City Council Directs Staff for GMA/HB 1220 Compliance

At the October 1, 2024 regular meeting, the City Council directed staff to prepare an interim ordinance to amend Title 19 MICC to: (1) increase multifamily and mixed-use development capacity in the Town Center by raising the maximum building height from five to seven stories in the TC-5 and TC-4 Plus subareas and from four to five stories in the TC-4 subarea; (2) increase the required percentage of affordable housing in new development in Town Center from 10 percent to 15 percent; and (3) deepen the affordability requirement for affordable housing units in new development in Town Center from 60 percent to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) for rental housing and from 90 percent to 80 percent of the AMI for ownership housing;

The Council also directed staff to further evaluate an optional additional capacity buffer in the TC-3 subarea along 80th Ave SE north of SE 30th Street and bring this matter back to City Council for further discussion in 2025.

The City Council will hold a public hearing and first reading of a draft ordinance based on this direction on November 19, 2024.