12 Housing Bills Face February 5 Committee Deadline
Fourteen affordable housing bills, sponsored by a mix of Democrats and Republicans, have gotten, or are scheduled for, committee hearings in Olympia. Two of these bills, HB 2585 and SB 6211, have passed out of their original committees. Any bills that don’t get out of a policy committee by next Friday, February 5, are dead, barring any special procedures. Bills in the fiscal and transportation committees get until Tuesday, February 9.
House Bill 2395, by Rep. Joan McBride (D – Kirkland), would authorize cities to impose a fee on condominium conversions. The money collected from the fee would be deposited in a fund established by the city for affordable housing development.
The condominium conversion fee would be determined by multiplying the square footage floor area for all units in a residence by the following rates:
For a 2 unit residence: up to $0.95 per square foot floor area;
For a 3 unit residence: up to $1.42 per square foot floor area;
For a 4 unit residence: up to $1.90 per square foot floor area;
For a 5 unit residence: up to $2.38 per square foot floor area;
For a 6 unit residence: up to $2.85 per square foot floor area;
For a 7 unit residence: up to $3.33 per square foot floor area;
For a 8 unit residence: up to $3.80 per square foot floor area;
For a 9 unit residence: up to $4.28 per square foot floor area;
For residences with 10 or more units: up to $4.75 per square foot floor area;
The fee would also apply to any condominium conversion on property owned by a city that is imposing the fee, unless it has adopted a suitable plan to develop affordable housing on the site or a suitable alternative site. Local housing authorities and local, regional, and statewide nonprofit housing organizations would be exempt from the conversion fee.
HB 2395 got a hearing on January 18 in the House Committee on Community Development, Housing & Tribal Affairs and is scheduled for committee action Monday afternoon.
Continue reading “12 Housing Bills Face February 5 Committee Deadline”
51 New Double Talls Coming to Puget Sound
51 new buses–with options of up to 92 more–are soon coming to the Puget Sound. Sound Transit recently released a Request for Proposals for a joint procurement of double deck transit buses. This joint procurement includes Sound Transit, who currently operates five double deck buses; Community Transit, who operates 45; and Kitsap Transit who evaluated one last year. Presumably Kitsap Transit’s testing went well, despite a driver’s inadvertent attempt to wedge it underneath the overhang at the Bremerton Ferry Terminal.
All three agencies have used the Alexander Dennis Enviro500, which is one of the few double deckers is currently able to meet the contract’s stipulation of the FTA’s “Buy America” regulations, stating that the vehicles must be assembled in the United States and be assembled with 60% domestic content.
Four of the vehicles being purchased by Sound Transit are funded with a Washington State Regional Mobility Grant, and the first 16 vehicles ordered by Sound Transit will hit the streets no later than July 1, 2017. Schedules for Community Transit and Kitsap Transit will depend on contract negotiations.
While the RFP does not specify which routes each agency plans to run them on, based on past usage they can be expected to run on commuter routes.
If you’re looking for some weekend reading, the 272 page RFP details nearly every aspect of every component of the vehicles.
Seattle on ST3: Build for the Future, But Don’t Forget the Now
In the long journey to a Sound Transit 3 ballot measure this November, the Draft System Plan is the next step. Expected in March before a Final System Plan is adopted early this summer, the draft plan will select a suite of projects from the list of Candidate Projects that matches the intended tax authority that ST will ask for at the ballot. We have covered the candidate projects extensively – see Kirkland-Issaquah rail, Kirkland-Bellevue BRT, I-405 BRT, Federal Way-Tacoma, SR 522 BRT, Downtown-Ballard, etc.)
Just as they did last summer when ST solicited feedback on ‘conceptual’ studies that informed the Candidate Projects – (see our summaries of Seattle, Snohomish, South King, East King, and Pierce – ST again asked jurisdictions to submit formal comment on the Candidate Projects by January 21st.
The letters not only provide ST with project-level feedback, but collectively they also help the Board gauge the regional appetite for the package’s size, whose options range from 10-30 years and total revenue of $26-48B. As the letters are made public, we’ll cover each of them in detail. But first, here’s Seattle’s feedback. Continue reading “Seattle on ST3: Build for the Future, But Don’t Forget the Now”
News Roundup: Close to Launch
- Kirkland City Council sticks to its principles, supports transit on CKC.
- Man arrested for assaulting Metro driver.
- Researchers using mobile phone signals to understand ridership patterns.
- New dorms ($) coming to UW.
- I-405 HOT lanes are letting buses move faster.
- Yet another terrible bill for a directly elected Sound Transit Board, proposed by a couple of Republicans.
- Consultant tells Pierce Transit to charge for parking at the Tacoma Dome.
