With time ticking, a flurry of floor votes in Olympia advanced reforms of single-family zoning, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and design review, leaving concurrence or conference committee as final hurdle.
- In This Digest:
- Important Bills At A Glance
- Weekly Focus: So You’ve Passed Your Second Chamber! Now what?
Adjournment Sine Die — the end of the legislative session “without future” — is just 10 days away, and the annual meeting of the Washington State Legislature is moving ahead with a flurry of floor votes. Bills we’ve been tracking have passed their second chamber and now head to conference committees to iron out the changes between House and Senate versions.
By a healthy margin, the State Senate passed Rep. Jessica Bateman’s HB 1110. Following amendments covered last week, the “missing middle” bill would replace single-family zoning with fourplex zoning in cities with at least 75,000 residents, and bump that to sixplex zoning within a quarter-mile of frequent transit or if builders provide two affordable homes (at 60% of area median income). In mid-sized cities or cities within the contiguous growth management area of Seattle, HB 1110 permits duplexes in all residential areas, and fourplexes near transit. Senators Bob Hasegawa (D – LD11 Seattle) and Christine Rolfes (D – LD23 Bainbridge Island) were the only Democrats to vote against HB 1110, which passed 35-14.
