Another innovative proposal to address our housing crisis has been introduced to facilitate the conversion of existing buildings for residential purposes. This interesting idea has been brought forward by Rep. Amy Walen (D‐Kirkland).

While the concept of encouraging adaptive reuse of existing buildings in HB 1042 has some intriguing elements, there are also some restrictions on city regulatory authority that may be overly broad.

Major provisions that must be in place by July 1, 2024, include that cities may not:

• Impose a restriction on housing unit density that prevents the addition of housing units constructed entirely within an existing building envelope in a building located in a zone allowing multfifamily housing. Cities may still apply generally applicable health and safety standards including building code and fire standards.
• Impose parking requirements on the addition of units.
• Impose permitting requirements that are beyond those that would be generally applicable to all residential development in the zone.
• Impose design standards – including setbacks, lot coverage, floor area ratio, etc. – that are not generally applicable to all residential development in the building’s zone.
• Prohibit housing units in a particular part of the building unless it would violate applicable building code or health safety standards.
• Require a building to meet current energy codes because of new dwelling units.
• Deny a building permit application for the addition of housing units to an existing building due to the nonconformity of the existing structure including, but not limited to, nonconformity regarding parking, height, setbacks, elevator size for gurney transport, or modulation, unless the legislative authority of the city makes written findings that the nonconformity is causing a significant detriment to the surrounding area.
• Require a transportation concurrency study or SEPA review on the additional units.

The bill has changed from drafts circulated during the interim, so please give it a fresh look and provide feedback even if you have reviewed this proposal before.

Date to remember

HB 1042 will be heard on Tuesday, January 10 in the House Housing Committee at 4 pm.