Seattle City Council: public safety street closures, CARE changes, Montlake Homes, and Central District upzones

The Seattle City Council is ready to finalize a busy roster of legislation from its committees Tuesday afternoon including bills hoped to open the way for new affordable development in the Central District and Montlake plus changes for the city’s CARE Department crisis responders.

• Public safety street closures: The full council is ready to approve an emergency ordinance allowing city officials to close down streets to traffic to address public safety concerns and gun violence. CHS reported here on the proposal as Mayor Katie Wilson has included street closures in her plan to address crime and gun violence along Aurora Ave. Under the proposal, the city’s municipal code will be expanded to include streets in law that already allows officials to shut down alleys in problem areas. It is being pursued as an emergency ordinance meaning the council must achieve a 3/4 vote in support of the proposal including an agreed on start date.
• CARE changes: The council is also set to finalize changes to refine the mission of the city’s CARE Department and its crisis responders. The updates are hoped to codify boundaries for field staff, explicitly stating that responders cannot engage in criminal law enforcement or issue citations of any kind. The effort comes as CARE Chief Amy Barden continues to guides the department to overcome limitations placed on its responders. This winter, Barden said CARE crisis responders remain hamstrung and sidelined by the new contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild union.
• Montlake Homes and Central District upzoning: The council is expected to pass two pieces of legislation that will open up new opportunities for affordable housing. In the first, CHS reported on the plan for “Montlake Homes” that will authorize the Seattle Office of Housing to use $6 million in appropriation from the state legislature to acquire the surplus Washington State Department of Transportation property at 2625 East Montlake Place E for the development of 50 owner-occupied, permanently affordable homes. In the second, the city is set to surgically upzone areas “to support near-term investment in additional housing supply” while “while broader, more holistic changes to implement the new Comprehensive Plan work their way through the process.” Under the proposal, the land around the Meredith Mathews YMCA and nearby Ebenezer AME Zion Church just of 23rd Ave will be surgically upzoned.

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