Problem
No issue looms larger in Seattle than the horribly inadequate supply of housing for our neighbors experiencing homeless. It is a disgraceful scar of shame that in one of the world’s wealthiest cities thousands of residents are forced to seek shelter in tents and RVs, doorways of businesses, and under bridges. It does not have to be that way. There is nothing inevitable about chronic homelessness and nothing inherently unsolvable about providing all our neighbors a place to live.
Throughout 2020 I worked closely with a coalition of small business owners and service providers called the Third Door Coalition to scale the best practice response to chronic homelessness, permanent supportive housing (PSH). PSH is the merging of housing units with onsite services, including treatment for substance addiction and mental health. 97% of residents placed in PSH maintain housing and do not return to a state of chronic homelessness. Scaling PSH is how Bergen County New Jersey, Salt Lake City Utah, and Helsinki Finland have significantly reduced chronic homelessness.
While PSH is one-third the cost of jail, and a whole year of PSH costs the same as three days in a hospital, it is still expensive. It costs $331,953 per-unit to build PSH, and while a lot of that cost is attributable to the materials and labor necessary for the build, a lot of it is due to regulations and red tape firmly within the City’s ability to waive. Homelessness is an emergency. We need to do everything in our power to expedite and expand PSH.
Solution
In December of 2020 I introduced CB 119975 to waive several significant cost drivers for PSH, including design review, unnecessary on-site bike storage, and broad administrative powers for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) to grant waivers and modifications, among other reforms. Together, Third Door Coalition estimates these changes could lower per-unit costs of PSH from $331,953 to $284,200, a savings of $47,753. Since PSH is almost entirely financed with taxpayer money this bill will allow us to stretch public resources to greater social benefit.
CB 119975 was heard in the Select Committee on Homelessness Strategies and Investments in December of 2020, and it is my hope the bill will reach final passage in the first quarter of 2021. I look forward to following-up on this critical legislation to significantly scale PSH throughout 2021 to meet the homelessness emergency.
Testimonials
CM Lewis has led a very inclusive and efficient process putting together important legislation that will meaningfully reduce time and cost impacts during the development of Permanent Supportive Housing. We appreciated that CM Lewis developed the details of this legislation by listening to and incorporating experiential knowledge from the organizations doing this work, including Plymouth Housing and other service providers along with the Third Door Coalition. We’re thankful to CM Lewis for taking this step to ensure that more housing can be brought online quickly and efficiently to meet the needs of the many individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in our community. – Paul Lambros, Chief Executive Officer, Plymouth Housing
I have appreciated the thoughtful and accessible approach Councilmember Lewis takes to governing. His data-driven focus on finding a solution to chronic homelessness in our region, coupled with his sense of urgency to immediately stand up additional shelter options for people living in encampments, are the qualities we need to end the crisis of people living unsheltered in our city. - Matt Galvin, owner of Pagliacci Pizza and Macrina Bakery and co-founder of Third Door Coalition