Mobile Home Park Protections to Preserve Up to 11 Acres for Affordable Housing in Bitter Lake

From The Urbanist

he Seattle City Council has passed another six month development moratorium for the city’s two remaining mobile home parks. The legislation, which passed 7-0, is the fifth and apparently final extension of the moratorium, which was first passed in 2019 after residents raised concerns about the pending sale of Halcyon Mobile Home Park in North Seattle. Developers had filed preliminary plans for constructing 196 market-rate townhomes on the seven and a half acre site, creating fears of displacement among tenants, many of whom were elderly and/or disabled. The filing followed the closure of University Trailer Park in 2017, which was replaced by a development of 89 townhomes.

“I ask that we extend this moratorium one final time to prevent any loopholes before our long-awaited long-term protections can be adopted by the City Council next week,” said Dan Strauss (District 6), sponsor of the bill.

Councilmembers Strauss and Debra Juarez (District 5), in whose district Halcyon and neighboring Bella-B Mobile Home Park are located, have been working on a permanent legislative solution for the sites, which will be voted on by the full City Council on December 13th where it appears likely to pass with strong Council support based on past statements. Their legislation would create a mobile home overlay district, further restricting the sites’ development until it sunsets in 2051. In a special meeting of the Land Use and Neighborhoods committee on December 3rd, Ketil Freeman, City Council Central Staff, explained that the term “overlay” district is used because the additional specifications “sit over an underlying zone designation.”