Issue link: http://digital.nexsitepublishing.com/i/1257023
T his year has been one of the most challenging in MBAKS' history. As members have grappled with social, economic, and health impacts of the coronavirus, our team has been fully engaged in helping housing recover. MBAKS assembled a toolkit to help members return to work safely and legally, following the Governor's April 24 Phase 1 Construction Restart rules. We created a Phase 2 Construction Restart Toolkit to aid members when the state moves into Phase 2, and we continue to keep this information updated. Meanwhile, we set to work on local measures to get housing moving again. First, we urged cities and counties to extend permits in response to the shutdown. Snohomish County, Auburn, Bellevue, Renton, Redmond, Bothell, Lynnwood, Everett, Edmonds, Lake Stevens, and Sammamish were among the first to adopt permit extensions, ranging from 120–180 days. Many of these measures were adopted by ordinance, while some extended permits administratively. BY ALLISON BUTCHER SENIOR POLICY ANALYST MBAKS Keep up with our ongoing advocacy work—sign up for email updates at mbaks.com/newsletter Other measures we advocated for in response to the crisis include: • Online permitting portals • Video inspections, planners working from home, and other procedures to enable work during social distancing • Hiring pro tem hearing examiners and third-party inspectors to work through the backlog • Vesting building permits • Allowing building permit applications to be submitted for review at preliminary plat approval, so construction can commence at approval of final plat • Administrative approval for final plats • Suspending design review or allowing projects normally subject to full design review to move through administrative design review We have also worked to ensure positive housing measures continue to advance. These measures are important in helping housing recover and enabling more choices for current and future residents: • Amendments to Bellevue's Affordable Housing Strategy to allow a fee simple overlay for townhome development and to remove the three-year wait for ADUs • Kirkland ordinances to allow development of ADUs, cottages, duplexes, and triplexes in all single- family residential zones • Townhouse reform legislation in Seattle • Changes to Snohomish County Public Works' Engineering Development and Design Standards and priority updates to the county's lot size averaging code • Changes to Lake Steven's zoning code and dimensional standards update Thanks to our members for providing their expertise on these measures and lending their support every step of the way. Local Advocacy Efforts in High Gear to Help Housing Rebound 23 SUMMER 2020 | master BUILDER HOUSING ADVOCACY