March Newsletter - Grow The Urbanist

The Urbanist is launching its Spring Subscriber Drive today and counting on you to support the organization you count on for our news and advocacy. Speaking of, read on for analysis of what happened this session as the Washington State Legislature adjourned on March 10th. Big things happened on transportation, but less so on climate and housing.

It's an exciting time of growth at our publication. Last year, we added Natalie Bicknell Argerious as our managing editor and watched our output increase and our readership soar. In November, we announced a paid freelancer program and welcomed new contributors' bylines to site and began compensating long-time volunteers for their work, including Ryan Packer and Ray Dubicki. In February, we added a new part-time Bellevue reporter in Chris Randels and became perhaps the only publication offering in-depth weekly Bellevue City Hall reporting. We hope to keep him on as funding allows.

You can help us keep paying Chris and ensure our staff continues to grow. Give today!

Read to the bottom for some of the biggest stories from the past month, led by our articles recapping the state legislative session.

Long story short, the legislature passed a 16-year transportation package, but came up short on several big housing bills and a bill reforming the Growth Management Act (GMA) to incorporate climate planning and targets for emissions and vehicle miles traveled reductions. That GMA reform bill has long been a priority for The Urbanist and our friends at Futurewise, and it was a huge disappointment to see it die at the last second.

The Urbanist advocated hard for #Home4WA missing middle housing reforms and supporters sent more than 1500 letters. Working with our coalition partners, we also sent more than 1800 letters in favor of cutting highway expansion instead of raiding other investments to fund the transportation package. It was a big flexing of advocacy muscle, and we continue to push the policy debate toward transit and people-centered streets and away from car-dependent highway sprawl. To our supporters: Keep up the good work!

While the biggest bills fizzled, "our bills to watch" also some some successes. SB 5042 passed and will close the illegal growth loophole in the GMA. Another (SB 5818) will make it harder to abuse the housing appeal process provided in the State Environmental Policy Act and the GMA to delay much needed housing. With HB 1769, the legislature sunset community municipal corporations, better known as community councils. The Urbanist has covered the unfair and undemocratic impact that Houghton Community Council in Kirkland and East Bellevue Community Council have had on their respective cities’ policy, carving out fiefdoms and blocking housing growth, and urged support for the bill.

On transportation, the legislature passed a bill (SB 5528) providing new taxing authority to Sound Transit to fund expansion projects within “enhanced service zones.” Cities, towns, and other areas that want to fund such specialized projects would have to vote on a measure authorizing them and new motor vehicle excise and/or commercial parking taxes. The Urbanist backed the push led by Seattle Subway to pass the bill, which could help speed up Sound Transit 3 timelines and add more projects to it.

Welcome to the Move Ahead WA Era

Move Ahead Washington is set to double state operating support to local agencies. Division Street bus rapid transit in Spokane also got a $50 million boost, which will upgrade the route pictured above. (Photo by Jdubman)

The final hours of the 2022 legislative session on Thursday night brought the last votes needed to bring the Move Ahead Washington transportation package to Governor Jay Inslee’s desk. With his signature, the state will enter its next phase of transportation investment and step into the Move Ahead Washington era.

The nearly $17 billion, 16-year transportation package was tweaked a bit by the legislative process after it was introduced on February 8, but remains largely unchanged from what was proposed then. The biggest adjustment made during that time was the removal of a proposed 6 cent fuel export tax... Continue reading article by Ryan Packer.

Legislators Let the Clock Run Out on HB 1099

The State Capitol in Olympia, where the 60-day 2022 session was gaveled to a close Thursday. (Photo by Stephen Fesler)

The final chapter of HB 1099, a bill that would have updated Washington State’s Growth Management Act (GMA) to address pressing needs like the climate crisis and shortage of affordable housing, ended unceremoniously just shy of midnight last night. The 2022 regular legislative session adjourned without the bill going up for a vote in the House.

The defeat came on the heels of the legislator’s failure to pass key housing bills this session, notably missing middle housing, backyard cottage reform, and housing benefit districts, which are aimed at accumulating public land near frequent transit to develop affordable housing.

In the final days end of the session, hopes were high among supporters that the House version of HB 1099, which included requirements for jurisdictions to make plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, would prevail over the Senate’s version, which gutted these climate action provisions. The bill that came out of conference committee sided heavily with the House version and even added in missing middle housing elements... Continue reading article by Natalie Bicknell Argerious.

Legislature Passes Sound Transit Enhanced Funding Bill, but Fails to Lift Backyard Cottage Ban

A throng of light rail passengers disembarks at U District Station. (Photo by Doug Trumm)

Another set of bills died Friday as another legislative cutoff passed, but a bill boosting Sound Transit funding options was not among them. Senate Bill 5528 authorizes “enhanced service zones” within the Sound Transit Taxing District to raise funds to speed up existing Sound Transit 3 (ST3) or deliver additional projects. Unfortunately, House Bill 1660 failed to pass the senate, which means statewide accessory dwelling unit (ADU) reform appears dead this session.

Missing middle housing still missing

After a more sweeping statewide missing middle bill (HB 1782) failed to make it out of either chamber, HB 1660 took on greater significance as the last remaining hope for a step forward this year on lifting statewide zoning restrictions. But sponsors couldn’t whip enough votes in the Senate, and it failed to pass before Friday’s deadline. HB 1782 sponsor Jessica Bateman (D-Olympia) noted how big of a missed opportunity this represented.

