Description
Equitable Transit Oriented Communities (ETOCs) are mixed-use, transit-served neighborhoods that provide housing and transportation choices and greater social and economic opportunity for current and future residents. King County's ETOC Policy, adopted in 2021, provides a strategic approach to supporting and strengthening ETOC. In addition to TOD projects, where King County owns and leases the land and takes the lead, ETOC supports conditions that facilitate TOD led by the private sector. King County will fund Metro's ETOC program and partner initiatives to build capacity needed for ETOC policy implementation. Additionally, all new Rapid Ride projects will include ETOC studies to ensure communities can align transit investments with supportive development while addressing displacement risks through proactive measures.
King County Metro's ETOC program will support Metro's Real Estate program and will identify and implement strategic real property investments and repositioning in support of ETOC outcomes noted in the policy. King County will work to actively advance identified ETOC opportunity sites within Metro's property portfolio according to agreed-upon timelines and in cooperation with jurisdictional and community goals, per available development funds. The County will work to build capacity to allow for work with communities to slow displacement and provide opportunities to anchor communities in place through ETOC projects, to meet development opportunities currently in its pipeline, to participate in regional resource development to streamline projects where possible and to optimize King County's transit Investments and real estate portfolio to bring more people within close proximity of frequent transit.
King County together with partners at the state and local level will advocate for state, regional, and local land use zoning that supports the creation of TOD with inclusionary zoning requirements.
King County will coordinate development of a model code for ETOC with King County jurisdictions to direct local infrastructure investments that support transit investments. Such a model code would include elements such as suggested parking maximums, suggested setbacks, sidewalk widths, appropriate development densities based on surrounding land use, inclusionary requirements and a menu of housing types, and supportive infrastructure. Providing a model code will aid jurisdictions in the adoption of supportive land use codes to support the creation and growth of vibrant transit-supportive communities.
King County will strive to remove historic barriers to funding TOD. The opportunity to successfully implement TOD projects on Metro's own property is limited to properties with clean titles. In Metro's current property portfolio, many sites that were originally owned by Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) or purchased with Federal Highway Administration funds have title restrictions tied to the funds used to purchase those properties. Those title restrictions limit the current use of those sites and negatively impact their redevelopment potential. King County will work with the Public Attorney's Office and partner agencies to identify ways to remove outdated requirements that limit the ability to fund projects.