Supportive & emerg. housing

AN ACT Relating to encouraging permanent supportive housing, 1
transitional housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency 2
shelters; amending RCW 35.21.683, 35A.21.430, and 36.130.020; 3
reenacting and amending RCW 35.21.990 and 35A.21.440; adding a new 4
section to chapter 36.70A RCW; and creating a new section.5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that Washington 7
state faces an acute shortage of housing affordable to households at 8
all income levels, resulting in housing insecurity and a growing 9
number of people experiencing homelessness. The legislature further 10
finds that local regulatory barriers, inconsistent siting standards, 11
and discretionary review processes have constrained the timely 12
development of permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, 13
indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency shelters. It is the 14
intent of the legislature to increase housing supply and advance fair 15
housing by requiring these housing types to be permitted in urban 16
areas on the same terms as other residential uses, subject only to 17
objective and nondiscriminatory development standards necessary to 18
protect public health and safety. By streamlining permitting 19
processes and ensuring consistent treatment across jurisdictions, the 20
legislature intends to avoid unnecessary cost increases associated 21
S-3761.1
SENATE BILL 6069
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Alvarado, Nobles, Slatter, and C. Wilson
Prefiled 01/09/26. Read first time 01/12/26. Referred to Committee
on Housing.
p. 1 SB 6069
with delays and to facilitate the prompt delivery of safe, dignified, 1
and stable housing and to support statewide efforts to address 2
homelessness and the housing crisis. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 36.70A 4
RCW to read as follows: 5
(1) A county or city planning under RCW 36.70A.040 must allow 6
transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, indoor emergency 7
shelters, and indoor emergency housing in any zones within an urban 8
growth area that are not zoned for industrial use. 9
(2) A county or city may not require through development 10
regulations, ordinances, or legal agreements any standards, 11
conditions, or requirements for transitional housing, permanent 12
supportive housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency 13
shelters that are more restrictive than those required for other 14
types of residential development within the same zone, but may apply 15
any objective development regulations that are required for 16
residential development including, but not limited to, setback, lot 17
coverage, stormwater, clearing, and tree canopy and retention 18
requirements. 19
(3) A county or city shall only apply the same development permit 20
and environmental review processes to transitional housing, permanent 21
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 22
housing that apply to other residential development within the same 23
zone, unless otherwise required by state law including, but not 24
limited to, shoreline regulations under chapter 90.58 RCW, building 25
codes under chapter 19.27 RCW, energy codes under chapter 19.27A RCW, 26
or electrical codes under chapter 19.28 RCW. 27
(4) If applying design review for transitional housing, permanent 28
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 29
housing, only administrative design review may be required.30
Sec. 3. RCW 35.21.683 and 2021 c 254 s 4 are each amended to 31
read as follows: 32
(1) A city ((shall not prohibit)) must allow transitional housing 33
((or)), permanent supportive housing ((in any zones in which 34
residential dwelling units or hotels are allowed. Effective September 35
30, 2021, a city shall not prohibit )), indoor emergency shelters, and 36
indoor emergency housing in any zones ((in which hotels are allowed, 37
except in such cities that have adopted an ordinance authorizing 38
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indoor emergency shelters and indoor emergency housing in a majority 1
of zones within a one-mile proximity to transit. Reasonable 2
occupancy, spacing, and intensity of use requirements may be imposed 3
by ordinance on permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, 4
indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency shelters to protect 5
public health and safety. Any such requirements on occupancy, 6
spacing, and intensity of use may not prevent the siting of a 7
sufficient number of permanent supportive housing, transitional 8
housing, indoor emergency housing, or indoor emergency shelters 9
necessary to accommodate each city's projected need for such housing 10
and shelter under RCW 36.70A.070(2)(a)(ii))) that are not zoned for 11
industrial use.12
(2) A city may not require through development regulations, 13
ordinances, or legal agreements any development or operating 14
standards, conditions, or requirements for transitional housing, 15
permanent supportive housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor 16
emergency shelters that are more restrictive than those required for 17
other types of residential development within the same zone, but may 18
apply any objective development regulations that are required for 19
residential development including, but not limited to, setback, lot 20
coverage, stormwater, clearing, and tree canopy and retention 21
requirements.22
(3) A county or city shall only apply the same development permit 23
and environmental review processes to transitional housing, permanent 24
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 25
housing that apply to other residential development within the same 26
