A Seattle homeowner’s lawsuit against the city challenging its Mandatory Housing Affordability policy was dismissed by a federal judge this week.
In their 2022 lawsuit, Anita and Vance Adams, a couple living in Central District, claimed the city’s policy added in 2016 — designed to promote affordable housing among large developers — carried out an unconstitutional, uncompensated taking of private property.
In his decision dismissing the Adams’ claim, federal judge Thomas Zilly wrote that the city’s policy did not constitute taking since the requirements only apply when a property owner wants to construct a new structure and because they have options to either pay a fee or apply for a waiver.
He wrote that since the Adams had not applied for a permit or waiver, “no condition or exaction has been imposed” by the city.
Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s office wrote in a statement that they were pleased that “Judge Zilly recognized that this suit lacks a proper foundation in constitutional law.”
The Institute for Justice, a national libertarian-leaning law firm representing Anita and Vance Adams, said it would appeal the decision.
“Despite its name, Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability law does the opposite of what it intended — it makes it unaffordable for people like Anita to build housing on their own property,” said Suranjan Sen, attorney for the institute.
While the program is aimed at larger developers, it applies for anyone building new housing that is not a detached accessory dwelling unit, which is limited to 1,000 square feet.
In 2020, the Adams, who have owned their South Jenkins Street home for more than 20 years, decided to build an addition for their children and parents to live on their property.
They took out a second mortgage on their existing home to fund a four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot addition for their adult children and aging parents. Then, the couple learned that they would have to pay $77,000 in fees under the affordability program to build.
In 2016 and 2017, Seattle established the Mandatory Housing Affordability program to increase density and collect money for affordable housing through developers. In 2019, 27 neighborhoods were then upzoned, allowing developers to build taller or larger buildings.
In exchange, the city requires housing developers in these neighborhoods to make some units affordable to people making 60% of the median income or less, or pay fees toward affordable housing. Seattle’s household median income is about $116,000.
Since its inception, the program has created 123 affordable homes and raised more than $300 million in fees for affordable housing. Payments dipped in 2023 with an industrywide contraction in building.
Nona Raybern, spokesperson for the city’s office of housing, said that the agency was reviewing Mandatory Housing Affordability program rules to reduce barriers for smaller projects, prevent displacement of low-income households and ensure the program “aligns with our goal of building more housing to address issues at the root of Seattle’s affordability and homelessness crises.”