- Opponents claim new 12-story building would “ruin” Pioneer Square ($), would preserve existing parking garage instead.
- Pierce Transit beginning meetings about its long-range plan.
- Arena street vacation vote recedes into the future.
- Madison BRT moves on to full City Council, funding not in place yet.
- City of Seatac loses court case involving property near the Link station; appeal coming.
- Bellevue ballet school loses lawsuit over fair compensation ($) from Sound Transit, will merely receive fair market value.
- Driver’s Licenses going out of style.
- TriMet’s electronic fare system close to launch.
This is an open thread.
Renton Proposes a New Transit Center
The City of Renton is proposing to relocate its transit center as part of ST3. The new center would be located at Rainier Avenue South and Grady Way, just north of the intersection of I-405 and SR 167. It would replace a smaller downtown transit center, adding much more parking and easing access for park-and-ride commuters from the south and east. However, it is likely to eventually reduce service for Renton’s downtown and developing North Renton neighborhoods.
The new center would be more accessible for buses or drivers approaching from SR 167, and could include 1,500-2,000 parking stalls, potentially the largest transit parking facility in King County (Eastgate has 1,614 stalls). It would be funded, in part, by giving up a deferred ST2 project to build HOV ramps from N 8th St. The property is a disused former auto dealership, and is adjacent to an existing 370-stall Metro park-and-ride. Renton officials perceive potential for transit-oriented development, though that would require a far-reaching overhaul of the area’s current development pattern.
Commuters who drive to buses would prefer a transit facility closer to highways and with more available parking. The current center is perceived as having an adverse effect on downtown. Buses and drivers to the transit center parking add to downtown traffic (Metro leases 150 stalls in a city-owned structure). When the downtown transit center was opened in 2000, the hope was that it would draw commuters to downtown businesses, but few stay long in the area. Now Renton is studying a festival street on S 3rd St, and restoring two-way traffic on S 2nd and S 3rd, making them arguably less suited to commuter bus service.
The downtown transit center is served by two ST Express routes (560, 566), Rapid Ride F, and a dozen other Metro routes. How many of those routes would continue to serve that area? Renton believes it can maintain local Metro service through downtown, but would prefer the primary location for transfers be elsewhere. It’s unlikely Metro or Sound Transit would wish to serve downtown so intensively once the transit center is relocated. Indeed, Metro opposed locating a transit center in downtown when it was first built, not wanting to have buses navigating downtown streets. Many commuters who would rely on the new transit center will view downtown Renton as a detour and will prefer their buses get on the highway as promptly as possible.
Routing buses through downtown Renton supports service to growing mixed use neighborhoods in North Renton such as The Landing. Just last week, construction started on Southport, a large new office complex near Boeing and The Landing. The N 8th St HOV access project was supposed to ease their access from The Landing to I-405. With an expanded transit center south of downtown and easy highway access there, it’s likely that future service will skip downtown and the growing northern neighborhoods.
I-405 BRT is not intended to serve downtown Renton. The recently published templates described local access to the BRT only via the N 8th St HOV ramps. Moving the access point further south would require more out-of-direction travel for riders from downtown/north Renton to Bellevue. The connection would, at least, be frequent as long as Rapid Ride F continues to serve North Renton. Sound Transit staff indicated at the January 7th meeting that the idea is being studied in conjunction with I-405 BRT. The move was endorsed by several Eastside cities in a joint letter to Sound Transit last week. Local comments, responding to the comprehensive coverage by the Renton Reporter, have been mostly positive too, despite concerns for downtown access.
Much current transit access in Renton is oriented around park-and-rides, and the change will be well received by commuters from south and east of I-405. Nevertheless, this looks like a doubling down on Renton’s sprawling current land use. Renton is proposing an enormous investment in parking at the expense of service to the city’s few dense (or, at least, densifying) neighborhoods. Within a ST3 package that looks some decades into the future, one hopes that Renton will thoroughly consider the implications for the city’s development.
University Link Opens March 19
We now have a date: University Link will open at 10am on Saturday, March 19. Just 52 days from now.
Sound Transit (ST) will be throwing a full day of festivities from 9am-5pm, with a “tailgate party” at UW Station and a “street festival” at Capitol Hill Station. ST has also released a new website, ulink2016.org, that provides information on schedules, trip times, event details, and more.
