Dan Bertolet

In addition to allowing smaller elevators in small buildings, SB 5156 includes a non-binding statement for state agencies to support harmonizing code with international standards.

Watch this to see why, over the long term, this part of the bill may be most important:

youtu.be/Or1_qVdekYM?...

Sad to say that WA's MDU bill died yesterday when it failed to get a House floor vote before cutoff.

Dissappointing to see so many legislators unwilling to be bold on housing during a housing crisis.

WA's ADU bill took 5 years, and all that delay did was make the housing shortage worse.

WA's scissor stair bill is sailing through, just passed Senate Housing and the last hurdle is the full Senate, which should be an easy vote.

Granted, one thing that makes bills like this easier to pass is that the code council has to do the real work!

lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

Washington’s Elevator Reform Bill Rises Again » The Urbanist # The 41-7 vote in the Washington State Senate advances a proposal that would allow builders more flexibility to install smaller elevators in smaller apartment buildings, a small step toward bringing ...

After passing the Senate last week, WA's elevator bill has a hearing in the House Housing commitee tomorrow at 10:30am.

app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House?se...

WA's bill to allow housing in commericial zones SB 6026 passed the Senate today 36 -12.

It's a good housing abundance bill that could be even better if it didn't exempt so much land from its provision to make ground floor commercial optional.

lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

WA's elevator bill SB 5156 passed the Senate today, 41 - 7.

It instructs state agencies to:

- allow smaller elevators in buildings up to 6 stories and 24 units

- consider harmonization with global standards

- assess other cost tradeoffs

On to the House!

lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

Some long overdue recognition for Seattle's unmatched success on smart growth.

"Sightline finds that in the twenty-first century, no large metro area in the United States has been better at adding people to already-populated places than Seattle."

www.sightline.org/seattle-a-mo...

Seattle’s No-Cost Emissions Cut | Sightline Institute The climate benefits of urban neighborhoods, all for the low price of letting people live where they want.

Good things happen when we let people choose to live closer to each other.

www.sightline.org/2026/02/12/s...

This bill could let you downsize your way to home ownership in Washington Washington state legislators want to let people live in tiny homes and RVs in backyards and driveways year round. If their bill passes, it could unlock the least expensive path to homeownership availa...

KUOW story includes a quote that explains why @sightline.org has been working on HB 1443 to allow mobile dwellings on house lots:

"It is absolutely by far the least expensive, the easiest, the cheapest, and the quickest form of housing possible in the United States."

www.kuow.org/stories/prop...

Yes, that's why the bill was designed with those limits.

I'm hopeful, but it remains to be seen how much of a difference it will make to give builders an alternative to WA's standard condo liability rules that all but guarantee they'll get sued.

Still needs to pass the Senate!

WA is copying NYC, who cares?

Another today:

HB 2304 passed the House 94 - 0!

It's a small but key fix to last year's HB 1403 that extends the allowance for the use of 2-10 express warranties to cover liability on condo construction up to four stories and 12 units.

Thank you Rep. Taylor!

app.leg.wa.gov/BillSummary/...

WA bill HB 2228 to allow scissor stairs passed the House today, 95 - 0!

Thank you Rep. Zahn!

app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...

Last year WA ran the nation's first state bill for elevator code reform, SB 5156, and it's back for another try this year.

This year WA is also running the nation's first state bill to allow scissor stairs, HB 2228.

In 2023, WA passed the nation's first single-stair bill, SB 5491.

Just sayin

An updated version of WA's elevator bill is on deck for a Senate floor vote.

1 - allows smaller elevators in smaller buildings
2 - establishes intent to harmonize WA's code with international standards
3 - instructs the SBCC to assess additional cost factors

lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/202...

Below is the key point of testimony I gave today in support of SB 6026 to allow housing in commercial zones.

Anyone who develops mixed-use will tell you that typically retail leases can't cover the cost of construction.

Requiring retail space is regressive policy, because renters pay the price.

If you agree that retail spaces on the ground floor of apartment buildings should be optional, not mandated, here's something you can do:

Take pics of vacant storefronts in you neighborhood and post them as a reply here, with info about where they are.

And please share this post, thank you!!!

People in all sorts of places want the option to live in MDUs.

Here's an example in Nanaimo, BC, where officials are working on new policies to allow people to live in MDUs full time and enjoy the benefits of this option that's unmatched in terms of low cost and quickness.

Many cities have testified in opposition to making ground-floor commercial optional.

I still think that the housing shortage destroying people’s lives is a much bigger problem than a new apartment building getting built on Main Street with apartments on the ground floor instead of shops.

SB 6026 to allow housing in commercial zones passed out of committee today with some reasonable compromise amendments that carve out more exceptions to making ground-floor commercial optional.

Great to see this bill moving!

app.leg.wa.gov/committeesch...

Hadn't seen that one. Would give the same tax exemptions to social housing as traditional subsidized affordable housing gets, yes?

Does the bill have any opposition?

Bill Tracker — #Homes4WA

Short session comes at you fast!

#WAleg is once again cooking up a slew of housing bills and if you're struggling to keep up, @sightline.org's got you covered with our bill tracker:

www.homes4wa.org/bill-tracker

Piecora's owned the former building and decided to sell it and retire. I had many a pizza in those red naugahyde booths.

Last year WA's elevator code reform bill, SB 5156, passed the Senate and died in the House, and it's now on deck for the Senate to pass it again.

Supporters can help by contacting your Senators and asking them to bring the bill to a floor vote, using this form:

app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5156

Because they have invested lots of time and energy into creating plans for walkable neighborhoods and don't want those plans undermined.

It's well-intended, but hasn't kept up with the decline in demand for retail and office space over recent years.

Predictably, SB 6026's provision on ground-floor use is getting lots of pushback from cities.

The companion bill HB 2480 has a hearing tomorrow and needs support on making ground-floor retail optional.

Testify:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifie...

Written comments:
app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifie...

Pretty sure it would be the first.

Cities are pushing back hard on it, though, gonna be a battle to get that part of the bill through unscathed.

Last year the MDU bill died waiting for a House floor vote, so that's where it's starting out this year.

The best thing supporters can do right now is contact your Reps and ask them to bring HB 1443 to a floor vote.

You can use the form here:
app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1443

Fast, Affordable, Illegal | Sightline Institute Homes on wheels are a lifeline for families, but zoning codes are still trying to keep them out.

WA's mobile dwellings bill is in play again.

MDUs are low-cost, quick-to-install homes suit the needs of all kinds of people, but zoning bans them from everywhere except mobile home parks.

HB 1443 would allow a homeowner to put one in their backyard.

www.sightline.org/2026/01/26/f...

I totally understand why cities mandate street-level commercial. The question is, though, might it be counterproductive?

Do small downtowns really have a shortage of retail spaces? Seems to me they more likely have a shortage of housing.

I would love to see data but I don't know if it exists?