AN ORDINANCE relating to land use and zoning; amending the Official Land Use Map (Chapter 23.32) to rezone certain land in the Chinatown/International District; amending Sections 23.49.007, 23.49.008, 23.49.011, 23.49.013, 23.49.014, 23.49.023, 23.49.156, 23.49.158, 23.49.164, 23.49.208, 23.49.212, 23.49.242, 23.58B.040, 23.58B.050, 23.58C.035, 23.58C.040, and 23.58C.050 to implement Mandatory Housing Affordability requirements in the Chinatown/International District; and amending Map A for Section 23.41.006, Design Review Board Districts, Map 1B, Map 1C, Map 1F, Map 1G and Map 1H for Section 23.49, Downtown Overlay Maps, Map A for Section 23.66.302,  International Special Review District and Map B for Section 23.66.326, International District.
Bill Pass and Chair of Senate. Please read the report of the Planning Land Use and Zoning Committee gene. And number two, you can read the short title. The report of the Planning and Zoning Committee announced two and three cancel 118 939 relating to land use and sodium and inefficient snapped trees on certain land in the Chinatown International District. The committee recommends the bill passes amended Resolution 317 54 relating to the Chinatown International District Committee recommends the resolution be adopted as amended. JOHNSON Thank you, Mr. Chair, for clarification. I think maybe be helpful for me to start with just a little bit about what's in the substitute versions of both the Council bill and the Council resolution. Maybe we'll do some Q&A, if there is any, and then I'd like the chance to circle back around and make some closing comments . So with your permission, I would just add that there's a couple of elements here in the substitute council bill that I think warrants mentioning. We have made some technical changes to what we refer to as the jingles in the bill. There's a couple of sections refer to the findings and remember some additional sections. There's a clarification in this that Councilmember O'Brien suggested to ensure that our existing transfer of development rights continue to be an option for. For achieving development rights in the Chinatown International District area. And Councilmember Herbold had suggested an amendment that's included in this piece of legislation. The substitute that also allows for additional height options for developers who choose to allow for a lower level of affordability in their units. So if you're a developer who's developing a project that is going to provide at least ten units to folks earning less than 50% of area median income that you're allowed to access additional height that's currently granted for family size units. So that's sort of a quick and dirty version of what's enclosed in the substitute version of Council Bill 118959. We also have a engrossed substitute resolution that makes about a dozen changes to the legislation as it came out of committee. The first was referenced in public comment and it eliminates reference to the historic Manila town. I want to say thank you to Brian and Betty for bringing that forward. We've got a new recital in here about work between the city and the Seattle Housing Authority on a joint assessment of fair housing. We've got expectations regarding the disposition of property that the city owns on and around Charles Street. We've got specific language about stakeholders and as was referred to in public comment, particularly a stakeholder advisory committee that's going to be convened over the next year to continue to ask the city to engage with that stakeholder advisory committee. We've got language that requests the Office of Economic Development to report back to Council on the King Street Activation Project, which is also an agenda item for discussion later on today. We've got a recognition of the diversity of perspectives in the Chinatown international districts and the city's commitment to equitable community development. A commitment to establishing funding for that Equitable Development initiative, commonly referred to as the ED Fund, exploration of strategies of community controlled land and public financing of land acquisition support for displaced renters. Beyond the provisions outlined in the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance request for the Office of Housing to make recommendations around best practices and financial tools for potential changes to the Housing Levy Administrative and Finance Plan. Changes to the prioritization or considerations, rather of changes to the prioritization funds in our mandatory housing affordability program to deliver new units throughout the city, including in high opportunity areas, and then a statement of intention that the Council will continue to work to help identify resources to organizations that work to build housing in and culturally relevant, historically rooted nonprofits. So really broad list of changes both to the base legislation and to the resolution. Happy to answer any questions about both the base bill and the resolution. At this point, I'll just stop talking and give you the mic back. Council President Okay, so we will not talk twice about the resolution has not been formally read into the record, but we'll get there. So we have we can chat about both the resolution and the base legislation and the new substitution. Any further comments? You know, like to make this point and you can wait and see. So. So so Councilmember Herbert was just asking me a question. Would you like me to formally then move for adoption of the Council bill and we can come back and talk a little bit more about the rest. I want to make sure that if there are no comments first and we could take the bill first, we have an amendment. They haven't even voted on that yet. So I would just sort of following your lead. You threw me off a little bit sideways, so apologize. You talked about substitution, substitution five for version four. That's currently we haven't formally move that, but we can do that now. Why don't we do that first? So Council Member Johnson has moved to substitute version five for version four and described. Is there a second second. Although second my own. I'm sorry. Second on my own. Yeah. Let's get someone else to second your motion here. Councilwoman Bagshaw seconded all those in favor of submitting version five for version four. Please say I oppose the ayes have it. So we have a substitute version. Any comments about the substitution version? Not the resolution, just the base legislation. The bill. Any comments? Okay. Would you like to say a few comments? We can actually vote on that before we get to a