VNF worked with the Seattle City Attorney’s office to defend the City of Seattle in an appeal of its environmental review for Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability Proposal. Under the proposal, the City would upzone 27 neighborhoods, allowing increased development opportunities, while simultaneously imposing a requirement on developers with projects in those areas to provide or pay for affordable housing units—which will result in thousands of affordable homes over the next decade.
Nine neighborhood organizations appealed the City’s environmental impact statement for the proposal. On November 21st, the Hearing Examiner ruled in the City’s favor.
As noted in the Seattle Times, City Council member Rob Johnson cheered the ruling and said the council now will take up the legislation and could vote as soon as February or March. The legal challenge, described by Johnson in the Seattle Times article as one of the longest such appeals in city history, had previously blocked the council from advancing the plan.
VNF team members representing the City included Tadas Kisielius, Dale Johnson, and Clara Park.