STEP housing: Lynnwood, Edmonds move to comply with ‘very’ low-income requirements

The Pathways for Women emergency shelter  located in Lynnwood is an example of STEP housing. (Photo by Angelica Relente)

As of this week, Lynnwood is now required to allow what the state calls “very” low-income housing in all residential zones; including emergency and transitional housing for individuals who are currently experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Edmonds is set to do the same soon, catching the cities up with statewide housing requirements from three years ago. 

At its meeting Monday, the Lynnwood City Council approved changes to its code, aligning the city with state-mandated STEP housing requirements. The Edmonds City Council, however, passed an interim ordinance at its meeting Tuesday, giving the council more time to finalize the details of a permanent ordinance. 

HB 1220 – passed in 2021–  amended Washington’s Growth Management Act to require all cities to change their codes and 20-year comprehensive plans to make way for housing affordable to all income levels. 

To meet housing needs at the lowest income rates, the law requires emergency and permanent housing – also known as STEP housing – to be allowed in all residential zones and zones with hotels. If cities don’t change their codes to follow the new legislation, they could lose the ability to apply for state grants, and in extreme cases, lose the ability to collect sales tax, Lynnwood City Planner Karl Almgren said at a city council meeting early January

According to the state’s Department of Commerce, Washington needs to build 50,000 new housing units a year to keep up with population growth estimates – resulting in a demand for 1.1 million new units in the next 20 years. 600,000 of those units will need to be low income housing.

Not only will the state need housing, but the housing will also need to be affordable. Data from the Department of Commerce says the average household needs an annual income of $75,556 or an hourly wage of $36.33 to afford a house in Washington. The state’s current minimum wage is $16.28

Washington’s homeless population also increased by 19.9% from 2007 to 2023. According to the Department of Commerce, rising rent costs and a lack of housing are the “core causes of increased homelessness in the state.” If Washington doesn’t build more affordable housing in the next 20 years, state and local governments will need to find a way to make room for 91,000 emergency housing beds.

This cocktail of circumstances resulted in a need for more housing, especially for those at risk of or experiencing homelessness – resulting in the new STEP housing requirements outlined in HB 1220. 

Here’s what Edmonds and Lynnwood are doing to keep up with the new requirements, and what residents could expect their neighborhoods to look like in the future: 

What is STEP housing?

Graphic courtesy Washington State Department of Commerce

STEP stands for: 

S: Emergency Shelter

– Emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness, including warming shelters that don’t provide overnight accommodations.

T: Transitional housing

– Housing that offers supportive services for two years or longer for people experiencing homelessness. The goal is to transition them to permanent housing.

E: Emergency housing

– Facilities offer temporary, indoor housing for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. Emergency housing is intended to meet immediate, basic needs, including health, food, clothing and hygiene. 

P: Permanent supportive housing. 

– Subsidized, leased housing with no limit on how long occupants can stay. Intended to support those experiencing homelessness, or at risk of homelessness, due to behavioral and physical health conditions. Residents are provided with services intended to help them stay housed, including behavioral, physical and employment services. 

The bill prohibits local governments from putting STEP housing projects through more rigorous reporting and requirements than other housing projects. Although there is still room for cities to decide how they’ll implement STEP housing facilities, the goal is to speed up the process and make it easier for developers to build more affordable and supportive housing, state documents say

Why STEP Housing?

STEP housing already exists in Snohomish County and has for decades. 

Pathways For Women is an emergency shelter in Lynnwood for women and mothers with children. It’s the only women’s shelter in South Snohomish County. 

Created in the 1960s, the shelter has 13 units and provides emergency shelter for 30 days. The end goal is to get those staying at the shelter into permanent housing, Pathways for Women shelter advocate Veronica Warren-Mayhle said in an interview. If permanent housing isn’t possible, shelter staff aim to place people temporarily in transitional housing. 

“People are living on the streets,” she said. “It can happen to any one of us. You got to have a place for women and children to go to try to build them back up again.” 

Trinity Place in Lynnwood (Photo by Angelica Relente)

Trinity Place, also in Lynnwood, is an apartment complex embedded with a reunification program. It helps those who lost their children due to drug addiction. It is Snohomish County’s one and only housing program that unifies families.

With 20 units total, the apartment complex has been around for over 15 years. Ashleigh Desvigne, family advocate and property manager, said Trinity Place offers a 16-month program. When finished, guests receive a Section 8 voucher they can use anywhere.

“There’s no reason why we should have families on the streets,” Desvigne said. “A lot of the people we wind up servicing have been either excommunicated from family, kicked out because families cannot carry their burden or they could never get their feet underneath them.”

A statewide effort

State housing needs for the next 20 years were determined on a countywide basis. County governments then work with individual jurisdictions to determine their respective housing needs. 

To get the ball rolling, HB 1220 required county and city governments to change their comprehensive plans to include policies allowing for affordable housing at all income levels. 

Snohomish County Council did so on Jan. 15, changing the county’s Growth Management Act Comprehensive Plan to meet state standards. The new plan allows health and social services facilities to be built in more zones than before, and adds a density bonus incentive for additional housing on properties owned by religious organizations. The county also removed its limit on the number of unrelated people allowed to live in one household. 

