Roosevelt, Seattle

Feb. 2, 2019 MHA (HALA) Update

The City Council is considering action on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) including changes to land use regulations, zoning designations, comprehensive plan language and maps, including neighborhood Plan policies and changes to Urban Village Boundaries on the City’s Future Land Use Map (FLUM); and development standards for all multifamily and commercial areas.

The MHA program is focused on rezoning the Urban Villages throughout Seattle in order to provide for more housing and the development fees required as a result of the “up” zoning will go to a general fund to assist the incorporation of affordable housing units. The entire Roosevelt Urban Village will be re-zoned and the current proposal included in the Final EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) extends the Urban Village boundary east of 15th Ave NE with mostly RSL zoning.

link to the “preferred plan” & alternatives (see Exhibit H-70, page H-71): HALA/Policy/MHA_FEIS/AppH_MHA_FEIS_2017.pdf

information about MHA: mandatory-housing-affordability-(mha)

interactive Map to use to research specific properties: seattlecitygis interactive maps

Upcoming City Council meetings:  http://www.seattle.gov/council/calendar?trumbaEmbed=filter2%3D_1194537_&filterfield2%3D12011

Friday February 8, 9:30am Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA)

Thursday February 21, 5:30pm Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) – Public Hearing

Monday February 25th, 2:30pm Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) (or after City Council)

From Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) regarding the status of the Roosevelt Reservoir:
“SPU has completed its seismic analysis of Seattle’s drinking water system and its decommissioning test of Roosevelt Reservoir. The Roosevelt Reservoir was taken out of service in 2013. At that time, SPU decommissioned the reservoir to study its impact on the overall drinking water system while the reservoir was not in use. The goal of the study was to evaluate whether the reservoir could be permanently removed from the drinking water system and the property declared surplus. Additionally, in 2015 a seismic analysis of Seattle’s drinking water system that included Roosevelt Reservoir began. This study was designed to better understand the seismic risk to Seattle’s drinking water system and to incorporate study findings into long-term resiliency planning for the utility. After a thorough engineering analysis that encompassed both studies, SPU has determined Roosevelt Reservoir to be a critical emergency water resource for Seattle customers.
In the event of a major earthquake, the reservoir could be a vital source for emergency water and fire-fighting purposes. As a result of this information, for the foreseeable future, the City will continue to maintain Roosevelt Reservoir and the property it sits on as a part of SPU’s ongoing upkeep and operations. SPU has begun refilling the reservoir to prepare it for standby, emergency operations.”
If you have any additional questions about Roosevelt Reservoir, please contact matt.orr@seattle.gov or 206-733-9169. Matt Orr, Project Manager

The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association held a “Land Use Academy” 303 (information & discussion) session on December 1, 2015 that focused on the Roosevelt Reservoir. The session included an informative presentation from Alex Chen of Seattle Public Utilities on the existing water supply and future needs, further information from Chip Nevins of Seattle Parks and Recreation, and comments/suggestions from community members. You can watch the video of the session to help understand the reservoir’s role in the city and SPU’s testing:
Roosevelt Land Use Academy 303 – Roosevelt Reservoir

And for those who did not know the Roosevelt Reservoir, now named for the neighborhood that this lies within, was originally called the Greenlake Reservoir, before I-5 was constructed in 1959, severing the current Roosevelt community from being directly part of the Greenlake neighborhood.

“The City of Seattle seeks to address the need for affordable housing, and has proposed to do so by implementing MHA legislation. MHA will require new development proposals to include affordable housing with rent-restrictions and/or income-restrictions as part of the proposed development, or to contribute to a City fund for affordable housing.” *

A year ago, the Seattle Coalition for Affordability, Livability and Equity (SCALE) appealed the environmental review of the city’s plan to upzone the Urban Villages on the basis that the environmental review was inadequate. The groups appealing the environmental review said the MHA upzones could make Seattle “less affordable” by spurring too much redevelopment and could create parking, pollution and other problems. They described the review as inadequate, arguing throughout 55 points, that the impacts should be studied neighborhood by neighborhood.

The City’s MHA plan will finally proceed after the city’s administrative-law judge Ryan Vancil ruled on Wednesday Nov. 21st that the review was adequate, except for the plan’s impacts on historical sites, which will need to be completed. Other parts of the review, including economics, aesthetics, traffic and tree canopy were sufficient.

