Seattle City Council passes bill allowing larger homeless shelters, tiny home villages
May 19, 2026, 5:36 PM | Updated: 5:47 pm
Tiny houses on display. (Photo: Matt Pitman, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: Matt Pitman, KIRO Newsradio)
The Seattle City Council (SCC) unanimously passed a measure that allows for larger homeless shelters and tiny home villages.
The legislation approves temporary shelter sites, including tiny home villages, RV and vehicle safe lots, and tent encampments, to increase capacity by 50%, raising the maximum from 100 to 150 residents. It also paves the way for a 250-bed shelter in each city council district.
Seattle council passes bill despite removal of proposed school buffer zone
SCC passed the measure despite the removal of a proposed amendment that would have created buffer zones near schools. Nonprofit groups argued the restrictions could slow the delivery of resources to people experiencing homelessness and further stigmatize them as second-class citizens.
Seattle City Councilmember Dionne Foster is the primary sponsor of the legislation.
“I have said this whole time, my underlying goal is to ensure that we pass this interim legislation, and we have this first year of expansion in a way that is so successful that we are able to continue this expansion,” she said at the council meeting.
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Wilson plans to open 1,000 new shelter units by end of year
The legislation is part of a series of bills proposed by Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson as part of her goal to open 1,000 new shelter units by the end of the year.
The Downtown Seattle Association called Wilson’s plan to add 1,000 units a “bold first step” in addressing the city’s homelessness crisis, adding that services are vital to getting people off the streets.
“Adding supportive services is a critical component of this plan, increasing the likelihood that these residents will be on a clearer path to long-term stability,” DSA President and CEO Jon Scholes said in a statement in March. “There are far too many people sleeping unsheltered in our city; this plan will ensure more people get inside and connected to the help they desperately need.”
Wilson said she has sent three new pieces of legislation to the council, with the goals of expediting lease agreements, cutting red tape for shelter and tiny home communities, and expanding shelter capacity limits.
Contributing: Aaron Granillo, Luke Duecy, and James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio; Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest
