Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 5, May 2003

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Finding space for more people

By MATTHEW PREUSCH

Seattle, it is often said, is a city of neighborhoods. Almost 60 percent of the land here is set aside for traditional single family homes, making for a number of quiet residential areas with names that tend towards the pastoral: Haller Lake, Licton Springs, Laurelhurst, Maple Leaf.

Now the City's Department of Design, Construction and Land Use is considering a proposal some say could change all that.

City planners are putting forward the possibility of allowing a variety of housing formats, such as cottage developments and "mother-in-law" dwellings, in areas zoned for single-family homes.

Planners say the change is necessary to address the city's changing housing population, which includes more elderly, singles and young couples without children.

"There's definitely a need for a wider variety of housing types than just the typical, family/single family detached house," said Michael Kimelberg, a senior planner with DCLU.

Kimelberg points to Seattle's ongoing population boom as a reason for the changes. A recent King County study found in the next two decades the city will add over 50,000 households. To keep pace with that, as well as serve contemporary housing tastes, residence styles must diversify, he said.

"We recognize that there is a real market demand for expanding the types of houses that are available in Seattle," Kimelberg said. "It's not just numbers were talking about. There is a demonstrated preference for people who like the detached single-family living experience. They just don't need all the space and the yard that goes with it."

Two types of denser housing, neither new to Seattle, are being considered in single-family neighborhoods: cottage housing and detached accessory dwelling units, or detached ADUs.

Cottage homes, usually a cluster of smaller dwellings centered around a common area, are meant to provide the feel of a house without the expense of property upkeep or prohibitive sticker price of a full-size home.

Detached ADUs, also known as "mother-in-law" dwellings, are separate, one-bedroom structures that share a lot with a standard, single-family home. They can be built as an independent structure, tucked behind the house or positioned on top of a garage.

There are examples of both in many parts of Seattle, built either before strict zoning laws or as "demonstration" projects to illustrate housing choices.

The DCLU says increasing the numbers of cottage projects and detached ADUs could help reduce sprawl, cut down on long commutes and slow the exodus to the suburbs, while encouraging a denser, more pedestrian friendly city.

But some residents of Seattle's single family neighborhoods aren't sure the proposal is as useful as advertised, and instead could amount to a wholesale rezone of the city's single-family neighborhoods.

Greenwood resident Kent Kammerer, who currently serves as president of the Seattle Neighborhood Association, says "The truth be known, it does amount to duplex zoning."

Kammerer says he doesn't necessarily oppose the proposal, but he thinks the City faces a tough sell to residents who prefer to keep their neighborhoods the way they are.

Irene Wall, president of the Phinney Neighborhood Association, considers single-family zones Seattle's "golden goose" the key to maintaining "livability" in the city.

Tamper with that, she said, and you "run the risk of sort of losing the neighborhood character."

Wall is particularly piqued with the proposal's disregard for the dictates of Seattle's varied neighborhood plans, many of which call for maintaining single-family zones.

"The ink is hardly dry on these neighborhood plans and DCLU or somebody is running around promoting a way around them," she said.

Opposition is also coming from the other end of North Seattle, courtesy of the Laurelhurst Community Council. Jeannie Hale, the council's president, said her group would not support the DCLU's plan.

"We'll oppose it, we've always opposed it," said Hale, "We just see it as a way of duplexing single-family neighborhoods, and if the City wants to do that they should seek a zoning change."

Hale cited parking as a major concern.

Kimelberg said many residents' concerns could be addressed by careful regulation. For instance, he said, only one cottage development would be allowed on a block, so "you're not getting a huge cottage village."

Cottage developers could also be forced to include off-street parking for each unit, he said. And detached ADUs would have to fit the design and scale of their companion home.

"The ultimate success will be in the details," he said.