Districts 3, 7 MHA public hearing April 16 at Seattle Central

The Seattle Select Committee on Citywide Mandatory Housing Affordability will hold a public hearing on proposed zoning changes in Districts 3 and 7 at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 16, at Seattle Central College.

The Mandatory Housing Affordability program requires developers to either provide affordable housing in new residential and commercial construction or pay an assessed fee that goes into a fund that the City of Seattle then distributes to affordable housing developers for other projects. An incentive for this program is the upzoning of portions of the city, which has already taken place in Downtown, South Lake Union, Uptown, University District and three segments of 23rd Avenue in the Central District.

Height limits are proposed to increase from 30 to 40 feet along East Madison Street, from McGilvra Boulevard East to 43rd Avenue East, and then north along 43rd to East Newton Street. Continuing north on 43rd, the city is proposing keeping the zoning at Low Rise 3, but with an added mandatory affordable housing contribution either through units or an assessed fee. The same is proposed south of East Madison Street on 43rd, all the way to East Garfield Street.

The city also proposes to raise height limits on East Madison Street near Washington Park from 40 to 55 feet. That would be from 27th to 32nd avenues east.

In Madrona, a height increase from 30 feet to 40 feet is proposed in an area bounded by East Pike Street, 33rd Avenue, East Spring Street and 35th Avenue.

An MHA final environmental impact statement addresses Madison Park as one of several neighborhoods where a large majority of the population is white, due in part to private deeds and developer plat maps in the 1900s that included “terms that prevented people of minority races, religions, and ethnicities from purchasing a home.” People of color represent about 10 percent of the Madison Park area, compared to 38 percent in Madrona/Leschi.

The April 16 hearing will be held in Seattle Central College’s Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway.