washington state vs the king county sewer capacity charge

One seemingly intractable cost to building a backyard cottage in Seattle has been the $10,000 king county sewer capacity charge levied against DADUs but not ADUs.   

Senate Bill 5812 is new legislation that is part of state wide effort intended to increase the amount of affordable rental housing by setting standards for both attached (ADUs) and detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs). If adopted the legislation will apply to all towns and cities with populations of greater than 2,500.  

One of the major costs of building DADUs have been capacity charges. In many municipalities capacity charges for a DADU are levied equal to those of a new single family residence.  The new legislation would require that utilities charge fees at a level that is proportionate to the actual cost of adding the service and additional consumption. This is particularly important for what might be considered more affordable DADUs, those that are smaller and in rural areas, as the existing cost per unit model represents a disproportionately large part of the budget for these units.  


For ADUs and DADUs the bill would also.

• Eliminate owner occupancy requirements
• Set a minimum size of 1,000 square feet
• Exclude garages from the maximum allowable size for DADUs.
• Eliminate parking requirements
• Allow one ADU and one DADU or two ADUs per primary residence

Comments can be submitted via link

Or via session Committee Assistant Elisabeth Weeks (elizabeth.weeks@leg.wa.gov)

And addressed to:

Madame Chair and Members of the Senate Housing Stability and Affordability
Committee,

happy seattle snow day

Our offices are closed today, February 4th, in honor of mother nature.  If you have a question about backyard cottages please contact us via the open house invite form or send us an email to info@microhousenw.com.  Please include your address and tell us how you plan to use the DADU.  We will take a look and we can set up a time for a follow up phone call.

You can register for our next workshop backyard cottages for fun and profit, here.

Register

Thursday, March 7,  7:00 pm 

Phinney Neighborhood Center.6532 Phinney Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103Admission Price $15 members, $25 general public

Upcoming Workshops

Backyard Cottages for Fun and Profit

Backyard cottages can be used for many things including housing a family member or as a short term rental.  Join Bruce Parker from Microhouse and Stefan Hansmire from Stefan Hansmire Builds to learn more about how to plan for and establish a realistic budget for your cottage. Bring your ideas, after the presentation we will have plenty of time to answer questions about the specifics of your project. 

Upcoming workshop dates:

Sunday, January 20th, 1:00 pm 

Northwest Remodeling Expo.
Washington State Convention Center Halls 4EF
800 Convention Place, Seattle, WA 98101
Admission Price $5/ Under 18 Free (cash only)

  

Thursday, March 7,  7:00 pm 

Phinney Neighborhood Center.
6532 Phinney Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
Admission Price TBD

owner occupancy requirement spotlight

What might it look like if the owner occupancy covenant were removed?

One developer explores the theoretical with a new independent condominium listings for a remodeled residence and a new backyard cottage.  As featured in Curbed

curbed seattle

yes

So now we know.  An appeal has been filed by the Queen Anne Community Council.  This will ultimately delay city council action by at least several months.

will a lawsuit delay implementation of the ADU EIS?

Stay tuned we should know by tomorrow.

Under SEPA, a 14-day appeal period follows the publication of a Final EIS. That appeal period will end tomorrow, October 18.  If no appeal is filed then the City Council will consider legislation to implement the proposed Land Use Code changes. Council will hold a public hearing. All Council meetings offer opportunities for public comment. 

final ADU EIS issued

a backyard cottage in Capitol Hill

Almost two years on here is the final EIS report that studies the impacts of the following key changes to the land use code.

• Allowing two ADUs on one lot
• Removing the off-street parking requirement
• Removing the owner-occupancy requirement and requiring one year of ownership when creating a second ADU
• Modifying development standards that regulate the size, height, and location of DADUs
• Increasing the household size limit for a lot with two ADUs
• Establishing a new limit on the maximum size of single-family dwellings

To read the final EIS along with the preferred alternative click the following link. Final EIS


Whats Next?

The City Council will consider legislation to implement the proposed Land Use Code changes. Council will hold a public hearing. All Council meetings offer opportunities for public comment.

Unless

Further lawsuits are anticipated which will drag the process out likely until next year. Stay tuned for updates. 


City Preferred Alternatives

1. Number of ADU's on a lot:

City Preferred Alternative: Allow an ADU and DADU on lot while not requiring owner occupancy.

2. Parking: Remove parking requirement for ADUs: 

City Preferred Alternative: No off-street parking required.

3. Owner Occupancy:  

City Preferred Alternative: No requirement for owner occupancy.

This is a real disappointment. The original proposal had required owner occupancy for a period of a year to minimize redevelopment pressure. The preferred method only requires that the lot has been under continuous ownership for a minimum of one year.  

4. Reduce minimum lot size:

City Preferred Alternative: reduce minimum lot size from 4,000 sq. ft. to 3,200 sq. ft.

5. Allowable cottage size increase:

City Preferred Alternative: Increase DADU size from 800 to 1,000 sq. ft. excluding garage and storage areas.

6. Additional Height:

City Preferred Alternative: Increase allowable height 1 to 3 ft.

7. Lot coverage Limit: Maintain.  

8. Rear yard coverage increase

City Preferred Alternative: Increase from 40% to 60%.

9. Rooftop features alternate: 

City Preferred Alternative: Allow

10. Location of entry alternate

 Allow entries on any façade with 10 ft min. from nearest lot line

11: Maximum Household Size:

City Preferred Alternative: increase the household size from 8 to 12 for lots with three dwelling units.

12: MHA fees would apply when an owner applies for a second ADU.

City Preferred Alternative: No additional fees or incentives.

13: Reduce pre-development costs by 10%.  

Under consideration outside of EIS scope.

14. Introduce a maximum FAR ratio:

City Preferred Alternative: Establish floor area limits for new single-family residences.