resolution. Yeah. I mean, I think the the things that I would add around the base legislation are effectively the you know, this legislation implements our mandatory housing affordability program. And as we've heard in many of the neighborhoods where we've adopted this program, there's a lot that goes alongside housing affordability that can't be undertaken in our land use code . So this bill that we're voting on today amends the land use code. And that amendment will effectively allow developers to build slightly taller buildings inside the Chinatown International District. There are no zoning changes proposed in the historic core of the Chinatown International District, and the legislation that allows for slightly taller buildings to be built will also allow us to require developers to build affordable housing on site or to pay into a city fund for affordable housing. That's an important piece of information, as was mentioned in public comment. There are several projects that are currently under review in the international district Chinatown area. This legislation allows us to charge some of those developers who have not already vested the mandatory housing affordability program funds and allows us to generate a whole lot more money for affordable housing. To put it into context. We estimate that the program in the Chinatown International District will result in 150 new units of affordable housing being constructed there in the next ten years. Previous legislation that we adopted last week imposed a similar program in the Central District, and we estimated that that would generate about 50 units affordable housing in the next ten years. One project in the Central District announced that they would be moving forward with implementation of the mandatory housing affordability program, commonly known as the Midtown BLOCK. That project in and of itself will build 180 units of affordable housing to folks at 60% of area median income or below. So we're blowing by our targets, and that's a very good thing for us in the city, a city that's really struggling with affordable housing and building enough affordable housing quickly to meet our demands. That concludes my remarks. Mr.. Mr.. Very good. Any other remarks? I'll have two remarks on the resolution, but not on the bill. I'm going to work on my to resolution. Okay. So we'll have some remarks on the resolution, I'm sure. So we have all please call the roll on the passage of the amended. Bill Johnson for us. Sergeant Bagshaw, Burgess Gonzalez purple President Harrell eight in favor nine. Oppose the bill passed and chair of Senate so read the resolution into the record, please. I think you did it. Okay, so it's been read. So Councilmember Johnson spoke to the resolution. Are there any further comments regarding the resolution and the policies behind the resolution for the bill we just passed? Customer Back Show. Thank you. Yes. I want to say thanks to the community and I especially appreciate the work that my colleagues have done around establishing this new unified international special review district for the Chinatown International District, Little Saigon community. I have no idea how you are going to be able to keep those words in order, but I think it's a major step in the right direction. And I also would like to point out that we have over the years talked about unifying the police precincts in Little Saigon. So either the full East Precinct moves over into the west side of I-5 or vice versa. And I want to encourage our police department and our council to be working to make that happen this year. And then lastly, it's about the green stormwater infrastructure. I know we've also been talking about that, but the need to make sure that Chinatown and the international district as a whole are greened up as much as other areas of the city that we've been working on. So I would just want to acknowledge those are some things that are undone, but I really hope that we can get those done this year. Thank you for the comments. Councilmember Herbold. Thank you. In addition. To. My appreciation to interim the Seattle Chinatown PTA, Puget Sound Stage, the yes, our community collaborative advocates from Little Saigon, the SED coalition and all the folks who came to meetings and made this a better piece of legislation and a really important work plan for the city and the community to work on together moving forward. I heard loud and clear that what comes next is what's really important. I also want to thank Councilmembers Johnson and Central Staff for working with my office and under Councilor in particular in my office. I think we have a much better product as a result of all of that work. We Councilmember Johnson did a great job in highlighting the changes that have been made since committee from today. They're also really important changes that were made in. In committee and we had talked about ways of using the growth associated in the CID. To support. The projects associated with. Our our shared goals for the kid. And we also talked about the exploration of an unreinforced masonry preservation pilot and looking at potentially either some of the funds from NASA or the reestablishment of a property tax growth fund as earmarking an increment of growth for either. Preservation of of properties that are unreinforced masonry and thus have issues of safety in rental housing. But also, I think the conversation that has been keyed up around the future of a potential property tax growth fund could be also used not only to. Support. That program, but other high priorities in the community and really to support have an ongoing revenue source for the for the EDA fund. Thank you very much. Before I make some comments, we have a sort of a housekeeping. We did describe the subject version. The components of it comes from Amber Johnson. So why don't I move it for you and you could second it. I'll move to substitute version four for version three. Second, all those in favor of the substitution. But I, I, I have it. Okay, so we've already talked about it and I'll just say a few, few remarks and that is, I just want to thank, first of all, Councilmember Johnson, the committee again for their leadership and slowing it down a little bit, but not to a complete halt, because I think the community has spoken loudly and to some extent. There's obviously been some differences of opinion, even some arguments. But I always contend that people only argue about things they care about. The things that really matter in the Chinatown International District is indeed a gem. And it's a gem because not only is it rare and