Housing dev./religious orgs.

AN ACT Relating to expanding opportunities for affordable housing 1
developments on properties owned by religious organizations; and 2
amending RCW 35.63.280, 35A.63.300, 36.70A.545, and 82.59.010.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 35.63.280 and 2019 c 218 s 1 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
(1) A city planning under this chapter must allow an increased 7
density bonus consistent with local needs for any affordable housing 8
development of any single-family or multifamily residence located on 9
real property owned or controlled by a religious organization 10
provided that: 11
(a) ((The)) At least 20 percent of the affordable housing 12
development is set aside for or occupied exclusively by low-income 13
households; 14
(b) The affordable housing development is part of a lease or 15
other binding obligation that requires ((the development )) at least 16
20 percent of the housing units to be used exclusively for affordable 17
housing purposes for at least fifty years, even if the religious 18
organization no longer owns the property; and 19
(c) The affordable housing development does not discriminate 20
against any person who qualifies as a member of a low-income 21
H-0547.3
HOUSE BILL 1859
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Salahuddin, Peterson, Doglio, Parshley, Dufault,
Leavitt, Reed, Gregerson, Nance, Street, Obras, Ormsby, Hill,
Timmons, Duerr, and Callan
Read first time 02/06/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
p. 1 HB 1859
household based on race, creed, color, national origin, sex, veteran 1
or military status, sexual orientation, or mental or physical 2
disability; or otherwise act in violation of the federal fair housing 3
amendments act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq.).4
(2) A city ((may)) must develop policies to implement this 5
section if it receives a request from a religious organization for an 6
increased density bonus for an affordable housing development. A city 7
may establish policies to require an affordable housing development 8
to set aside more than 20 percent of all residential dwelling units 9
for low-income households to qualify for the increased density bonus.10
(3) The religious organization or an entity leasing the property 11
for the purpose of developing the affordable housing development must 12
pay all fees, mitigation costs, and other charges required through 13
the development of the affordable housing development.14
(4) If applicable, the religious organization developing the 15
affordable housing development should work with the local transit 16
agency to ensure appropriate transit services are provided to the 17
affordable housing development. 18
(5) This section applies to any religious organization 19
rehabilitating an existing affordable housing development.20
(6) For purposes of this section: 21
(a) "Affordable housing development" means a proposed or existing 22
structure in which ((one hundred)) 20 percent of all single-family or 23
multifamily residential dwelling units within the development are set 24
aside for or are occupied by low-income households ((at a sales price 25
or rent amount that may not exceed thirty percent of the income limit 26
for the low-income housing unit )) whose monthly housing costs, 27
including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of 28
the household's monthly income; 29
(b) "Low-income household" means a single person, family, or 30
unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is ((less 31
than eighty )) at or below 80 percent of the median family income, 32
adjusted for household size, for the county where the affordable 33
housing development is located , as reported by the United States 34
department of housing and urban development; and 35
(c) "Religious organization" has the same meaning as in RCW 36
35.21.915. 37
Sec. 2. RCW 35A.63.300 and 2019 c 218 s 2 are each amended to 38
read as follows: 39
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(1) A city planning under this chapter must allow an increased 1
density bonus consistent with local needs for any affordable housing 2
development of any single-family or multifamily residence located on 3
real property owned or controlled by a religious organization 4
provided that: 5
(a) ((The)) At least 20 percent of the affordable housing 6
development is set aside for or occupied exclusively by low-income 7
households; 8
(b) The affordable housing development is part of a lease or 9
other binding obligation that requires ((the development )) at least 10
20 percent of the housing units to be used exclusively for affordable 11
housing purposes for at least fifty years, even if the religious 12
organization no longer owns the property; and 13
(c) The affordable housing development does not discriminate 14
against any person who qualifies as a member of a low-income 15
household based on race, creed, color, national origin, sex, veteran 16
or military status, sexual orientation, or mental or physical 17
disability; or otherwise act in violation of the federal fair housing 18
amendments act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq.).19
(2) A city ((may)) must develop policies to implement this 20
section if it receives a request from a religious organization for an 21
increased density bonus for an affordable housing development. A city 22
may establish policies to require an affordable housing development 23
to set aside more than 20 percent of all residential dwelling units 24
for low-income households to qualify for the increased density bonus.25
(3) The religious organization or an entity leasing the property 26
for the purpose of developing the affordable housing development must 27
pay all fees, mitigation costs, and other charges required through 28
the development of the affordable housing development.29
(4) If applicable, the religious organization developing the 30
affordable housing development should work with the local transit 31
agency to ensure appropriate transit services are provided to the 32
affordable housing development. 33
(5) This section applies to any religious organization 34
rehabilitating an existing affordable housing development.35
(6) For purposes of this section: 36
(a) "Affordable housing development" means a proposed or existing 37
structure in which ((one hundred)) 20 percent of all single-family or 38
multifamily residential dwelling units within the development are set 39
aside for or are occupied by low-income households ((at a sales price 40
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or rent amount that may not exceed thirty percent of the income limit 1
for the low-income housing unit )) whose monthly housing costs, 2
including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of 3
the household's monthly income; 4
(b) "Low-income household" means a single person, family, or 5
unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is ((less 6
than eighty )) at or below 80 percent of the median family income, 7
adjusted for household size, for the county where the affordable 8
housing development is located , as reported by the United States 9
department of housing and urban development; and 10
(c) "Religious organization" has the same meaning as in RCW 11
35A.21.360. 12
Sec. 3. RCW 36.70A.545 and 2019 c 218 s 3 are each amended to 13
read as follows: 14
(1) Any city or county fully planning under this chapter must 15
allow an increased density bonus consistent with local needs for any 16
