'Roots to Roofs' pilot briefed to committee; supporters cite housing gains, public commenters press tree protections and displacement concerns

City central staff and council sponsors briefed the Seattle Land Use Committee on July 2 about Council Bill 12101011, known as the Roots to Roofs pilot program, a citywide proposal to provide development incentives for qualifying community-led affordable housing and civic uses.

Keto Freeman of Council Central Staff described the program’s structure: eligible developments would need to provide at least 25% of units as affordable for up to 50 years, with affordability levels ranging from about 40% of area median income for very small units to 80% for two-bedroom units. Freeman said qualifying organizations would include nonprofits, public development authorities and public housing authorities; participating projects could receive additional height, floor-area-ratio (FAR) increases, exemptions and an FAR exemption of up to 1.0 for certain institutional or commercial “equitable development uses.” Freeman also said the bill would exempt qualifying projects from design review and parking minimums, and that the Office of Planning and Community Development, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and the Office of Housing would be…