special, but it's worthy of being maintained and invested in to, in a sense and a proposition. We have to invest in it. And what I've been very pleased about during the outreach is that we saw not only people with gray hair or no hair advocating as they have for decades. And I see a few leaders here as well, that it has become a gem because of folks like Sharon and Frank and others in Dawson. I could just go down the list, but I was very pleased to see the younger generation and Tom the younger and I'll put you in the younger generation time, the younger generation at the testimony that they are as passionate as many of us have been. And so I think that you have city leaders that understand the unique character of this very special part of town. It will continue to succeed and we will have and make sure we bring in the right the right investments. We won't be exempted like the historic core certain areas. It wasn't because well, let me put it in a positive way. It was because we realized that it is very precious and we're trying to go slowly enough to where we take the community with us. But we're again, we're trying to activate and bring in some economic development and bring in affordable housing. And the elephant in the room is displacement. And so we tried to address that head on with our strategies. And by the way, displacement is not unique to the Chinatown International District. It's happening all over this country as people migrate toward course cities. So we are in this fight together. But I hope that you believe we try to come out in a real good place with what are in some cases, modest up zones, but indeed a good package in a daze. But I want to thank all of you for your continued advocacy for our communities you love and have fought so hard for. And Councilmember Johnson. Just briefly, I want to say a couple of things about sort of the wrap up. Councilmember Herbold did a great job of thanking the many community partners who helped us along the way. But there's a couple that I just want to add to Friends of Little Saigon, thanks to Kwan and Yandi for the many hours that they've spent with us on this project. And I also want to say thanks to Sunny and several of other folks who spent a lot of time working with us on on this issue. You know, the there's a lot going on in the Chinatown international districts right now between the work that we're doing around public safety, between the work that we're doing on commercial affordability, that are really outside the scope of zoning changes but are all very interrelated. We want to reemphasize again the the language, the zoning changes that we adopted. They don't make any change to the historic core of the of the international district, Chinatown. And in addition, in that historic core, there are dozens of projects with more than a thousand units of affordable housing. None of those units go away. None of those projects go away. All those will continue to stay affordable for the folks that are living there today. The program's implementation will result in new affordable housing units coming online, which is, I think, really important for us to remind folks of. And it's important because a lot of families of a lot of different incomes are being displaced from the city right now. And we want places for all those families to be able to call home. The Chinatown International District, as was mentioned during public comment, provides access to good jobs, vibrant local businesses, cultural services that allow multi-generational support in history and a lot a lot of transportation choices. So there's a lot of different ways for you to be able to get around without needing a car. And in addition, there's a really incredible set of decisions that can be made through the International Special Review District, which has been aptly suggested to be renamed today but also we'll put that on the list of to do is following up from today and that expansion allows for a community that is currently represented by three different design review boards to come together under one umbrella and also to have that umbrella be expanded. The special review district allows for a lot of review that can't traditionally be. Done by our citizens on review processes. And I won't bore my colleagues by going into the differences between those two. But let's just say this allows for a lot more community ownership of the kind of buildings that are going to get constructed in the in the Little Saigon area in particular going forward. I'm really excited to see the work plan coming out of the City Advisory Committee as was referenced during public comment. And it's not lost on me that in the wake of the discussions that we've been having here in the community, that we are also in Councilmember Burgess's committee on Wednesday, moving forward with funding in our second quarter supplemental budget to hire a consultant and have that consultant work with the city to talk about disposition of public lands at Charles Street, which the community has been asking for public ownership of for a very long time. So these things are all interconnected, and that's been a theme, I think, of a lot of our zoning changes. We want our work to be connected, to be responsive and to be collaborative. And that's something that I think we really hope to have a hallmark on in future zoning changes we've done for so far this year. We've got one more on the docket before the council takes our pause for a budget process that's uptown. But whether it's the Central District or Uptown or the international district or the U. District or downtown South Lake Union, what struck me about this discussion was how many folks came up to me during the course of the last several months and talked about their immigration story or their family's immigration story, how coming to Seattle give them a chance to build a new life, and how the international district really provided a home, both physical and cultural, where people could feel connected and resourced and supported. And so with many folks moving here today who continue to look for that resource and support and cultural touchstone, I hope that the zoning changes allow us to continue to have the city be a vibrant, welcoming place for people of all generations for many years to come. Thank you for those closing remarks. Okay. Those in favor of adopting the amended resolution, please vote I. I oppose vote no. The motion carries and a resolution is adopted in the chair will sign it. Thank you very much. Please read the report of the Human Services and Public Health Committee, and you can read short Title.