Our very own Rico Quirindongo received the Jennie Sue Brown award from The American Institute of Architects Washington Council for his continued commitment and advocacy for equitable development. Congrats Rico!
Dear OPCD Stakeholders:
Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell is releasing his 2023-2024 Proposed Budget. The Mayor’s proposed budget prioritizes our work to build a more equitable and accessible Seattle, with expanded funding for critical planning projects and continuity in our ongoing work to support community investments that reduce displacement pressures on existing residents, neighbors, businesses, and communities.
The following is a summary of OPCD’s key changes in the 2023-2024 Proposed Budget:
The Mayor’s budget reflects his confidence in our mission and supports our shared values of inclusion, racial equity, and economic opportunity. I look forward to sharing more about our projects in the weeks and months ahead and receiving your feedback to help focus our efforts and improve our outcomes.
Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s proposed budget. Public hearings are on October 11, November 8 and November 15. Final adoption of the budget is expected on Tuesday, November 22. More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget, and you can also direct any questions to MOS_COMMS@seattle.gov.
Best,
Rico Quirindongo
OPCD Acting Director
Mayor Bruce Harrell today announced nearly $9 million in awards through the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI), part of the City’s effort to support property ownership among Seattle’s diverse cultural communities in high displacement risk neighborhoods. The City awarded funds to community organizations for site acquisition and major capital projects, as well as capacity-building support to organizations that are still developing their plans for permanent homes in Seattle.
The EDI fund, administered by the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), was created to respond to the needs of marginalized populations, reduce disparities, and support access to opportunity in healthy, vibrant communities. The initiative is championed by community organizations concerned about displacement pressures and historical lack of investment that has occurred in communities of color in Seattle.
“To tackle the challenges of displacement, Seattle is working together with community-based organizations to invest in tangible efforts – focusing on supporting underserved communities, fostering healthy families, and delivering new economic opportunity,“ said Mayor Harrell. “Our One Seattle vision includes permanent homes for organizations that serve communities of color facing growing pressures. With these investments, we are partners in helping these cultural organizations achieve their dreams of owning property and having a forever home in our city.”
EDI fosters community leadership that promotes equitable access to jobs, education and childcare, outdoor space and recreation, cultural expression, healthy food, and other community needs and amenities. These funding partnerships are designed to build capacity among the most historically marginalized groups in Seattle. The program is based in shared decision-making and power, working towards racial equity outcomes that allows all communities to thrive.
“These organizations and projects are responding to displacement pressures among communities of color in Seattle,” said Rico Quirindongo, OPCD’s acting director. “Our investments are another concrete step toward our shared vision of an inclusive city filled with diverse neighborhoods and cultures – not just today, but long into the future.”
“This award is a testament that our city recognizes our contribution and unwavering commitment to our community, especially our youth,” said Chettie McAfee, Central Area Youth Collaborative. “Generations of families have come through our doors, including the Mayor and myself as well. We remain in the heart of the city, known as the ‘CD’ for those who have been here a while, as we are in the heartbeat of the city that keeps on going. The award is essential for us, so we can remain true to our mission.”
The following community-based organizations received awards to support property ownership and capital projects in 2022:
The following EDI partners will receive new capacity-building awards of up to $75,000 in 2022: BIPOC Sustainable Tiny Art House Community, Casa Latina, Cham Refugees Community, Estelita’s Library, Fathers and Sons Together, Friends of Little Saigon, House of Mkeka, and Khmer Community of Seattle/King County.
Since November 2016, OPCD and partner departments, including Office of Economic Development (OED), Office of Housing (OH), Department of Neighborhoods (DON), Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR), have coordinated the administration of the EDI Fund.
The EDI Advisory Board of community members provided recommendations to the City on the funding criteria and decisions announced today. Projects were evaluated on their ability to positively impact several equity drivers, that lead to racial equity outcomes including:
Successful applicants demonstrated a deep relationship with the community they are seeking to serve and feature an inclusive community process, with community members serving in their organizational leadership.
This week the City of Seattle received the Governor’s Smart Housing Strategies Award for our policy to support affordable housing on property owned by religious organizations as one new tool for responding to the housing crisis. In 2021, Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) and Office of Housing (OH) worked with community stakeholders to craft alternative development standards for affordable housing on faith-owned land. With this new tool, Seattle’s faith communities can create more homes for low-income individuals and families when their sites are available for redevelopment.
“This award recognizes the City of Seattle’s dual commitment to addressing the affordable housing crisis with urgency, creativity, and innovation, emphasizing why a One Seattle approach that brings everyone to the table is key to developing effective solutions,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “Our administration will continue this work with faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and all stakeholders to create an affordable, safe, thriving Seattle for all neighbors.”
Seattle is one of eight Washington cities to receive the Governor’s Smart Communities Awards, which annually recognizes local governments and their partners for exceptional work in implementing the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA) to shape future growth, economic vitality, and quality of life in communities across the state.
