New regulations to remove financial and regulatory barriers to backyard cottages and stem the tide of McMansions are moving forward in Seattle, possibly completing a five-year process that started in 2014. Last Wednesday, the Seattle City Council’s Transportation and Sustainability Committee met to discuss the latest proposal to develop the sweeping housing regulations. Three weeks ago, the city’s Deputy Hearing Examiner Barbara Dykes Ehrlichman issued a decision that the city clearing the way for such legislation, settling an environmental dispute with opponents under the State Environmental Policy Act.
Cottage Proposal
The proposed legislation heard in committee addresses eight key policy areas for attached and detached accessory dwelling units (colloquially “mother-in-law apartments” and “backyard cottages”), ranging from unit size and parking requirements to owner-occupancy requirements and height limits. If reform is made, the legislation could help spur a new cottage industry in accessory dwelling unit (ADU) building.
