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Housing costs and regulation
Earlier this month, the Land Use and Development Committee met with University of Washington Professor Theo Eicher, who conducted the study on the costs that various regulations layer onto the price of housing in the city.

Committee members learned that local permitting delays account for a $30,000 increase in the cost of the median-priced Seattle house. Between 1989 and 2006, the inflation-adjusted price of the median Seattle house rose from $221,000 to $447,800. Of that increase, $200,000 was due to state and local land-use regulations.

Going forward, the Chamber is looking to arrange meetings between City Councilmembers and other elected officials with Professor Eicher for discussion on his study and its implications for housing affordability in our region.

Multi-Family Tax Exemption
Last week, City Councilmember Richard McIver initiated discussion in his Housing and Economic Development Committee on amending the multi-family tax exemption program. The program offers tax exemptions to developers if they set aside a certain percentage of units to affordable housing. Mayor Greg Nickels and Councilmember McIver both have proposals that differ in key areas, including what percentage of units must be devoted to affordable housing and what percentage of median income qualifies for such housing.

Incentive zoning and land use
The Chamber is also participating in ongoing conversations with Mayor Greg Nickels' staff and Councilmembers on the current incentive zoning legislation, and successfully pushed for a third-party economic analysis of the impact of incentive zoning policies.

Councilmember Clark's Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee is re-visiting the issue of industrial lands. Last year, Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck pushed through a council bill that limited commercial and office use in industrial areasalongside a resolution that the Chamber's Land Use and Development Committee supported to require more in-depth analysis of those lands.

As a first step toward implementing the goals of that resolution, the City Department of Planning and Development (DPD) will present its work plan for a land use and jobs analysis. That analysis would examine such salient issues as the definitions of manufacturing and research and development, adaptive re-use of designated industrial lands, and zone boundaries.

Next steps
Chamber staff and land use committee members will be following these issues closely. Watch eNews as well as the City and County email update for information. To learn how you can get involved with the Land Use and Development Committee, contact Vitoria Lin, 206.389.7268.