In 2021, OPCD and OH worked with community stakeholders on a development bonus for affordable housing on property owned by religious organizations. Adopted in June 2021, Ordinance 126384, sponsored by Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6, NW Seattle) lets faith institutions use additional height and floor area to create a greater number of homes if all housing created on the site is affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI) for at least 50 years. This fulfilled state legislation requiring cities to allow additional density for affordable housing on religious sites.
“After partnering with many faith-based organizations in the Central Area, this tool will help address the concerns of displacement and ongoing housing inequities that continue to affect the neighborhood,” said OPCD Acting Director Rico Quirindongo. “We are proud to receive this award along with OH and will continue to strengthen the bonds between the City and Central Area residents.”
Seattle’s ordinance responded to advocacy and direction from faith and housing stakeholders, including historically Black churches in the Central Area, where displacement has reduced the Black population from more than 70 percent of residents in the 1970s to less than one-fifth of the neighborhood today. Many religious institutions are experiencing shrinking congregations due to displacement, declining financial resources, aging facilities with deferred maintenance, and underutilized land. This new tool can help faith institutions address these challenges through redevelopment to provide critical affordable housing, offer supportive services, and maintain their presence and role in the neighborhood.
“The Nehemiah Initiative Seattle has been extremely pleased to collaborate with the OPCD on this historic land use ordinance,” said Donald King, FAIA, President and CEO of Nehemiah Initiative Seattle. “We greatly appreciate our committed partners in OPCD and the Seattle City Council on our mission to save Black churches in central Seattle through redevelopment of their underutilized property for affordable housing. Through the 2020 Nehemiah Studio at the UW College of Built Environments, we worked closely with OPCD to test the proposed bonus and provide students with real-world public policy engagement. This ordinance should not be the end to restorative justice for past land use injustices to the Black community, and our forward-looking City policies must expand the density bonuses for affordable homes to other institutional land in communities harmed by legalized segregation, exclusionary zoning, and redlining.”
Seattle’s faith community has a long history of building affordable homes with the help of the City’s housing levy and other public funds. But while religious organizations own property across all Seattle neighborhoods, in some areas affordable housing investments have not been financially feasible or possible under land use rules. Occasionally, faith organizations pursue a zoning change to make their project work — a costly, time-consuming, and unpredictable process that this new legislation can help avert. In Neighborhood Residential zones, where many religious sites are located, this tool helps faith-based organizations create affordable homeownership options that otherwise aren’t feasible or allowed.
“This ordinance is an example of policy that honors the efforts and stated needs of Black residents working to address displacement and housing exclusion, such as the Nehemiah Initiative,” said Joey Lopez of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. “Through the Faith Land Initiative, we support faith communities in a process of discernment to shift towards acts of restoration and community stewardship of land. One in five of those faith communities are considering developing affordable housing. This tool allows congregations to quickly add a sizeable number of units or to consider using the density bonus to accommodate larger units that support families and curb displacement.”
When faith-based organizations use this new tool to develop income-restricted affordable housing, they are likely to pursue public funding from the Office of Housing and/or other public sources. Each year, OH makes local investments to support construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition of affordable homes, drawing on various funding sources including the Seattle Housing Levy and developer contributions through Mandatory Housing Affordability and Incentive Zoning.
“Meaningful solutions to address the housing affordability crisis require committed partnerships,” said Maiko Winkler-Chin, Director of the Office of Housing. “Through our work with OPCD and Seattle’s faith institutions, we now have an additional tool to increase long-term affordable housing in our communities. We are grateful for the State’s recognition of Seattle’s regional leadership in crafting new housing strategies.”
We are already seeing results from this legislation. In just the first year following adoption, the City has received development applications from several religious organizations seeking to use this development bonus. For example, in the Central Area, the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd and low-income housing developer LIHI (Low Income Housing Institute) was awarded $8.3 million by OH for the creation of Good Shepherd, a low-income housing building that will provide 102 affordable homes.
As we plan for the future of housing in our city through the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan, we will look to build on this tool and ensure our growth strategy and development rules support our goals to increase affordability and address displacement.
For more information:
Jason Kelly, OPCD: jason.w.kelly@seattle.gov
Nathan Haugen, OH: nathan.haugen@seattle.gov
Affordable Housing on Religious Organization Property website: https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/ongoing-initiatives/affordable-housing-on-religious-organization-property
On June 23, 2022, the Office of Planning and Community Development issued a notice of SEPA Determination of Significance and Request for Comments on Scope of EIS with a comment period running from June 23, 2022 to July 25, 2022. Through this notice, the comment period is now extended to August 22, 2022.
The City of Seattle is conducting a major update of its Comprehensive Plan and implementing development regulation with the goal of adopting a new plan in 2024 (referred to as “One Seattle Plan”). Seattle’s goal is to make the city more equitable, livable, sustainable, and resilient for today’s communities and future residents.