“We have yet to address the underlying problem of supply and we can’t solve this crisis without it,” Bateman tweeted... Continue reading article by Doug Trumm.

Shoreline Moves Ahead With Highway Expansion On Seattle’s Doorstep

The City of Shoreline is leading the charge to remake NE 145th Street and I-5 with a pair of twin roundabouts, paired with a widening of 145th Street. (City of Shoreline)

The City of Shoreline has been working diligently to prepare for the arrival of Link light rail in the city, as Sound Transit works toward opening two local stations in 2024. Along with substantial land use changes to accommodate new residents along Shoreline’s transit corridors, a number of transportation projects intended to improve access to the light rail stations at NE 148th and NE 185th Streets have been in planning for quite some time, and construction is about to ramp up on a number of these to coincide with the start of light rail service.

One of the largest-scale projects is taking shape on 145th Street, the shared border between Seattle and Shoreline, which is also a state highway (SR 523) between Aurora Avenue N and Lake City Way NE... Continue reading article by Ryan Packer.

Wilburton Rezone Can Facilitate Over 5,000 New Homes in Bellevue – If Done Right

Final draft vision map of the corridor from the Citizen Advisory Committee. The highest building heights would be concentrated at the western portion of the site between NE 4th and NE 8th Streets. (Credit: City of Bellevue)

Later this year, Bellevue City Council will complete a years-long process to rezone the Wilburton neighborhood east of I-405. Historically a commercial and office corridor, the city has identified the neighborhood as a key area to absorb new growth to best take advantage of light rail’s opening next year. And the demand for housing is high — economic forecasts foresee the development of over 5,000 units of housing within the neighborhood in the next 20 years.

With so much attention and excitement granted to East Link, it’s easy to forget that our region’s largest light rail expansion since 2009 is only one piece of a larger suite of public investments that will fundamentally transform the neighborhood’s identity... Continue reading article by Christopher Randels.

Market Street Developments Are Creating A New Urban Neighborhood East of Ballard

Competing development sites across the 900 Block of NW 54th Street, (Ray Dubicki)

There’s a spot just inside Seattle’s Gilman Park where the scent of turned earth and new asphalt mingles with that of cooking grains coming out of West Woodland’s Brewery Row. At this rare moment, the scent of construction is stronger. Surprisingly for the neighborhood, there are currently fewer breweries than construction sites within three blocks of the park. And more construction is coming near Market Street to the previously quiet neighborhood on the eastern edge of Ballard... Continue reading article by Ray Dubicki.

Ballard and West Seattle Light Rail Tunnel Options May Not Require Third-Party Funding

Sound Transit anticipates completing West Seattle Link in 2032 and Ballard Link as soon as 2037. Until the second Downtown Seattle transit tunnel is built, West Seattle would operate as a spur line terminating in SoDo. (Sound Transit)

Light rail tunnels to West Seattle Junction and Ballard took a step closer from dream to reality thanks to Sound Transit’s latest analysis suggesting the cost for at least some of the tunnel options would be comparable to the elevated default option. The catch for Ballard Link is that the cheaper tunnel option still puts the station at 14th Avenue NW, farther from Ballard’s historic core. Previously, the agency has said additional tunneling would require third-party funding — which it would likely fall on the City of Seattle to raise, as nobody else was volunteering to chip in the hundreds of millions of dollars that could be required.

“The need for third-party funding depends on which alternatives the Board selects,” Sound Transit spokesperson Rachelle Cunningham said in an email. “Third-party funding will be required for any alternative that exceeds the cost of the preferred alternative assumed in the realigned financial plan.”

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released in January found a tunnel alternative for both extensions came in at a similar cost to the Representative Alternative — the agency’s default option. The Urbanist confirmed this would likely free the cost-competitive tunnel options from third-party funding requirements.

“Based on current cost estimates, some tunnel alternatives in West Seattle and Ballard are comparable in cost to the elevated alternatives (e.g., Medium Tunnel 41st Ave alternative in West Seattle and Tunnel 14th Ave alternative in Ballard),” Cunningham added. “The need for third-party funding will continue to be evaluated as the project alternatives progress through preliminary engineering, but additional funding may not be necessary depending on the scope and cost of the final alignment.”

Tunnel alignments putting Ballard Station at 15th Avenue NE or 20th Avenue NW (technically already eliminated but popular with those would want the station closer to old Ballard) have higher cost estimates, which suggests Sound Transit would require third-party funding for those options. That is unless those cost estimates continue to converge as the designs advance through the engineering process... Continue reading article by Doug Trumm.

April 12th Urbanist Meetup: Marc Dones

               
                                
In April, we’re thrilled to host Marc Dones, chief executive officer of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, which is aiming to unify and scale up the region’s response to the homelessness crisis. King County estimated its homeless population at more than 40,000 in 2020, and different cities have taken very different approaches to grappling with the issue. Dones was appointed in April 2021 to lead the new agency guiding the regional response to homelessness. Register for the link.

May 10th Urbanist Meetup: Claudia Balducci

               
                                
In May, we’re thrilled to host Claudia Balducci, president of the King County Council and chair of the Sound Transit Systems Expansion Committee. Details here.

Subscribe to The Urbanist

Please become a subscriber to support our work and expand our coverage and advocacy.

"The Urbanist is an invaluable resource for those wishing to be civically engaged in the Puget Sound region and Washington State. They are an important place for advocacy journalists to find their voice. The Urbanist’s writers approach wonk with a sense of humor that keeps difficult topics engaging." -Share The Cities