OLYMPIA — Washington lawmakers are looking at various new proposals to eliminate barriers to construction of new housing, hoping to build on progress they’ve made in recent years to increase the state’s housing supply.
On Wednesday, state senators passed one of those bills from the debate floor.
Senate Bill 5184, also known as the Parking Reform and Modernization Act, is sponsored by Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, and nine other Democrats.
The bill would lower the amount of parking required for new housing developments, prohibiting cities from requiring more than one stall for new residential units. Cities and counties would also be prohibited from requiring more than one parking stall per 1,000 square feet of commercial space.
During a floor session Wednesday, the bill passed 40-8. Six Republicans and two Democrats voted against the proposal.
Bateman explained during final passage that in the U.S., there are 10 parking spaces for each car, and that the way parking spaces are regulated gets in the way of building new housing.
“What this bill does is, it simply gives developers and builders the tools and the flexibility to right-size their parking for the project that they’re actually working on,” Bateman said. “We know that there are some places where it makes sense to have a lot of parking, and then there are other times when it’s not necessary and it would be counterproductive.”
She added that 58% of Washingtonians who are in renter households and 25% of homeowners have one or no car, but despite that, it is illegal in most Washington cities to build homes without at least one parking space. She said that requires developers to pay for parking that residents might not need, and also “requires tenants to potentially pay for or subsidize parking that they don’t actually use.”
Most Senate Republicans agreed with Bateman’s proposal.
Sen. Keith Goehner, R-Dryden, spoke in favor Wednesday, saying the bill tries to set some guidelines for better usng space.
“We all know that we have a housing shortage, and what we’re really trying to do is create opportunities for more housing units to be built,” he said.
Ten amendments were proposed by Republicans and Democrats, but only four were adopted, including an amendment by Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, that exempts cities with a population of less than 20,000 from parking limitations. Another adopted amendment by Sen. Liz Lovelett, D-Anacortes, allows for counties to require off-street parking if the county’s roads are “not developed to the standards for streets and roads adopted by the cities within that county.”
The bill now heads to the House for consideration. If passed and signed by the governor, it would go into effect July 26.
Another bill to eliminate barriers to housing construction was heard for the first time Wednesday.
Senate Bill 5729 is sponsored by Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, and two other Republicans. The bill had its first public hearing in the Senate Housing Committee and is scheduled for an executive session Friday.
Gildon said builders have told him about the lengthy time it takes for permit applications to go through various reviews and clarifications.
“This bill seeks to stop that, or at least slow it down,” Gildon told the committee.
According to the bill, a building permit would be deemed complete if prepared, stamped and signed off by professional architects and engineers under certain conditions. Local governments would only be allowed to request reviews or more information on permits three times, unless procedural requirements are violated.
Twelve people signed in opposition to the bill Wednesday, including representatives for the Washington State Association of Counties and the advocacy group Futurewise, while 391 people signed in favor of the bill, including representatives for the Kitsap Building Association, the Building Industry Association of Washington, and the Lower Columbia Contractors Association.
Riley Benge from the Washington Realtors testified in favor and said the state needs to make it “easier, faster, and less expensive to build more housing.” He added that the group supports Gov. Bob Ferguson’s goal of building 200,000 new housing units in the next four years, and said in order to achieve that goal permitting must become more efficient.
“Improving permit review timelines for housing projects benefits the entire housing ecosystems from local staff to builders to consumers,” Benge said. “Working on specific timelines and deadlines is something the Legislature’s been doing, and we appreciate the effort in that regard, but we should also be thinking of ways to relieve pressure on the system and all parties engaged with the permitting process.”
No one testified in opposition to the bill.
Providing technical input, Samantha Weinstein, the policy manager for the shore lands and environmental assistance program at the Department of Ecology, warned the legislation could create conflicts with requirements that local governments make sure construction projects comply with shoreline management protection programs.
“The approval could result in the net loss of critical area or shoreline ecological functions, or both,” she said.
If passed and signed by the governor, the law would go into effect on July 26.
