The Spokane City Council has approved a new measure aimed at making sure renters can keep cool during increasingly hot summers. On Wednesday night, the council passed an ordinance called the renters right to cooling, a rule that will place cooling requirements on much of the city's rental housing rather than leaving the issue up to individual landlords.
Under the ordinance, most rental units in the city will be required to have cooling in at least one room, with the mandate set to take effect in January of 2031. The rule does not force landlords toward a single system. Instead, that cooling can come from central air, an evaporative cooler or a portable air conditioner, giving property owners some flexibility in how they meet the standard.
The push behind the ordinance is tied directly to climate and health concerns. Supporters point to the deadly consequences of extreme heat, with the measure referencing deaths from the 2021 Northwest heat dome, when a stretch of record temperatures proved fatal for people across the region. The ordinance is framed as a way to prevent similar tragedies inside homes that lack any means of cooling.
Even with the ordinance now passed, questions remain about how it will work in practice. A main point of contention has been qualifying what adequate cooling should actually mean. Some argue that a set temperature should be determined so there is a clear standard, but the ordinance as written does not list a specific temperature that units must be able to reach.
Another sticking point is who will keep the new rule in check. It sounds as though code enforcement would be tasked with monitoring compliance, but that raises concerns about capacity. Spokane City Council President Betsy Wilkerson said the city is already understaffed, suggesting the workload of enforcing the ordinance could strain existing resources.
Wilkerson was among those who did not back the measure in its current form. She said she could not support it the way it is right now, explaining that she has been on the other side and has seen the challenges faced by landlords, including those the ordinance is meant to protect and help. Despite that opposition, the Spokane City Council passed the renters right to cooling ordinance by a 5 to 2 margin.