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Back to News Center As cities and King County neared final votes on compressive plans, Seattle King County REALTORS® (SKCR) encouraged increased zoned densities through meetings with elected officials, letters, and public testimony. In many jurisdictions, the opposition to upzones was fierce. SKCR’s voice was an important reminder to elected…
Read More Back to News Center Issues related to public safety and crime came to a head a few years ago when three apparently unrelated high-profile murders occurred in Federal Way within 24 hours. Some commenters blamed concentrations of multifamily housing for the deaths. Others thought efforts to defund police, constrain the…
Read More Back to News Center Seattle King County REALTORS® has been engaged in the Seattle budget process to ensure the record general fund budget deficits of $251 million in 2025 and $498 million in 2026 were not closed by levying new taxes. We commented formally and advocated to encourage transparency and…
Read More Back to News Center Effective January 1, 2025, the city of Black Diamond lifted its moratorium on new retail cannabis establishments. The moratorium had been in place since 2013. The effort to lift the ban began in January of last year in response to a proposal by city council member…
Read More Back to News Center At its final meeting of 2024, the Renton City Council approved the state-mandated update of its comprehensive plan to guide and facilitate the city’s growth over the next 20 years. The changes are intended to accommodate 17,000 new housing units and almost 32,000 jobs in Renton…
Read More Back to News Center On election night in November, the Kent School District’s ballot proposition was losing with just 49.11% of the vote. Because it was a levy, and not a bond, 50% approval is required for passage. When all the votes were tallied, it passed with 50.77%. Citizens for…
Read More Back to News Center On November 27, the SeaTac City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance with no increase in the city’s 2025 property tax levy. Additionally, the city chose not to take advantage of the opportunity to increase property taxes based on its “banked capacity” to do so.…
Read More Back to News Center Sign code updates are in play in the cities of Bellevue, Lake Forest Parks, and Duvall. Deliberation was paused on that work so comprehensive plans can be completed. We expect work to resume in the first quarter of 2025.
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Back to News Center This month, Seattle King County REALTORS® has launched REALTORS® + Housing, a new website dedicated to tracking the changes to housing policy mandated by two pieces of legislation passed by the Washington Legislature in 2023: HB 1110 and HB 1337. These bills are set to transform…
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Back to News Center Reflections from 2024 President Michael Orbino Happy 2025 to all our REALTOR® members and colleagues. I have been reflecting on our annual tradition of the holiday season beginning with Thanksgiving, which is usually seen as a time of deep gratitude. This is followed by Christmas and…
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