The Seattle City Council’s land use committee is expected to make a decision Wednesday afternoon whether the city should launch a new pilot program linking community organizations with developers to create affordable “equitable development” in neighborhoods across the city. The program could help organizations like Habitat for Humanity or El Centro de la Raza more easily develop affordable housing projects on their Seattle properties.

Committee chair and legislation sponsor Tammy Morales calls the proposed Connected Communities pilot a “win-win” and highlighted the bill’s potential for streamlining a cumbersome process for community groups.

“The fact is many community-based organizations are seeking opportunities to help build affordable housing and develop vital commercial spaces and third places,” Morales said in an announcement of the planned Wednesday vote. “We just need to get out of their way. This legislation does that by cutting red tape and onerous regulations,”

CHS reported here on the council’s debate over the pilot that would run through 2029 or create 35 housing developments — whichever comes first — by pairing “community-based organizations with limited development experience” with nonprofit and for-profit developers “for development of low- and moderate-income housing with neighborhood serving equitable development uses.”

Supporters say it would eliminate red tape and help “increase the supply of affordable housing, promote economic and racial equity, support community-led development,” and better address concerns about displacement and gentrification.

To qualify, at least 30% of the planned housing units in a Connected Communities project must be affordable to moderate-income units at 80% of area median income (AMI) or lower. Eligible projects would receive density bonuses including height and zoning flexibility.

Critics say the plan would add to the city’s already burdensome development regulations and question the capacity of nonprofits to participate in the development. Some worry it could also help spread the development of affordable housing projects into areas of the city not ready to support large-scale multifamily development.

The program would include more flexibility in zoning (PDF) depending on location factors including nearby transit and the zoning of the surrounding area.

Morales says the plan is supported by “more than two dozen community organizations and affordable housing developers” including the Housing Development Consortium, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King County, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Filipino Community of Seattle, El Centro de la Raza, Cultural Space Agency, Up Lift Investment Group, and Crescent Collaborative.

The Office of Planning & Community Development has determined (PDF) the proposed program would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment though a challenge of the State Environmental Policy Act findings could still come.

Wednesday’s debate and planned vote will include discussion of possible amendments to the plan hoped to address concerns and strengthen the program. An amended version of the bill from Morales’s office would reduce the required income level for studios and one-bedroom rental units to “low income housing”  while keeping “2+ bedroom units and all ownership units” at the “moderate-income” level and would reduce the affordability duration to align with Federal housing subsidy programs. The proposed changes would also simplify the criteria for determining whether a project is a qualifying development so that a community development organization either has to own 51% of the property or have a controlling and active management role in the property.

Other amendmendments would open up the program to allowing other types of organizations to participate including public housing authorities, require projects to participate in the Mandatory Housing Affordability program, and clarify that development of a child care center would qualify for the pilot program. Another proposal would also add requirements that the Connected Communities pilot adhere to standards applied to the city’s requirements for affordable developments on church-owned property including requiring participation in the design review program.

The Connected Communities proposal comes as the city is wrestling with finalizing its next 20-year growth plan and ongoing debates around how best to create more multifamily and affordable housing in more parts of Seattle.

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