(Image: City of Seattle)
The Seattle City Council’s land use committee is slated Wednesday morning to debate a set of proposed amendments to legislation opening the way for Mayor Katie Wilson’s plan to create new, larger Tiny House Villages in the city as part of a push to quickly create new emergency shelter in Seattle.
CHS reported previously on the latest legislation moving through the Seattle City Council that would raise legal limits on residents at “transitional encampments” to 150. The bill would also allow one “interim use” 250-resident village in the city.
Wednesday, committee members are raising a set of proposed amendments they say are focused on helping to make sure the new, larger villages fit safely into the city’s neighborhoods.
A joint amendment from Dionne Foster and Debora Juarez would require operators of any of the new, larger villages to develop a public safety plan “with required elements” and authorize a Community Advisory Committee “to advise on public safety plan implementation.”
District 3’s Joy Hollingsworth’s proposal would add a requirement for an operator to enter into a “Good Neighbor Agreement” and “prescribes minimum communication and public safety protocols that must be included in the GNA.”
Two amendments from Alexis Mercedes Rinck would require that operators of new or expanded encampments with more than 100 occupants have at least two staff on site 24 hours a day and set a goal that operators “strive” to provide intensive case management for encampment occupants at a ratio of one case manager for every 15 occupants with high-acuity needs.
Finally, Councilmember Dan Strauss is proposing that large villages be broken up and organized as separate, 50-resident “neighborhoods” within a village.
While the amendments could add time-consuming process to the efforts championed by the mayor to quickly create new shelter facilities, they also might help with neighborhood pushback as the sites for new villages are proposed.
On Capitol Hill, CHS reported on plans for a new 32-house tiny village on Belmont Ave that would not be part of the plan for expanded, 100+ resident villages but is still raising questions for its operator. The Low Income Housing Institute says it held a community meeting on the project on April 20th — the same day CHS broke the news on the project — but hasn’t said if it is planning any follow-ups for the village as it is being planned for a temporary stay on the lot cleared as Downtown Emergency Service Center develops a 120-unit supportive housing apartment building.
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