In the spirit of its Annapurna walking tours, ST will also allow riders to enter the chance to win a “golden ticket” to be among the first riders to ride ULink on the 19th. If you want to ride a packed inaugural train with happy politicians in black peacoats, now’s your chance. Word is that the ‘golden ticket’ will be a commemorative (and fully functional) gold-colored ORCA card. You can enter to win 3 ways:
- Share a photo or video about how you’ll use ULink using hashtag #ULink2016 on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
- Listen to KEXP (90.3), KUOW (94.9), or KNDD (107.7)
- Spend $5 or more and enter a contest form at the following merchants:
- Brooklyn Avenue Dental
- Cedars of Lebanon
- My Favorite Deli
- Nasai Teriyaki
- Neptune Music Company
- Samir’s Mediterranean Grill
- Sweet Alchemy
- Ugly Mug Café
- Health Mutt
- Nature Nails
- Pies and Pints
- Roosevelt Vacuum,
- Subway
- Teddy’s
- Thrive
- Toronado
- UPS Store on 65th
- Yen
- Health Mutt
- Nature Nails
First Hill Streetcar Launch Observations
As a Capitol Hill resident I spent a good chunk of the weekend observing the belated launch of the First Hill Streetcar, both actively as a rider and passively as a nearby pedestrian. Though anecdotal observations should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, anecdotes confirming widely-acknowledged structural characteristics should be a bit more trustworthy. Here are a few things that I noticed:
- People love the ride quality. In a city of rough pavement, especially on major bus corridors, I consistently heard praise from riders about the quiet, comfortable ride offered by the streetcar. The comparison to, say, Route 43 on the potholes of Bellevue Avenue is quite favorable to the streetcar.
- Even on Day 1, I saw plenty of local circulation. I was surprised by how many local trips I saw between 5th/Jackson and 12th/Jackson, for example, with riders waiting on the corner to quickly decide between a curbside 7/14/36 or a center-running streetcar. On Capitol Hill, this was less the case, with curious riders packing weekend trains, but with mostly empty trains when I rode during Monday AM and PM peak.
HB 2757 Would Make WSDOT Consider Transit Impacts
The State Environmental Protection Policy Act (SEPA) requires the Washington State Department of Transportation to consider the effects on traffic and parking in its impact statements before construction projects. Impacts to transit operations have not been something WSDOT is required to look at, but House Bill 2757, by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D – Burien), would fix that oversight.
Three of the eight co-sponsors are Republicans (Dick Muri – Steilacoom, Drew Stokesbary – Auburn, and Teri Hickel – Federal Way).
The bill is scheduled for a hearing at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon in the House Committee on Environment.
ACTION ALERT: Time to Start Pushing HALA Through
by RENEE STATON
Last Wednesday, anti-HALA organizers Greg Hill and Catherine Weatbrook presented their perspective on HALA to an estimated 150 people gathered for a Wallingford Community Council meeting. No City of Seattle presenters were invited to speak, though Councilmember Rob Johnson (District 4) attended and listened to the presentation and public comment. Unfortunately, people who went with an open mind to learn more likely walked out of the Wallingford meeting equipped with one-sided, misleading information.
For the HALA recommendations to pass, urbanists need to provide the other side of that conversation over the next two years. HALA and the Grand Bargain represent the best opportunity Seattle has for achieving greater housing affordability in one of the fastest growing U.S. cities. The HALA policy recommendations will produce and preserve a record number of income-restricted units in Seattle, will accommodate projected population growth without sacrificing affordability, and will leverage our significant public investments in light rail and bus transit by providing households of all incomes a place to live within easy access to jobs and schools.
That process kicks off at a city-wide event tomorrow. Those who want to see HALA recommendations implemented should attend tomorrow’s meeting and stay vocal and engaged in the months ahead. It will be a long process, and supporters need to remain visible in their support. Some of the HALA recommendations, especially those that involve zoning changes or that impact parking, are controversial. Opponents are well organized and it will be extremely important for pro-housing urbanists who support these changes to attend meetings, to speak at them, and to write the Mayor and Council expressing support. Organizing in support of HALA is essential if we want to keep our city great and ensure that Seattle stays affordable and accessible for our children, baristas, teachers, and newcomers to our city.
Important upcoming ways to show your support for HALA and housing affordability in Seattle:
Seattle at Work: Housing Affordability & Livability Agenda
Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Bertha Knight Landes Room
https://www.facebook.com/events/1116203131753630/
Telephone Town Halls with Mayor Ed Murray
Mayor Murray will host three Telephone Town Halls. Call-in numbers and additional details will be updated as announced.
North, January 31st 4-5 pm
Central, February 2nd 6-7pm
South, February 4th 6-7pm
Writing to Mayor Ed Murray and Seattle City Council
Send a quick note to council@seattle.gov and seattleatwork@seattle.gov to let them know that you support housing policies and programs that give more opportunities for people of all walks of life to live and work in Seattle. Tell them that you support the HALA recommendations and want to see them implemented in your own neighborhood and citywide.
Renee Staton lives in Seattle’s Pinehurst neighborhood where she has organized on issues related to land use, transportation, affordable housing and parks.