzone property in urban villages, as well as commercial/multifamily property everywhere in the city, while requiring developers to either build affordable housing in their projects or pay fees to fund it elsewhere. The appeal was announced in November, two weeks after the city released the EIS. Five West Seattle neighborhood groups are among the 31 organizations from around the city in the coalition – Alki Community Council, Fauntleroy Neighborhood Association, Morgan Community Association, West Seattle Junction Neighborhood Organization, and the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition. An appeal is not a lawsuit, though it could be a precursor to one; once the HE rules – usually within a few weeks of the end of testimony – that will be the city’s final decision in the matter, but the decision could be challenged in court. In city appeals, the burden is on the appellants to prove that a city decision should be overturned or amended. The City Council has continued to review the legislation that would implement HALA MHA, though its Select Committee on MHA has yet to schedule its next meeting.