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YIMBYs score a win in Washington
New law allows for construction of duplexes, fourplexes in most cities
A victory for the YIMBYs.
In an effort to tackle Washington’s housing crisis, Gov. Jay Inslee last week signed into law a bill that allows for duplexes and fourplexes to be built in most city neighborhoods, the Associated Press reported.
Cities with 25,000 to 75,000 people are required under the new law to allow duplexes in all residential areas. Fourplexes are permitted anywhere if one unit is affordable or in areas within a half a mile of a park, school or major transit stop, the outlet reported. Fourplexes are permitted in all residential areas of municipalities with more than 75,000 people.
The measure prevents municipalities from having zoning allowing for single-family homes only, the Associated Press reported.
The state, according to the Associated Press, is stepping up its efforts to increase housing stock in light of studies showing the need for up to 1 million homes over the next 20 years to keep up with an increasing population.
”We are going to make it easier to build housing of all shapes and sizes in Washington,” state Rep. Jessica Bateman told the Associated Press.
States and municipalities around the country in recent years have attempted to tackle housing shortages by allowing for the construction of multifamily housing in places where it was prohibited. Some have been more successful than others.
Gainesville, Florida, earlier this year was set to become the first city in the state to get rid of single-family only zoning citywide, only to have the city commission reverse its vote that would have allowed for duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes to be built on land zoned for single-family homes in the college town, Bloomberg reported.
The reversal, which came after backlash from local residents as well as state Republicans who threatened to intervene, may indicate how much of an uphill battle the “Yes in My Backyard” crowd faces in Red States, according to the outlet.
Pro-housing advocates in Florida have fought exclusionary zoning to combat increasing housing prices, as well as to unravel historic segregation, Bloomberg said. But residents — concerned over potential decreasing property values and more students moving into neighborhoods, among other things — fought against the measure, calling it “costly ill-conceived boondoggle,” “unconscionable” and “possibly catastrophic,” on a Facebook group, the outlet said.— Ted Glanzer