This ruling moves the City Council closer to being able to approve the legislation enacting the upzones in Urban Villages through Seattle. The City Council may take up the legislation in February or March, if the historic site analysis is completed by then.

Under the MHA plan, developers would need to devote 5 to 11 percent of their projects to affordable housing or pay $5 to $32.75 per square foot into a city fund that would be used to help nonprofits build affordable housing elsewhere in Seattle.

The upzones would allow developers to build one or several stories higher than they can now. All blocks now zoned for apartments and commercial buildings would be affected, along with 6 percent of lots currently zoned for single-family houses.

MHA is expected to generate at least 6,000 new rent-restricted homes for low-income people over the next decade. A study by the Office of Planning and Community Development claims to show the impact of litigation delay, which began in Nov. 2017: the loss of between 653 and 717 units of low-income affordable housing.

While the “appellants witnesses clearly established that Seattle has extensive and unique historical resources” the FEIS acknowledged that historic character will be impacted as “potential decreases to the historic fabric of a neighborhood if historic buildings are redeveloped or demolished and new buildings are constructed, that are not architecturally sympathetic to the existing historic characteristics of a neighborhood. As a neighborhood’s historic fabric decreases, it is less likely to meet local and federal eligibility criteria for consideration as a historic district.” * findings and decision of the hearing examiner for the city of seattle

Council member Rob Johnson in a statement on Wednesday said it was one of the longest appeals in Seattle’s history, adding that the appeal had already cost the city $87 million worth of affordable housing funds. “With this legislation, we have an opportunity to allow for more desperately needed housing in urban village neighborhoods across our city, while requiring that all new development in those areas provide affordable housing,” Johnson said.

Hearing Examiner Findings and Decision

Join us on Thursday, June 14th in the Roosevelt High School Library to engage in a conversation with Bellwether Housing, Mercy Housing Northwest, and Sound Transit about their plans to create 245 affordable housing homes with ground floor daycare, retail, and public plaza adjacent to the light rail (6600 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle WA, 98115). Find their flyer here.

Details:

Bellwether Housing (one of the Non-Profit developers for the Roosevelt TOD affordable Housing project) is hosting an open house of their new completed affordable housing project in the University District.

This project includes unit types that will likely be similar to the Roosevelt TOD project.
100% of these units are affordable. 40% are units that are 2-3 bedroom, and the remainder are studios and 1-bedrooom units.

Please join Bellwether and the RNA for this tour:

Sunday May 6th 2-4pm
4750 15th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98105
Please RSVP https://goo.gl/forms/Lon3xaugd13LiLMv1

arbora court tour invite

2018 is well underway, and the changes to the Roosevelt neighborhood keep on coming! Join us at our March 20th RNA General Meeting to learn about upcoming transportation changes affecting Roosevelt, get updates on land use, and give us feedback on what you want to know more about!

March General Meeting
Tuesday 3/20 – 7pm to 8:30pm
Calvary Christian Assembly (upstairs)
6801 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

6:45 – 7:00: Set up, meet and greet, social
7:00 – 7:05: Introductions
7:05 – 7:30: NE 65th St Vision Zero project update, SDOT – Jason Fialkoff
7:30 – 8:00: Husky Stadium Transportation Master Plan Update, UW – Dan Erickson, Sally Clark
8:00 – 8:10: RNA Land Use update
8:10 – 8:20: RNA Committee updates
8:20 – 8:30: Community feedback

D4 Councilmember Rob Johnson is hosting his 2nd Annual Holiday Open House on December 8th, from 9 to 11am, at Seattle City Hall (2nd floor). The drop-in event is an opportunity to provide feedback on the year past and vision for the year ahead to CM Johnson and his staff. From his webpage:

Well my parents visiting from England got a surprise on their morning walk today, when they spotted what we think was a coyote in Ravenna Park, just east of 15th, on 63rd. You can see the slightly grainy “Mulder & Scully”-style photographic evidence here:

Coyote in Ravenna Park?

According to the WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife page on coyotes, these animals are normally wary of humans, but in certain circumstances can be aggressive towards children, cats, or small dogs: “Coyotes are curious but timid animals and will generally run away if challenged. However, remember that any wild animal will protect itself or its young … Never approach an occupied coyote den … Never feed coyotes … Don’t leave small children unattended … If a coyote ever approaches too closely, pick up small children immediately and act aggressively toward the animal.”

Interested to hear comments on how frequent these sighting are, and whether this is a concern for folks in the neighborhood.

Dave Wood