As usual, today Kshama Sawant blew her stack after the Mayor and Seattle City Council reached an agreement to address the need for zoning reform. The focus of the Mayor and the Council , as usual, is on finding ways to use development to enhance rather than destroy our existing neighborhoods. A good summary came from Linda Melvin, According to King 5, Ms. Melvin lives in a townhome complex built in Ballard before 2010. Ms. Melvin is upset abut the character and quality of the new Manhattan along Market Street: “Before the 2010 code relaxations and if you take a peek at it, you’ll see there’s some character to it, the way it’s built,” “The ones that are being built now, we like to compare them to Eastern Bloc boxes. They have no character. They’re way too high. Too bulky. No setbacks.” Last week the council passed, 8-1 new zoning to address the “Easter Bloc Box issue.”
Councilmember Kshama Sawant, held a news c0nference after the one held by the city. The leading figure in the Socialist Alternative Party, ahe objected to any development, “It is clear that Seattle’s big developers are not interested in producing the affordable housing we need nor has the market proven itself to be capable of even beginning to solve this problem.” “Instead the focus is on producing luxury units that rent $2,000, $3,000, even $4,000 a month.” She has proposed a tax on new development that would amount to about $150,000 on a $500,000 condo.