Category Archives: WallHALA

HALA Livability Night Out – Tuesday April 19

Join Mayor Ed Murray and his team to learn about and talk about what makes Seattle livable.

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30-8:30pm
Museum of History & Industry

Don’t miss this meeting!  If you live in or around the Wallingford Residential Urban Village (or the Fremont Urban Village), HALA (the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda) will impact your neighborhood.  This is an opportunity to ask the Mayor questions, express your concerns, and let the City know your point of view!

The planned agenda is:
Join us for a “PeckaKucha” style word slam about the livability of our city.  We will have local talent to entertain and an opportunity to find out what many City programs are up to.  HALA will be featured and you can find out what is in store for Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda in the city.
6:30 – 7:15pm Open House
What will happen at the Open House?  Attendees will have a chance to discuss policies and proposals with City staff one on one. When you get all your questions answered you can enjoy the history of Seattle by visiting the rest of the museum.
7:15 – 8:00 pm  Program
The Mayor and his Department Directors will be on stage to do an update on how they see the vision of a vibrant Seattle coming through the programs they lead.  This program will be lively and fun.
8:00 – 8:30 pm Q&A with the Mayor

HALA is an extensive set of proposals made by a committee formed by the Mayor, to add more affordable housing in Seattle.  The City Council will be voting on these proposals, in bits and pieces, this year and next year, along with other related initiatives including a new Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan.  The agenda calls for extensive public outreach and engagement, and it’s important that we respond to these opportunities.

Changes that could be expected, if HALA proposals are adopted:

  • Rezone Single Family areas to Multifamily, within the Wallingford Residential Urban village boundaries. This affects about 700 houses in our neighborhood.
  • Raise height limits by 10 to 20 feet, in Low-Rise and Neighborhood Commercial zones.
  • Remove restrictions on backyard cottages (Detached Accessory Dwelling Units). Allowing multiple units on a lot and removing the owner occupancy requirement makes this into a type of multifamily housing that can be built in all Single Family zoned areas.
  • Reduced Design Review requirements and increased SEPA review thresholds, reducing any opportunity for public comment.
  • Reduced parking requirements for new construction outside the Urban Village. (On-site parking requirements have already been eliminated inside the Urban Village!)
  • Remove micro-housing restrictions (for “apodments”) that were recently enacted by the City Council in response to public pressure.

These changes are supposed to increase the availability of housing – but the City’s own figures show that we have far more than enough developable land without these changes to meet projected growth.  They’re supposed to increase affordability, but may actually decrease it, since new construction often means tearing down more affordable older housing.

The Mayor’s new Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan proposals encourage higher density zoning in the Wallingford Residential Urban Village by reducing on-site parking requirements, removing existing protections for trees, doing away with neighborhood involvement, and eliminating neighborhood growth plans. Meanwhile we can continue to expect basic services and amenities such as schools, parks, transit and sewer to fall behind and fail to keep up with growth.

 

HALA Community Conversation – Wednesday March 30

Come find out what is happening now with HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda).  The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is hosting a HALA Community Conversation meeting at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N 41st Street, on Wednesday March 30 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

The planned agenda is:
6:00-6:45 PM  An Open House with posters attended by city staff from the Office of Planning & Community Development, Seattle Department of Transportation, and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
6:45-7:15 PM  A Short Program of presentations by city staff.
7:15-8:00 PM  Breakout Sessions to solicit feedback from small groups of those in attendance.

Please come to learn about HALA and to express any concerns you may have about these proposals.

 

Reminder: HALA Focus Group applications due tomorrow (February 26)

The City is seeking applicants for community focus groups to help shape the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) recommendations for our communities. A key focus of the Community Focus Groups will be land use and zoning changes that could affect neighborhoods.

Visit http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/HALA/HALACommunityFocusGroupApplication.pdf for the application. Download the application, fill it out, and save it. Submit the application to HALAapplication@seattle.gov by email.


Community representatives will be asked to attend about 8 meetings, read materials, and respond to emails between meetings. The total time commitment will be 5–10 hours per month. Most meetings will occur at City Hall in downtown outside of typical business hours. Understanding that community members may require assistance with parking and transportation in order to participate, the City will offer access to free parking and public transit for Community Focus Group members during meeting times. Downtown was selected as a central meeting location so that representatives from many neighborhoods would have access.

Backyard Cottages Community Meeting

Wednesday, February 3rd, from 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Wallingford Community Senior Center (bottom level of the Good Shephard Center)

The City’s Description: “Expanding the construction of backyard cottages could provide thousands of new housing units throughout Seattle and give homeowners an opportunity to earn stable, extra income and remain in their homes. Join us, along with Council member Mike O’Brien, at two public meetings to discuss policy options that would encourage production of backyard cottages.”

The WCC is concerned about the proposed changes to the rules governing backyard cottages, and it encourages those interested in this topic to attend. The WCC General Meeting will begin after this meeting.

Follow Up on the January 20th Urban Village Meeting

The WCC hosted an informational meeting January 20th regarding the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan and the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA), and their potential impact on the Wallingford Residential Urban Village. Over 200 people attended, and more than 80 people signed-up to be part of a WCC committee on these issues. More have joined since by registering for ongoing WCC communications online on the mailing list registration page.

A complete record of this meeting has been posted in a video playlist on YouTube.

The next step is an organizational meeting to develop the WCC Urban Village effort. Stay tuned for further updates regarding the time and place for this meeting.

From the President:
The January 20th meeting was a great success in terms of attendance, community participation, and program. Thanks to all who attended! If you want to help and haven’t already signed up, please feel free to contact me or subscribe to our mailing list.

Carl Slater
President, Wallingford Community Council