zone, unless otherwise required by state law including, but not 27
limited to, shoreline regulations under chapter 90.58 RCW, building 28
codes under chapter 19.27 RCW, energy codes under chapter 19.27A RCW, 29
or electrical codes under chapter 19.28 RCW.30
(4) If applying design review for transitional housing, permanent 31
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 32
housing, only administrative design review may be required. For the 33
purposes of this subsection, "administrative design review" means a 34
development permit process whereby an application is reviewed, 35
approved, or denied by the planning director or the planning 36
director's designee based solely on objective design and development 37
standards without a public predecision hearing, unless such review is 38
otherwise required by state or federal law, or the structure is a 39
designated landmark or historic district established under a local 40
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preservation ordinance. A city may utilize public meetings, hearings, 1
or voluntary review boards to consider, recommend, or approve 2
requests for variances from locally established design review 3
standards. 4
Sec. 4. RCW 35A.21.430 and 2021 c 254 s 3 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
A code city ((shall not prohibit )) must allow transitional 7
housing ((or)), permanent supportive housing ((in any zones in which 8
residential dwelling units or hotels are allowed. Effective September 9
30, 2021, a code city shall not prohibit )), indoor emergency 10
shelters, and indoor emergency housing in any zones ((in which hotels 11
are allowed, except in such cities that have adopted an ordinance 12
authorizing indoor emergency shelters and indoor emergency housing in 13
a majority of zones within a one-mile proximity to transit. 14
Reasonable occupancy, spacing, and intensity of use requirements may 15
be imposed by ordinance on permanent supportive housing, transitional 16
housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor emergency shelters to 17
protect public health and safety. Any such requirements on occupancy, 18
spacing, and intensity of use may not prevent the siting of a 19
sufficient number of permanent supportive housing, transitional 20
housing, indoor emergency housing, or indoor emergency shelters 21
necessary to accommodate each code city's projected need for such 22
housing and shelter under RCW 36.70A.070(2)(a)(ii))) that are not 23
zoned for industrial use.24
(2) A code city may not require through development regulations, 25
ordinances, or legal agreements any development or operating 26
standards, conditions, or requirements for transitional housing, 27
permanent supportive housing, indoor emergency housing, and indoor 28
emergency shelters that are more restrictive than those required for 29
other types of residential development within the same zone, but may 30
apply any objective development regulations that are required for 31
residential development including, but not limited to, setback, lot 32
coverage, stormwater, clearing, and tree canopy and retention 33
requirements.34
(3) A code city shall only apply the same development permit and 35
environmental review processes to transitional housing, permanent 36
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 37
housing that apply to other residential development within the same 38
zone, unless otherwise required by state law including, but not 39
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limited to, shoreline regulations under chapter 90.58 RCW, building 1
codes under chapter 19.27 RCW, energy codes under chapter 19.27A RCW, 2
or electrical codes under chapter 19.28 RCW. 3
(4) If applying design review for transitional housing, permanent 4
supportive housing, indoor emergency shelters, and indoor emergency 5
housing, only administrative design review may be required. For the 6
purposes of this subsection, "administrative design review" means a 7
development permit process whereby an application is reviewed, 8
approved, or denied by the planning director or the planning 9
director's designee based solely on objective design and development 10
standards without a public predecision hearing, unless such review is 11
otherwise required by state or federal law, or the structure is a 12
designated landmark or historic district established under a local 13
preservation ordinance. A city may utilize public meetings, hearings, 14
or voluntary review boards to consider, recommend, or approve 15
requests for variances from locally established design review 16
standards. 17
Sec. 5. RCW 36.130.020 and 2008 c 118 s 3 are each amended to 18
read as follows: 19
(1) A city, county, or other local governmental entity or agency 20
may not adopt, impose, or enforce requirements on an affordable 21
housing development that are different than the requirements imposed 22
on housing developments generally. 23
(2) This section does not prohibit any city, county, or other 24
local governmental entity or agency from extending preferential 25
treatment to affordable housing developments intended for including, 26
but not limited to, occupancy by homeless persons, farmworkers, 27
persons with disabilities, senior citizens, or low-income households. 28
Preferential treatment may include, but is not limited to: A 29
reduction or waiver of fees or changes in applicable requirements 30
including, without limitation, architectural requirements, site 31
development requirements, property line requirements, building 32
setback requirements, or vehicle parking requirements; or other 33
treatment that reduces or is likely to reduce the development or 34
operating costs of an affordable housing development.35
