Wow, strong support for all of the changes to the DADU / backyard cottage code!

Last night, CM Mike O'Brien and Nick Walsh from the city planning office had an open house to take the temperature of the community with regards to a series of incremental revisions to the DADU code.  Some of the proposed changes on the table, plus results from the straw poll as of the beginning of the meeting: 

25 for/ 9 against eliminating the owner occupancy requirement

23 for /6 against allowing a DADU and an ADU on the same lot (and possibly change the number of unrelated persons allowed to live on an Single Family lot.  

14 for / 5 against /13 maybes for Increasing the Rear Yard Coverage allowed

28 for/4 against eliminating the parking requirement

I didn't get the tallies for the height limit increase and other development standard improvments but they were also supported by a plurality.  

The reception was generally positive and civil, and more importantly according to the straw vote for the various measured, there was overwhelming support for all of the provisions.  

Next open house is 6 pm, February 3rd at the Wallingford Community Center. 

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In a city where the land use policy discussions are centered around density, the lack of new housing units, affordability even rent control and sustainability, why aren't Backyard Cottages more popular and more prevalent?  

On Thursday, I'll be on a panel discussing the state of Seattle's Backyard Cottages with City Council from 12-1 pm.   The premise of the 'Lunch and Learn' is one, to assess the status of current planning efforts and two, look at some alternative strategies from Portland.  

--Matt

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CAST crew celebrating Summer!

The siren's call of Seattle's summer has brought everyone back to town.  Last night, we celebrated our the solstice (a little late), the return of Holly from Sonoma and Forrest from Madrid, and had a little send off for Gunnar who is heading back to Norway's midnight sun.

CAST has a few other reasons to celebrate:

We're starting a two projects in Mazama (schematic design images upcoming).

Kenny's house is nearing completion:

ho-almost-done

Our first modular home on Bainbridge Island for Michel and Chas just went on the market this morning:

springridge-252

And the Mazama Ranchero is going to be published in a few magazines this fall, as well as the Lichtenstein cottage in a feature about Small Spaces:

litchenstein

Plus, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands is in permit, ready for construction this fall:

RBUFW-14-0105-entry-path-looking-south

Happy summer, everyone!

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After a long and steady labor of love, the Lichtenstein studio is finally nearing completion!

Hereis a view of the loft looking toward a study nook:

The bathroom will feature a Japanese garden adjacent to the soaking tub:

A compact and efficient kitchen tucks in under the ladder to the loft:

Great News--We won the 2012 BEST SMALL HOUSE AWARD from Fine Homebuilding magazine. They did a very nice video (link) with interviews of our awesome clients.   The Widner's DADU has been covering in our blog before (here and here).

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This new home was permitted under Seattle's citywide backyard cottage ordinance (which is rapidly approaching it's second year anniversary). The existing home, with a large corner lot and alley access, was an ideal candidate for a backyard cottage. The site allowed both the existing home and new cottage to enter from separate streets, have separate outdoor living areas and maintain a great deal of privacy from one another.

The owner desired a modestly scaled 800 square foot structure with exterior massing that followed the traditional lines of the existing home and a modern, light filled interior that opened to a private courtyard and was suitable for entertaining guests. The floor plan centers on a double height dining room with clerestory windows, sleeping loft and a large 4 panel door that frames views of the private courtyard and terraced garden. The cottage features radiant floor heating, an efficient on boiler with integrated solar hot water collection and a 1500 gallon cistern for rainwater catchment.

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View from the dining room into the kitchen.

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1,500 gallon cistern for rainwater catchment.

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View from the kitchen into the dining room and living room.

CAST architecture recently participated in a Seattle City Council discussion regarding backyard cottages. The meeting began with a presentation of backyard cottage statistics that were gathered during the first year of the city wide backyard cottage ordinance. Following the presentation participants discussed working with the ordinance in practice and suggested potential improvements that could be made to the ordinance. You can view a video of the entire discussion at seattlechannel.org: Backyard Cottages: 1 Year Later

There is also a backyard cottage annual report available to download from the DPD's website: Backyard Cottages Annual Report - April 2011

Of particular interest was the number of cottages permitted in the first year (57) and their relatively even distribution throughout the city. One of the primary concerns opponents had expressed in opposition to the ordinance was a fear that dense concentrations of cottages would "take over" single family neighborhoods causing widespread parking and privacy issues. The fear was so potent and adamantly expressed that at one point during the development of the ordinance city council members considered placing limits on the number of permits per year (50) and limits on the number of cottages allowed in any given area. Thankfully, neither limit was written into the code and the fears have been proven to be unjustified thus far.

A few other interesting issues that came to the surface during the discussion were:

1. The relatively high costs of constructing a backyard cottage makes it difficult for home owners to see a return on their investment if they hope to use a cottage to generate rental income. In general it was felt that backyard cottages were an important new housing typology for the city and that the cottages are a valuable addition to the city's rental stock. It was proposed that the city should consider incentives that would help lower the cost of constructing a cottage and help encourage their creation. A reduced permit fee and property tax credits are two areas I think the city should review.
2. The feeling that the off street parking requirements (2 spaces) was in most cases unnecessary and to the detriment of green space and usable yards. One idea put forth was to loosen the parking requirements by making it easier to obtain a parking waiver on streets where parking is not an issue.
3. The base height limit was thought to be a bit too low and creates unreasonable difficulties for the construction of two story structures. During the public comment portion of the meeting architect Jim Burton suggested changing the datum to which the base height could be measured (top of plate) to add a bit to the base height limit and encourage homeowners to exceed minimum requirements for insulating roofs and ceilings. The overall height limit was thought to be adequate with the exception of the following issue:
4. The current ordinance sets the height limit to 15' above an existing home. This was thought to be problematic and unfair in the case where the property owner's lot has a significant slope up behind the existing home.
5. The current ordinance does not allow for a backyard cottage to be built on a through lot (a lot with a street on both the front and rear lot lines of a property). This was generally thought to be a mistake in the writing of the ordinance and that the ordinance should be revised to allow cottages on through lots.

All in all it was a fun and informative meeting. Kudos to the city employees key in the development of the ordinance and to Sally Clarke and the city council for passing the ordinance unanimously. After the first year of real world testing the ordinance has proven to be a resounding success.

The Widner Cottage is going to be open to the public twice this summer for tours:

First, the Phinney Neighborhood Association's Home and Garden Tour will roll through on June 12th, from 11-4 pm (see link).

Second, the Cottage will be featured as the AIA Seattle's Open House on July 17th from noon to 3 pm.  More information here.  As part of the tour, the house will be published in Seattle Magazine, in the Northwest Home section in July.

I'm trying to organize a tour of recently completed backyard cottages in the month of June.  If you have one that you'd like to have considered for the tour, please contact me!

Matt@CASTarchitecture.com

The cottage in Phinney Ridge is taking shape--it is all dried in and the drywall is up.  One of the owners is pictured above savoring being on the cutting edge of increased density in Seattle's single family zoning!