Seattle builder scores victory over City’s extortionate demands for permit to build new homes

Seattle, Washington; January 14, 2025:  Oom Living, a small homebuilder, can move forward to build a new home in Seattle after the court ruled Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) arbitrarily and unconstitutionally attempted to force the company to pay for an unnecessary water main in order to build the new house.  

SPU conditioned issuance of a residential water hookup approval on a demand that Oom Living pay for a new water main extension needed to address historic problems with the City’s water infrastructure, even though the new home had nothing to do with these historic problems. Under SPU’s policy, it didn’t matter that Oom Living’s home fronted an existing water main with ample supply, nor did it matter that the new water main would dead-end in a fully built-out neighborhood that has no need for new pipes. Nor did it even matter that the City’s demands would have cost the company over $350,000—a cost that would massively increase the home’s ultimate purchase price.  

The Superior Court of Washington for King County ruled that Oom Living’s development approvals could not be held hostage by the City’s demand that the property owners pay for public infrastructure that has nothing to do with Oom Living’s proposed home. The court ruled that SPU’s demand violated the U.S. Constitution and additionally ruled that the City was liable for violating Oom Living’s civil rights. 

“The ruling is a great win for a small company that is trying to build new houses in a city where there is an obvious, and desperate, need for them,” said Brian Hodges, senior attorney for Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents Oom Living. “The City’s demands were nothing more than an exorbitant ransom to receive permission to connect to a public water line, which is necessary to live in a home. Such demands violate the owner’s civil rights. With this ruling, Seattle cannot abuse its power to withhold water connection approvals to force individual property owners to pay for infrastructure that’s unrelated to their building project. This victory for home builders and homebuyers will stop the City from shifting unnecessary costs onto the purchase price of new homes.” 

The win — the latest in a string of PLF victories in favor of affordable housing — helps restore the right to build much-needed housing and further protect the property rights of all Americans. 

Pacific Legal Foundation is working nationwide to end unconstitutional regulations that make it more difficult to build badly needed housing. 

The case is Oom Living, LLC v. City of Seattle.