Seattle Approves More Tiny House Villages, Tent Cities

SEATTLE, WA — The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to approve a large expansion of authorized tiny house villages, tent cities, and safe parking lots, allowing up to 40 on city-owned property or land owned by religious organizations.

Proponents of the measure touted city data showing successful results among the nine tiny house villages currently operating in Seattle.

"Tiny house villages are a proven way to help save lives," said Sharon Lee, executive director at the Low Income Housing Institute. "Over 3 years, nearly 500 people in tiny house villages have moved into permanent housing."

The Seattle Times reports the first city-approved tent cities opened in 2015, but legislation allowing them was set to expire next month. According to the Associated Press, the new ordinance, sponsored by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, allows encampments to exist indefinitely, pending annual permit renewals. Seattle previously capped the number of authorized tent cities at three.

According to Sawant's office, amendments to the bill ensured new encampments and villages will be spread across all seven city districts.

The sole vote against Sawant's bill came from Councilmember Alex Pedersen, who represents District 4.

"In my opinion, this bill was falsely advertised as 'tiny home villages' when, in fact, it dramatically expands an ineffective tent encampment model that fails to sufficiently reduce homelessness," Pedersen said.