(3) A city, county, or other local governmental entity or agency 36
may impose and enforce reporting and auditing requirements on 37
affordable housing developments as conditions of loans, grants, 38
financial support, tax benefits, subsidy funds, or sale or lease of 39
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public property, or as conditions to eligibility for any affordable 1
housing incentive program under RCW 36.70A.540 or any other program 2
involving bonus density, transfer of development rights, waiver of 3
development regulations or fees, or other development incentives.4
Sec. 6. RCW 35.21.990 and 2025 c 203 s 2 and 2025 c 139 s 3 are 5
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 6
(1)(a) Cities must adopt or amend by ordinance, and incorporate 7
into their development regulations, zoning regulations, and other 8
official controls the requirements of subsection (2) of this section 9
for buildings in commercial, mixed-use, or residential zones no later 10
than June 30, 2026. 11
(b) The requirements of subsection (2) of this section apply and 12
take effect in any city that has not adopted or amended ordinances, 13
regulations, or other official controls as required under this 14
section by the timeline in (a) of this subsection and supersede, 15
preempt, and invalidate any conflicting local development 16
regulations. 17
(2) Through ordinances, development regulations, zoning 18
regulations, or other official controls as required under subsection 19
(1) of this section, cities may not: 20
(a) Impose a restriction on housing unit density that prevents 21
the addition of housing units at a density up to 50 percent more than 22
what is allowed in the underlying zone if constructed entirely within 23
an existing building envelope in a building located within a zone 24
that permits multifamily housing, provided that generally applicable 25
health and safety standards, including but not limited to building 26
code standards and fire and life safety standards, can be met within 27
the building; 28
(b) Impose parking requirements on the addition of dwelling units 29
or living units added within an existing building, however, cities 30
may require the retention of existing parking that is required to 31
satisfy existing residential parking requirements under local laws 32
and for nonresidential uses that remain after the new units are 33
added; 34
(c) ((With the exception of emergency housing and transitional 35
housing uses, impose )) Impose permitting requirements on the use of 36
an existing building for residential purposes beyond those 37
requirements generally applicable to all residential development 38
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within the building's zone, including requiring a change of use 1
permit; 2
(d) Impose design standard requirements, including setbacks, lot 3
coverage, and floor area ratio requirements, on the use of an 4
existing building for residential purposes beyond those requirements 5
generally applicable to all residential development within the 6
building's zone, except as provided in RCW 36.70A.810 and 36.70A.812;7
(e) Impose exterior design or architectural requirements on the 8
residential use of an existing building beyond those necessary for 9
health and safety of the use of the interior of the building or to 10
preserve character-defining streetscapes, unless the building is a 11
designated landmark or is within a historic district established 12
through a local preservation ordinance; 13
(f) Prohibit the addition of housing units in any specific part 14
of a building except ground floor commercial or retail that is along 15
a major pedestrian corridor as defined by each city, unless the 16
addition of the units would violate applicable building codes or 17
health and safety standards; 18
(g) Require unchanged portions of an existing building that have 19
been used for residential or previously permit-approved conditioned 20
space purposes to meet the current energy code solely because of the 21
addition of new dwelling units within the building. When any other 22
existing building is converted to new dwelling units, changed 23
portions of each of those new units must meet the requirements of the 24
current energy code, except if: 25
(i) The square footage of new dwelling units does not exceed 26
2,500 square feet or 50 percent of the total building square footage, 27
whichever is greater; 28
(ii) The building owner submits documentation, in a form 29
acceptable to the city, showing the building's residential units' 30
projected energy use intensity is less than or equal to the energy 31
use intensity target in accordance with the clean buildings 32
performance standard in RCW 19.27A.210; or 33
(iii) In all areas zoned for residential housing, an additional 34
housing unit is created within an existing home; 35
(h) Deny a building permit application for the addition of 36
housing units within an existing building due to nonconformity 37
regarding parking, height, setbacks, elevator size for gurney 38
transport, or modulation, unless the city official with decision-39
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making authority makes written findings that the nonconformity is 1
causing a significant detriment to the surrounding area; or2
(i) Require a transportation concurrency study under RCW 3
36.70A.070 or an environmental study under chapter 43.21C RCW based 4
on the addition of residential units within an existing building.5
(3) Nothing in this section requires a city to approve a building 6
permit application for the addition of housing units constructed 7
entirely within an existing building envelope in a building located 8
within a zone that permits multifamily housing in cases in which the 9