affordable housing development of any single-family or multifamily 17
residence located on real property owned or controlled by a religious 18
organization provided that: 19
(a) ((The)) At least 20 percent of the affordable housing 20
development is set aside for or occupied exclusively by low-income 21
households; 22
(b) The affordable housing development is part of a lease or 23
other binding obligation that requires ((the development )) at least 24
20 percent of the housing units to be used exclusively for affordable 25
housing purposes for at least fifty years, even if the religious 26
organization no longer owns the property; and 27
(c) The affordable housing development does not discriminate 28
against any person who qualifies as a member of a low-income 29
household based on race, creed, color, national origin, sex, veteran 30
or military status, sexual orientation, or mental or physical 31
disability; or otherwise act in violation of the federal fair housing 32
amendments act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq.).33
(2) A city or county ((may)) must develop policies to implement 34
this section if it receives a request from a religious organization 35
for an increased density bonus for an affordable housing development. 36
A city or county may establish policies to require an affordable 37
housing development to set aside more than 20 percent of all 38
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residential dwelling units for low-income households to qualify for 1
the increased density bonus. 2
(3) An affordable housing development created by a religious 3
institution within a city or county fully planning under RCW 4
36.70A.040 must be located within an urban growth area as defined in 5
RCW 36.70A.110. 6
(4) The religious organization or an entity leasing the property 7
for the purpose of developing the affordable housing development must 8
pay all fees, mitigation costs, and other charges required through 9
the development of the affordable housing development.10
(5) If applicable, the religious organization developing the 11
affordable housing development should work with the local transit 12
agency to ensure appropriate transit services are provided to the 13
affordable housing development. 14
(6) This section applies to any religious organization 15
rehabilitating an existing affordable housing development.16
(7) For purposes of this section: 17
(a) "Affordable housing development" means a proposed or existing 18
structure in which ((one hundred)) 20 percent of all single-family or 19
multifamily residential dwelling units within the development are set 20
aside for or are occupied by low-income households ((at a sales price 21
or rent amount that may not exceed thirty percent of the income limit 22
for the low-income housing unit )) whose monthly housing costs, 23
including utilities other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of 24
the household's monthly income; 25
(b) "Low-income household" means a single person, family, or 26
unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is ((less 27
than eighty )) at or below 80 percent of the median family income, 28
adjusted for household size, for the county where the affordable 29
housing development is located , as reported by the United States 30
department of housing and urban development; and 31
(c) "Religious organization" has the same meaning as in RCW 32
36.01.290. 33
Sec. 4. RCW 82.59.010 and 2024 c 332 s 3 are each amended to 34
read as follows: 35
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 36
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 37
(1) "Affordable housing" means: 38
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(a) Homeownership housing intended for owner occupancy to low-1
income households whose monthly housing costs, including utilities 2
other than telephone, do not exceed 30 percent of the household's 3
monthly income; 4
(b) "Rental housing" for low-income households whose monthly 5
housing costs, including utilities other than telephone, do not 6
exceed 30 percent of the household's monthly income.7
(2) "Applicant" means an owner of commercial property.8
(3) "City" means any city or town, including a code city.9
(4) "Conditional recipient" means an owner of commercial property 10
granted a conditional certificate of program approval under this 11
chapter, which includes any successor owner of the property.12
(5) "Eligible investment project" means an investment project 13
that is located in a city and receiving a conditional certificate of 14
program approval. 15
(6) "Governing authority" means the local legislative authority 16
of a city having jurisdiction over the property for which a deferral 17
may be granted under this chapter. 18
(7) "Household" means a single person, family, or unrelated 19
persons living together. 20
(8)(a) "Initiation of construction" means the date that a 21
building permit is issued under the building code adopted under RCW 22
19.27.031 for construction of the qualified building, if the 23
underlying ownership of the building vests exclusively with the 24
person receiving the economic benefit of the deferral.25
(b) "Initiation of construction" does not include soil testing, 26
site clearing and grading, site preparation, or any other related 27
activities that are initiated before the issuance of a building 28
permit for the construction of the foundation of the building.29
(c) If the investment project is a phased project, "initiation of 30
construction" applies separately to each phase. 31
(9) "Investment project" means an investment in multifamily 32
housing, including labor, services, and materials incorporated in the 33
planning, installation, and construction of the project. "Investment 34
project" includes investment in related facilities such as 35
playgrounds and sidewalks as well as facilities used for business use 36
for mixed-use development. 37
(10) "Low-income household" means a single person, family, or 38
unrelated persons living together whose adjusted income is at or 39
below 80 percent of the median family income adjusted for family 40
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size, for the county, city, or metropolitan statistical area, where 1
the project is located, as reported by the United States department 2
of housing and urban development. 3
(11) "Multifamily housing" means a building or a group of 4
buildings having four or more dwelling units not designed or used as 5
transient accommodations and not including hotels and motels. 6
Multifamily units may result from rehabilitation or conversion of 7
vacant, underutilized, or substandard buildings to multifamily 8
housing. 9
(12) "Owner" means ((the)):10
(a) The property owner of record; or11
(b) An entity leasing a property owned or controlled by a 12
religious organization for the purpose of developing an investment 13
project. 14
(13) "Underutilized commercial property" means an entire 15
property, or portion thereof, currently used or intended to be used 16
by a business for retailing or office-related or administrative 17
activities. If the property is used partly for a qualifying use and 18
partly for other purposes, the applicable tax deferral must be 19
determined by apportionment of the costs of construction under rules 20
adopted by the department. For the purposes of this subsection, 21
"qualifying use" means used or intended to be used by a business for 22
retailing or office-related or administrative activities.23
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