Seattle begins debate over raising limit for residents at ‘transitional encampments’ to 150

Examples of other shelter facilities from the Wilson administration presentation (PD)F on the proposed expansion

The Seattle City Council’s land use committee will take up key legislation needed to achieve Mayor Katie Wilson’s plan to expand tiny house villages and provide more emergency shelter in Seattle.

The new proposed bill from Wilson’s office would increase the limit on residents at a Seattle tiny house village from 100 to 150 and allow one “interim use” 250-resident village in the city.

“The current land use code limits the size of each transitional encampment to 100 people per site,” council analysis of the proposal reads. “This creates a significant barrier to efficiently use limited City-owned lands, in particular if there is already a smaller microshelter on the site that has the potential to be expanded.”

The new bill arrives as the council approved a set of legislation also needed to enable the expansion. Tuesday, the full council gave its approval of legislation enabling the Director of Finance and Administrative Services’ authority to execute leases when the land is used for transitional encampment purposes. Another bill passed Tuesday will allow for $4.8 million in unused funding to be redirected to the effort.

As of early 2026, there are around a dozen tiny house villages currently operating within the Seattle city limits. The number has grown with the opening of the Olympic Hills Village in Lake City in February 2026. Most of these sites are managed by the Low Income Housing Institute in partnership with the City of Seattle and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

Low Income Housing Institute officials say its existing code of conduct for residents would remain in effect.

The legislation from the mayor’s office follows her executive order in January to speed up the creation of new shelter and affordable housing in the city with a new “interdepartmental team” tasked with identifying “options for financial incentives, permitting changes, and other policy changes.”

“When City-owned property is available, maximizing the number of persons served on a given site is a critical strategy for making spaces in tiny house villages available quickly,” the council analysis of the new bill in the package reads. “Given the limited number of City-owned sites, the most viable sites already have microshelter villages on them, and expanding those sites is hindered by the existing 100-person limit even though there may be significantly more land available to use on the site.”

The mayor’s office is highlighting work around public safety and “neighborhood coordination” that it says are part of its plans. Facilities would have 24/7 staffing, defined site boundaries, “Resident Code of Conduct” efforts, and Community Advisory Committees for oversight.

Sites will be reviewed against a set of public safety and environmental criteria. The mayor’s office says the Seattle Police Department will “work with operators to review site design (CPTED) for lighting, visibility, and access points.”

“The Mayor’s Office is committed to a strong program launch focused on community health & safety for all involved,” a presentation from the administration says. “To accomplish this, ahead of program launch we will convene a space for ongoing collaboration by City Departments, Council, shelter provider, and key neighborhood stakeholders to activate the space and address issues as they arise.”

All sites for new and expanded villages have not been determined but planning is underway for one project in Interbay.

The earliest a full council vote will happen on the bill is mid-May.

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