Woodinville council leans toward interim inclusionary zoning, not moratorium; May 6 hearing set

Woodinvilles City Council spent the bulk of its April 1 meeting weighing whether to impose a temporary moratorium on multifamily housing permits or to adopt interim zoning controls that would require affordable units while allowing development to continue.

Staff presented the options and cited state law (RCW 6.708.390 as stated in the presentation) that authorizes local moratoria and interim zoning controls. The city attorney told the council that a moratorium is legally riskier because courts evaluate whether a regulation constitutes a "taking" under the Fifth Amendment by examining economic impact and whether it frustrates reasonable, investment-backed expectations. "The Fifth Amendment prohibits taking a property without just compensation," the city attorney said during the briefing.

City staff and several council members recommended interim zoning as a way to add inclusionary requirements without entirely halting development. Staff suggested that a relatively simple interim ordinance could be drafted quickly and brought back with the required public hearing; if kept straightforward (for example, with a 10% affordability requirement), staff said a public hearing and ordinance could be presented at the councils May 6 meeting. "If we keep it pretty simple, then it's possible to have [an interim ordinance] as soon as the council wants to take action on it," staff told council.

Council members debated scope and details: whether the interim controls should apply only to the Central Business District (CBD) or to broader zones; whether townhomes should be included; and how interim rules would interact with the Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE) program. Councilman Arndt said he preferred a narrow, straightforward interim regulation to avoid chilling development while capturing potential affordable units. Councilmember Taylor pressed that affordability policy should consider ownership as well as rentals, arguing that ownership can provide long-term price stability: "It's much better to own, fix that price and have that guarantee that for 30 years," Taylor said.

Staff emphasized the work underway on a longer feasibility study due in the fall and reminded the council that state deadlines for middle-housing model ordinance provisions mean some work must be prioritized by June. The council did not take final regulatory action at the meeting but directed staff to return on May 6 with an interim ordinance and public hearing materials.

The next procedural step is the public hearing and formal council action in May; staff said the full feasibility analysis will follow and will inform any permanent code changes.