On Tuesday, House Bill 1782 passed out of House Local Government Committee, but the bill was weakened in the process. Still, it’s a milestone for the bill that would push cities with at least 10,000 residents across Washington State to allow duplexes and fourplexes in place of only detached single-family homes. For a deeper dive on how the bill would work, The Urbanist covered how the original proposal would work last month.
Local Government Committee Chair Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle) and Rep. Tana Senn (D-Mercer Island) added amendments, including one lowering the sixplex requirement within a half-mile of major transit stops to a lesser fourplex requirement for cities with a population of 20,000 or more. This change also modified the measurement to be based on a walking distance instead of as the crow flies and only applies on lots exceeding 4,500 square feet. Rep. Pollet also added a section requiring jurisdictions to demonstrate transit frequency is “reasonably assured” and exempting those jurisdictions that cannot make such assurances. It’s hard to say exactly how that language will be interpreted, but has the potential to be a huge loophole for cities looking to evade the fourplex requirement. Relatedly, Pollet is a favorite of the Seattle Times Editorial Board, which has long backed exclusionary zoning, fought housing reform, and opposed affordable housing efforts like JumpStart Seattle.
