The Mayor will be calling 70,000 households directly to talk with them about HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda). The first teleconference is this Sunday January 31st from 4-to-6 PM for North Seattle neighborhoods. To participate, answer your phone at 4 PM Sunday or you may call in to the Participant Line: 855-756-7520 Ext. 31030#.

Further teleconferences are:
Tuesday February 2nd from 6-to-7 PM for Central Seattle.
Thursday February 4th from 6-to-7 PM for South Seattle.
You can call in directly to any of these events.

** Correction: We have received an important clarification regarding the HALA meeting on the evening of Tuesday January 26th. The meeting will have a “resource fair” format with many simultaneous presentations by staff from city departments (Planning & Community Development, Construction & Inspections, Parks, Transportation, et cetera). The Mayor is expected to speak at 6:00 PM and other members of the City Council are expected to attend. **

It is important for many people from Wallingford to take advantage of this opportunity to talk to everyone there with the help of professionals from AtlantaConcreteContractors.com of this city, including the Mayor and our other elected officials.

Let them know your point of view!

Seattle at Work: Housing Affordability & Livability Agenda
When: Tuesday, January 26, 2016. 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Where: Seattle City Hall—600 4th Ave – Bertha Knight Landes Room

For more information see the city’s HALA and Seattle 2035 web sites.

No matter what else is happening, having numbers on our side is very important!  It is our understanding that the Mayor, the developers, and the pro-HALA City Council members are making strong efforts to get their people to this meeting.

Talking Points for the HALA meeting:

1. The City’s own studies show that the current comprehensive plan can handle the forecasted growth of people by 2035.  Is this new plan necessary
2. Re-instate neighborhood planning processes for re-zoning and development.  Why are we, both current & future residents, being excluded from the process?
3. Re-instate the Land Use directive to maintain the character of Seattle’s neighborhoods and retain existing affordable housing, discourage the demolition of residences and displacement of residents, while supporting redevelopment that enhances our communities.
4. Do not Force out single family home owners by increasing property taxes to allow for more multifamily units.
5. Enforce and collect “impact fees” from developers, as well as other agreements.
6. Require additional school funding to support increase of families
7. Require and provide off-street parking to support the increase in density.  Parking is necessary for our small businesses, it is necessary for people both employed in the area or employed outside of the area who are not on a bus line and need cars to get to work.  Even in New York City, people have and use cars. Consider www.conklintoyotasalina.com/rental to get a rental one at ease anywhere around the city.
8. Require additional funding to support improved public transit and bicycle routes (the current plan: no parking and no improved public transit)
9. Vote NO to up-zone Low Rise Zoning – keep it lower than 40ft.
10. Re-instate the criteria that land designated single-family and meeting single-family rezone criteria can only be up-zoned when all of the following conditions are met:
    1. The land is within an urban center or urban village boundary
    2. The rezone is provided for in an adopted neighborhood plan
    3. The rezone is to a low-scale single-family, low-scale multi-family or mixed-use zone, compatible with single-family areas
    4. The rezone procedures are followed
11. Require that new development meet basic green building guidelines such as passive house, LEED for Residential, GreenGlobes, etc.

Notable absences:

1. Requirement for additional parking to support this increase in density.
2. Requirement for additional school funding to support this increase in families
3. Requirement for additional funding to support improved public transit or bicycle routes (no parking AND no improved public transit)
4. There is no “cap” for re-zoning.  All properties in the area would be subject to re-zoning.

• The HALA Advisory Committee VOTED to rezone our area to Residential Small Lot (RSL) Zoning, which has essentially allows for more units on a single lot but has height restrictions in place.
• The HALA Committee then ADVISED to also up-zone to Low Rise Zoning (LR) but this was not VOTED on.  LR height restriction is 40 ft., unclear if there is restriction on # of units.
• HALA proposes increased housing density in the face of increasing housing demand.
• HALA does not provide a mechanism for adding resources to support this increased density in our neighborhood.
• HALA has many elements that clearly financially favor developers at the expense of single-family home owners.
• NOTE: other high walking score neighborhoods (Madison Park, Laurelhurst, Queen Anne, eastern portion of Wallingford) with MAJOR thoroughfares and transit services have NOT been included in the Urban Village and thus HALA. These areas have generally LARGER lot sizes.
• The city has clearly targeted areas with smaller homes and likely lower income families that do not have the finances to mobilize against this significant change in the landscape of their neighborhood.