Legislature carefully crafts law that harms moderate-income homeowners and protects wealthy ones

Homes in Medina and other small cities won’t be impacted by HB 1110; the legislature exempted them (photo from Google Street View)

The State House of Representatives just passed a sweeping housing bill, HB 1110, that some are bragging finally gets the NIMBYs (Not in My Back Yards) to stop blocking new housing.  Except the legislature didn’t actually do that.  The truly wealthy enclaves in our area, like Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point, and Clyde Hill are not impacted at all, as they fall below a city size threshold included in the law.  And anyone who owns a home covered by an HOA, which is about 80% of our newer homes these days, and includes many found in expensive areas including all gated communities, typically won’t be impacted either.

The section of the new law protecting existing HOAs reads as follows: ”  A new section is added to chapter 64.38 RCW to read as follows:  Governing documents of associations within cities subject to the middle housing requirements in section 3 of this act that are created after the effective date of this section may not actively or effectively prohibit the construction, development, or use of  additional housing units as required in section of this act.

But this law will impact most residents in Renton, who are majority non-white, and tend to own and live in the region’s older housing stock.  Most of Renton’s neighborhoods are not covered by homeowner’s association, with some characterized by modest-sized affordable homes dating back more than 100 years.  And the law has a special provision that if you are not already in an HOA, you can’t form one now to protect your neighborhood.  Renton’s neighborhoods will be prime targets for new fourplexes and six-plexes, which will lower livability and property values of moderate-income homeowners.

As I’ve written before, our region does have a housing shortage, and I’ve personally worked toward allowing more building flexibility.  But sending all the multiplexes to some cities and not others is not fair.  Obvious areas of tension will be parking, traffic, noise, overburdened parks, loss of tree canopy and greenspace, and conflict between neighbors.  There will also be expensive engineering issues that underlie neighborhoods, like limited sewer lines, undersized water lines, fire-fighting infrastructure, and stormwater management.

Renton has already dedicated hundreds of acres to duplex and fourplex housing, making our city already a leader in the region in covering  affordable “missing-middle” housing.

Those Washington House representatives covering  Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Medina that voted for this law are going to make sure Renton pulls its weight, even while their wealthier neighborhoods do not.  They have to fight the NIMBYs, right?

I discussed this law earlier here