by Vee Hua 華婷婷
Last week, the entire Seattle City Council passed a legislative package consisting of two bills which will aim to increase the production of affordable housing across the city by streamlining the permitting process. Originally proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell, the legislation will exempt affordable rental and for-sale housing from the City's extensive design review process. These changes may expedite the amount of time it takes to build affordable housing, though such projects are still subject to the City of Seattle's regular health and safety requirements, as well as building and Land Use codes.
Council Bill 120591 will make permanent the temporary exemptions from design review which were originally passed during the COVID-19 pandemic. "This exemption had been previously applied only to rental housing projects with 40% of the units affordable at up to 60% AMI, but it has been expanded to include home-ownership projects with 40% of the units affordable at up to 80% AMI as well," writes a press release from the City Council.
Relatedly, Council Bill 120581 introduces temporary provisions to the permit review process — valid for 24 months — which may allow exemption from design review for housing projects that meet the City's Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) requirement. "To achieve the goal of providing affordable housing in Seattle, development subject to the MHA requirements must contribute to affordable housing as part of most commercial, residential, or live-work projects. This contribution can be provided by including affordable housing units within new development (performance option) or paying into a fund that will support the development of affordable housing (payment option)," writes the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections website.
The bill also updates outdated language in the City's Land Use code, to provide more clarity around its definition of affordable housing. If successful, these temporary provisions may be made permanent.
The University of Washington Medicine Memory and the Brain Wellness Center and Seattle Parks and Recreation have teamed up to offer SOAR (Shared Outdoor Adventures for Resilience), a new program with outdoor exploration opportunities for individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's prior to age 65. Starting on July 12, SOAR will host free small-group hikes every month around the Puget Sound area, which are designed to lessen the isolation often felt by those who are diagnosed at a younger age. These individuals comprise only 10% of the population with Alzheimer's, and as a result, most services are designed for those in later life stages.
The hikes are anticipated to be up to 3 or 4 miles, on moderately challenging terrain that SOAR hopes will be accessible to a wide range of individuals. All hikes will be led by a Lifelong Recreation Specialist from Seattle Parks and Recreation, with optional transportation, and on select events, volunteer naturalists may provide education on local flora and fauna.
On Wednesday, July 12, SOAR will host the program's kickoff event at Washington Park Arboretum from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants are encouraged to bring a friend or family member.
Eight artist teams selected by Watershed Community Development — and with funding from the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Neighborhood Recovery Program — will create Summer Art Activations in the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods.
A press release shared by Watershed names the eight teams that were given $75,000 in grant funding and "were selected by a community review panel based on their proposed projects' strength, relationship to the neighborhoods, and focus on serving traditionally underserved communities."
Among the artists and artist teams selected and their related projects are:
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Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the editor-in-chief of REDEFINE, a long-time member of the Seattle Arts Commission, and a film educator at the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they previously served as executive director and played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences. After a recent stint as the interim managing editor at South Seattle Emerald, they are moving into production on their feature film, Reckless Spirits, which is a metaphysical, multilingual POC buddy comedy. They have a master's in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
📸 Featured Image: The redeveloped Yesler Terrace, the city's first publicly subsidized housing community, grand opening in 2015. Photo is attributed to Seattle City Council (under the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain).
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