King County committee forwards Skyway housing cooperation agreement to full council

The King County Local Services and Land Use Committee voted 3-0 on Feb. 18 to forward a proposed housing cooperation agreement with the King County Housing Authority to the full King County Council and to expedite consideration to the Feb. 24 council meeting.

Council member Lewis, the item sponsor and vice chair of the committee, said the agreement "is my baby," describing roughly nine months of work to shape an agreement intended to help create homeownership and affordable housing in the Skyway West Hill subarea. Erin Ozzens, council staff, told the committee the agreement would facilitate an affordable manufactured-home community proposed for the site: a 30-unit development intended for households at or below 80% of area median income (AMI).

The staff report laid out four principal elements of the agreement. First, the agreement contains a five-year vesting term that would allow the project to be regulated under the rules in place when the agreement becomes effective. Second, it lists specific modifications and waivers to certain development standards — including tree-replacement requirements, allowing 10-foot driveways rather than 20-foot driveways, permitting carports and parking within setbacks, splitting required recreation area dimensions across two locations, and allowing a smaller children’s play area. The report also described modifications to solid-waste collection distance and recyclable-storage design and a narrowing of street-front landscaping requirements to South 129th Street only.

Third, staff said the code and the agreement allow administrative waivers and that the King County Housing Authority has separately received a road variance for access to South 129th Street. Fourth, the agreement obligates county and housing authority staff to provide substantive, accurate information as soon as known and to prioritize permitting review for the project. Ozzens noted the item is scheduled for a public hearing before the full council on Feb. 24.

During committee discussion, Council member Perry asked how the county balanced the need to increase housing supply with legal and policy protections under the Growth Management Act and recent comprehensive-plan work. Lewis and staff said the agreement was carefully iterated, involved the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Department of Local Services, and was tailored as a site-specific approach rather than a blanket precedent.

Ty Peterson, permitting staff, gave technical assurances about regulatory limits: "There’s no waiver of water quality or stormwater standards," he said, and added that there are no waivers to fire protection, life-safety, or building-code standards. Peterson described the waivers as design-focused, intended to allow more usable on-site space while protecting critical-area and safety standards.

The committee recorded three ayes, no nos, with Council member Mosqueda excused; Chair Reagan Dunn said the recommendation will be expedited to the Feb. 24, 2026 full council meeting. The committee also approved consent ordinance items earlier in the session; those consent items were adopted and will move to the full council per usual process.

Next steps: the item will be considered at the full King County Council public hearing and possible vote on Feb. 24, 2026.