Building more housing in rural parts of Washington is again top of mind for some state lawmakers. 

Bills to allow backyard cottages in new areas, to expand where developers can receive tax breaks for building apartments and to let property owners split their plots are all making their way through the legislative process.  

Similar proposals came up last year, but many failed, sparking criticism from Republicans who said the Democratic majority was not doing enough to expand rural housing. 

This year, bipartisan support and early public hearings could signal an opening for getting the proposals across the finish line before the legislative session ends in April. 

Expanding ADUs 

One bill from Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, would allow counties to approve detached accessory dwelling units, like backyard cottages or mother-in-law suites, in areas outside of cities. The proposal is cosponsored by House Housing Chair Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds. 

Under the bill, owners could have one additional detached unit on their property. It must use the same driveway and sewage system as the primary home. Water usage must be metered and cannot exceed the limits under current law when combined with the usage of the main property. The detached units could not be bigger than 1,296 square feet, excluding garages, porches and unfinished basements. 

The proposal would also require counties to penalize those who build these units without proper permitting and to keep track of all the units built outside of their urban areas.   

A similar idea last year got pushback from Democrats and groups like Futurewise, who warned of suburban sprawl in areas that lack transit, public sewer systems, firefighting services and other resources.  

Supporters of the bill reject that argument. 

“This is not about destroying the environment. This is not about blowing up the GMA,” Low said, referring to the state’s Growth Management Act, which is designed to concentrate development in urban areas and to preserve open space, among other goals. “This is truly about having more affordable housing options for our young people, for our seniors.” 

Senate Housing Committee Chair Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, said there will be a similar bill in the Senate and that supporters will continue to work on concerns around sprawl. 

Low’s proposal will receive a public hearing in the House Housing Committee on Monday. 

Third time’s a charm? 

Another proposal that has support this year would allow property owners to split their lots into smaller parcels. 

The lot-splitting bill has passed the House multiple times in recent years but has yet to clear the Senate.  

Sponsor Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, is hopeful this is the year. He told the House Housing Committee last week that there has been a lot of work done since the last session to address opponents’ concerns, particularly when it comes to ensuring that the lots are developable after they are redesigned. 

The bill would prevent cities from denying applications to split lots into two. Both lots must be at least 1,000 square feet and must follow local zoning laws. The split could not result in the demolition of any existing housing that has rent restrictions.  

“We’ve worked on a lot of policy with regards to increasing supply and the ability to build within the confines of an urban growth area,” Barkis said. “This is a bill that is integral and important to that process.” 

Bateman said the bill would be particularly helpful in increasing homeownership opportunities for duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes. Being able to split those lots could bring down the costs significantly for people who want to own a unit in those buildings, she said.  

“This is the third year this bill is introduced, and this is going to be the year that we’re going to pass it,” she said.  

The proposal received a committee hearing in the House during the first week of the session. It had support from builders, realtors and housing developers who said it was essential to increasing the number of homes in many areas. It is scheduled for a committee vote on Monday. 

Incentives to build 

There’s also a bill to expand tax breaks developers get for building multi-family housing. 

Washington’s Multi-Family Housing Property Tax Exemption exempts developers from paying taxes on the construction, conversion or rehabilitation of residential property for eight years. The exemption can be extended to 12 years, if at least 20% of the units are affordable.  

Currently, only five of the state’s more heavily populated counties are allowed to offer the exemption.  

A proposal from Low would expand the exemption to all counties that complete comprehensive plans under the Growth Management Act. That would include 28 counties.  

In a public hearing last week, the idea drew support from counties and developers who said the exemption could help get more housing up quickly.  

“This is a tool that works,” said Anthony Hemstad, who represented Washington Housing Development, LLC. “If you pass this, it will open areas and more housing truly will be built.”  

Bryce Yadon at Futurewise said the organization supports the reasoning behind the bill but had concerns about development in parts of the state that lack infrastructure like roads and transit.  

“We don’t want to incentivize the development of more areas that don’t have those amenities if we can,” Yadon said. 

This story is republished from the Washington State Standard, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet that provides original reporting, analysis and commentary on Washington state government and politics.