As the debate over how to solve the state’s housing crisis deepens in Olympia, a Democrat-backed supply-side bill soared through the state House last week.
House Bill 1757 by state Rep. Amy Walen seeks to help solve the lack of housing by using commercial spaces for home development.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Walen said the state is in a “housing emergency.” The situation: long permit-processing times and prohibitive financing costs, plus landfills getting stuffed with demolished buildings’ old construction materials.
The way Walen sees it, Washington needs to prioritize using existing structures to get people housed right away.
“Communities across our state, because of the changing nature of work, contain underutilized or even empty buildings,” the Kirkland Democrat said. “And this bill will help convert those quickly and house families that need us very desperately.”
On March 5 the bill cleared the House 95-2, with one lawmaker excused.
The state’s population is outpacing the number of available homes, according to Washington’s Office of Financial Management. There’s an estimated need for 1.1 million additional homes over the next two decades.
Walen said during a public hearing last month that empty commercial buildings, strip malls and churches throughout the state could quickly be repurposed.
State lawmakers in prior sessions passed rules to let commercial properties be converted for housing — but just in mixed-used and commercial zones. Walen’s bill would broaden that ability to include commercial structures in primarily residential zones, too.
The proposal would bar cities from mandating a change-of-use permit for such conversions. Parts of existing buildings that would be used for someone’s residence would also be exempt from state energy-code requirements if they meet certain conditions.
“If you take an old building and you turn it into residential housing, then the energy code applies,” Walen said at the Feb. 6 hearing. “It can be very, very expensive, and makes the project infeasible. So that’s the idea behind the bill.”
Supporters of the measure say that it would help to deliver more housing near where residents work and want to live. Ultimately Walen thinks the proposed change would lead to more livable, walkable neighborhoods.
State Rep. Sam Low, a Lake Stevens Republican, spoke in favor of the measure Wednesday. He said that rents and mortgages are high, with folks struggling to stay afloat.
“We need to have all options on the table,” Low said March 5 on the House floor. “We need more supply. More supply is what’s going to get us out of the problem that we’re in right now.”
While lawmakers largely seem to agree that more housing supply is needed, two House Republicans argue that Walen’s bill isn’t the solution.
State Rep. Jeremie Dufault of Selah voted against the legislation. He told McClatchy via email that zoning decisions are best made at the local level — not at the state level.
“HB 1757 mandates cities allow conversion of commercial buildings in R1 single-family zones to multi-unit residences,” Dufault said. “That may not always be appropriate or advisable, but cities and their residents will no longer have any say.”
State Rep. Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican, was the other no vote. He said he wants to see the permitting process get simplified and accelerated, and for restrictions imposed by the Clean Water and Growth Management acts to go away: “We need to let developers develop.”
Many well-meaning bills wind up enabling bad public policy, said Walsh, who also chairs the state’s Republican Party.
When it comes to housing, he added: “We don’t need these little incremental, surgical changes. … We need, you know, flamethrowers and sledgehammers.”
HB 1757 was referred Friday to the Senate Housing Committee. It’s slated for a public hearing March 14 at 10:30 a.m.