building cannot satisfy life safety standards. 10
(4) For the purpose of this section, "existing building" means a 11
building that received a certificate of occupancy at least three 12
years prior to the permit application to add housing units.13
Sec. 7. RCW 35A.21.440 and 2025 c 203 s 1 and 2025 c 139 s 4 are 14
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 15
(1)(a) Code cities must adopt or amend by ordinance, and 16
incorporate into their development regulations, zoning regulations, 17
and other official controls the requirements of subsection (2) of 18
this section for buildings in commercial, mixed-use, or residential 19
zones no later than June 30, 2026. 20
(b) The requirements of subsection (2) of this section apply and 21
take effect in any code city that has not adopted or amended 22
ordinances, regulations, or other official controls as required under 23
this section by the timeline in (a) of this subsection and supersede, 24
preempt, and invalidate any conflicting local development 25
regulations. 26
(2) Through ordinances, development regulations, zoning 27
regulations, or other official controls as required under subsection 28
(1) of this section, code cities may not: 29
(a) Impose a restriction on housing unit density that prevents 30
the addition of housing units at a density up to 50 percent more than 31
what is allowed in the underlying zone if constructed entirely within 32
an existing building envelope in a building located within a zone 33
that permits multifamily housing, provided that generally applicable 34
health and safety standards, including but not limited to building 35
code standards and fire and life safety standards, can be met within 36
the building; 37
(b) Impose parking requirements on the addition of dwelling units 38
or living units added within an existing building, however, cities 39
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may require the retention of existing parking that is required to 1
satisfy existing residential parking requirements under local laws 2
and for nonresidential uses that remain after the new units are 3
added; 4
(c) ((With the exception of emergency housing and transitional 5
housing uses, impose )) Impose permitting requirements on the use of 6
an existing building for residential purposes beyond those 7
requirements generally applicable to all residential development 8
within the building's zone, including requiring a change of use 9
permit; 10
(d) Impose design standard requirements, including setbacks, lot 11
coverage, and floor area ratio requirements, on the use of an 12
existing building for residential purposes beyond those requirements 13
generally applicable to all residential development within the 14
building's zone, except as provided in RCW 36.70A.810 and 36.70A.812;15
(e) Impose exterior design or architectural requirements on the 16
residential use of an existing building beyond those necessary for 17
health and safety of the use of the interior of the building or to 18
preserve character-defining streetscapes, unless the building is a 19
designated landmark or is within a historic district established 20
through a local preservation ordinance; 21
(f) Prohibit the addition of housing units in any specific part 22
of a building except ground floor commercial or retail that is along 23
a major pedestrian corridor as defined by the code city, unless the 24
addition of the units would violate applicable building codes or 25
health and safety standards; 26
(g) Require unchanged portions of an existing building that have 27
been used for residential or previously permit-approved conditioned 28
space purposes to meet the current energy code solely because of the 29
addition of new dwelling units within the building. When any other 30
existing building is converted to new dwelling units, changed 31
portions of each of those new units must meet the requirements of the 32
current energy code, except if: 33
(i) The square footage of new dwelling units does not exceed 34
2,500 square feet or 50 percent of the total building square footage, 35
whichever is greater; 36
(ii) The building owner submits documentation, in a form 37
acceptable to the code city, showing the building's residential 38
units' projected energy use intensity is less than or equal to the 39
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energy use intensity target in accordance with the clean buildings 1
performance standard in RCW 19.27A.210; or 2
(iii) In all areas zoned for residential housing, an additional 3
housing unit is created within an existing home; 4
(h) Deny a building permit application for the addition of 5
housing units within an existing building due to nonconformity 6
regarding parking, height, setbacks, elevator size for gurney 7
transport, or modulation, unless the code city official with 8
decision-making authority makes written findings that the 9
nonconformity is causing a significant detriment to the surrounding 10
area; or 11
(i) Require a transportation concurrency study under RCW 12
36.70A.070 or an environmental study under chapter 43.21C RCW based 13
on the addition of residential units within an existing building.14
(3) Nothing in this section requires a code city to approve a 15
building permit application for the addition of housing units 16
constructed entirely within an existing building envelope in a 17
building located within a zone that permits multifamily housing in 18
cases in which the building cannot satisfy life safety standards.19
(4) For the purpose of this section, "existing building" means a 20
building that received a certificate of occupancy at least three 21
years prior to the permit application to add housing units.22
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