Edmonds and Lynnwood also recently adopted new comprehensive plans, outlying housing targets on low, medium and high income levels for the next 20 years. 

All cities in Washington faced an original deadline of Sept. 2021 to change zoning codes to comply with the new laws, HB 1220 reads. Several cities failed to meet that deadline, including Lynnwood and Edmonds. 

What STEP housing could look like in Edmonds

The Edmonds City Council passed an interim ordinance Jan. 28, giving councilmembers additional time to solidify details and offering the public another chance to weigh in on the issue. 

The interim ordinance expires after six months, or until the council passes a permanent ordinance – whichever happens first. The council is also required to hold a public hearing within 30 days of passing the interim ordinance, city documents say

The interim ordinance approved by the Edmonds City Council Tuesday includes provisions that nuisances and criminal behavior are subject to enforcement to the full extent of the city’s code. It also states that evictions of residents for unsafe actions are not precluded by city codes.

Housing targets for Edmonds were outlined in a recent update of the city’s Comprehensive Plan. However, the plan didn’t outline how many of these units would be STEP housing.

Edmonds housing targets: 

Low income (0-80% area median income): 6,814 units

– This includes low or mid rise multi-family units, such as apartments. 

– This figure also includes permanent supportive housing units required by STEP housing laws. 

Moderate income (<80%-121% AMI): 2,129 units

– Can include accessory dwelling units. 

High income (120% and up): 126 units

– Can include duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. 

At an Edmonds Civic Roundtable discussion in November, the Alliance of Citizens for Edmonds (ACE) and Coalition for an Accessible and Resilient Edmonds (CARE) discussed the current state and future of housing in the city.

ACE President Karen Haase Herrick said at the event that housing supply is a complex issue that does not have a simple answer. Residents need a two-year break from the state Legislature to “make plans based on the laws that they passed and see how that’s going to work out,” she said.

Herrick added that housing developments with more than two floors may pose challenges to those with cerebral palsy or other muscular development issues. She wants to see the city rely on government agencies less and pursue creative solutions to housing instead.

What STEP housing could look like in Lynnwood

Although STEP housing is now allowed in all residential zones and zones with hotels in Lynnwood, there are still restrictions. Those interested in operating a STEP housing facility must adhere to city and state regulations, including those governing construction, land use, business operation and more, per city documents

To operate a STEP facility, those interested must apply for a STEP Housing permit through the city’s development and business services department and pay a fee. The fee amount was not listed in the city’s code at the time of reporting.  

The permit process requires applicants to submit a written analysis, detailing existing and planned facilities to support the desired housing type, and what the projected demand is for that type of facility. 

Applicants must also detail a security plan and operating rules for the city.

Lynnwood also adopted its new Comprehensive Plan Monday, Jan. 27. The plan outlines how many housing units are needed at the low, medium and high income levels to keep up with population growth. The document includes STEP housing units in its housing targets. 

The approved Comprehensive Plan aims to build the following units by 2044: 

Low income (multifamily and accessory dwelling units)

– 0-30% AMI: 1,939 units, including 1,401 permanent supportive housing units. 

– 30-50% AMI: 1,113 units.

– 50-80% AMI: 647 units.

Moderate income (moderate density, middle housing- duplexes and townhomes)

– 80-100% AMI: 1,547 units.

– 100-120% AMI: 2,215 units.

– 120% AMI and up: 5,187 units.

The future of equitable housing

Rep. Strom Peterson

State Rep. Strom Peterson, whose district includes parts of Edmonds and Lynnwood, said he introduced HB 1220 during the 2021-22 state legislative session so cities can identify income levels they need to accommodate in future years. It also ensured that ordinances weren’t exclusionary to certain types of housing, such as STEP housing.

“The broader thing [of HB 1220] was making sure that all cities were accounting for all the people in their communities,” Peterson said.

Some local governments pushed back on this policy, creating obstacles for building different types of housing, the Edmonds Democrat said. Peterson said he hopes a new bill introduced this legislative session – House Bill 1195 – can help create stronger and clearer guidelines for cities regarding STEP housing.

HB 1195 is a “followup” to HB 1220, Peterson said. Some local governments have used loopholes to get away from building any type of STEP housing required by HB 1220. HB 1195 will reemphasize what HB 1220 requires of them.

The bill deals with the siting of permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, indoor emergency housing or indoor emergency shelters. If passed, it would require a city or county to use an administrative process when it receives a STEP housing application. The Department of Commerce would provide dispute resolution services if a disagreement ensues between a city or county and an applicant. 

The bill would also authorize Commerce to issue a noncompliance finding if the dispute resolution process fails, if a city or county denies a permit or agreement, or if a city or county enacts a zoning ordinance or regulation that prevents STEP housing.

The House Committee on Housing held an executive session for the bill Jan. 30. Those interested can watch the session at tvw.org/video/house-housing-2025011569/?eventID=2025011569.

— By Ashley Nash and Angelica Relente

Ashley Nash is a reporter for the My Neighborhood News Network. Contact her at ashley@myedmondsnews.com.

Angelica Relente is a Murrow News Fellow covering housing and related issues in South Snohomish County for the My Neighborhood News Network. Contact her at angelica@myedmondsnews.com.

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