The Major Update will reflect community needs and desires through a robust public engagement process, fulfill new requirements of the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A), and plan for growth for the period of 2024-2044. As part of this analysis, the City proposes to analyze five different alternatives, including a no action alternative, evaluating different approaches to accommodating housing and job growth to the year 2044. In addition, the proposal will include changes to the 130th and 145th Street Station Area Plan and options for the City to streamline future environmental review in that area, which may include a planned action (RCW 43.21c.440), or infill exemption (RCW 43.21C.229), or other tools available under state legislation (e.g., SB 5818). The proposal could also incorporate sub-area plans for Urban Centers as well as Manufacturing and Industrial Centers.
The Seattle Transportation Plan Update process, currently underway and run by Seattle Department of Transportation, will provide a separate EIS to test multimodal transportation system changes. Close coordination will occur between the Major Update and the Seattle Transportation Plan Update.
Location of Proposal: City of Seattle city limits.
Proponent: City of Seattle Office of Planning & Community Development
EIS required: The Director of the Office of Planning & Community Development has determined this proposal is likely to have a “significant adverse impact” on the environment under Ch. 43.21C RCW, the State Environmental Policy Act (or SEPA). An environmental impact statement (EIS) is required under RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c) and will be prepared.
The lead agency has identified the following areas for study in the EIS to determine if there are any significant environmental impacts:
Equity and climate resilience objectives will be developed across the environmental element studied.
More information on the EIS process and alternatives as well as materials related to the proposal may be reviewed on the project website: http://www.seattle.gov/opcd/one-seattle-plan.
Scoping:
Agencies, affected tribes, and members of the public are invited to comment on the scope of the EIS. You may comment on alternatives, mitigation measures, probable significant adverse impacts, and licenses or other approvals that may be required. The method and deadline for providing comments is as follows:
Comments may be submitted 3 ways:
The deadline for agencies, tribes, and the general public to submit scoping comments is 5:00 p.m., August 22, 2022.
Scoping meetings will be held online on June 29 and July 19. For additional information regarding the meetings please visit the project website at www.seattle.gov/opcd/one-seattle-plan.
The City of Seattle is seeking public input on the scope of the environmental review of the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan. The updated plan, due to be completed in 2024, will guide where the city steers future housing and jobs and invests in transportation, utilities, parks, and other public assets. The goal of the plan is to make the city more equitable, livable, sustainable, and resilient for today’s communities and future residents.
The plan’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will include analysis of potential environmental impacts and measures to reduce those impacts to inform the decision-making process. City planners are currently seeking input on the scope of this environmental review.
A key topic in the environmental analysis are the options for alternatives to the city’s urban village strategy first implemented in 1994. The current strategy has successfully guided 83% of all new homes to urban villages, which are centered around transit hubs such as light rail stations and frequent bus service.
A 2021 racial equity analysis conducted by the City underscored several negative consequences of the current urban village strategy, including continued cost increases for homeownership and rental housing, increased displacement pressures on current residents of urban villages, and a lack of housing options in neighborhoods across the city.
The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) is currently proposing to study several alternatives to the urban village strategy that would allow more homes outside of urban villages. The options studied would provide bookends for the environmental analysis, helping elected officials to understand the impacts as they choose from a menu of options when crafting the final plan.
“We need your input to ensure we are considering the right range of options for where we encourage new housing and jobs in Seattle,” said Rico Quirindongo, acting director of OPCD. “Rental housing costs remain a severe burden for thousands of residents and the lack of homeownership opportunities are forcing many people to look outside the city when purchasing a home. We must also reduce displacement pressures on Black, Indigenous, and other people of color who have borne too many of the negative impacts of population and economic growth.”
The deadline for public comments on what to study in the environmental review is July 25. More information about the process, the city’s potential growth strategies, and how to comment is available on the OPCD Public Engagement Hub, engage.oneseattleplan.com.
We are excited to launch our One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub as part of our engagement process for the Comprehensive Plan Update!
This platform is our central hub for virtual engagement for the One Seattle Plan, which will guide the future of housing, jobs, and community investments in our city. The Engagement Hub is designed to increase access to information and online engagement opportunities as we seek to lower barriers to participation for many communities. It’s a place to learn, comment, and connect with neighbors and the city to share your vision for Seattle.
Visit the One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub Now!
The Engagement Hub will also allow us to incorporate greater transparency and accountability into the engagement process, to showcase what we have heard, and share how your feedback is incorporated into the policies of the Draft Plan, and ultimately the Final Plan.
The Engagement Hub currently features a series of Issue Briefs on some of the major elements of the One Seattle Plan; a narrated slideshow that provides an overview of the One Seattle Plan (“Comprehensive Plan 101”), and our first public survey. Finally, we’ve created a section dedicated to collecting general feedback about the One Seattle Plan, where users can share their hopes, needs, and visions for how the Comprehensive Plan Update should shape our city. Coming soon are a variety of exciting additional engagement tools ranging from interactive mapping exercises, workshops, an events calendar, quick polls, periodic engagement report outs, and more!
All elements of the Engagement Hub are interactive. Users can comment, discuss, and vote on user comments and suggestions; full site translations have also been integrated into the Hub. The interactive design of this platform is meant to be conversational. This aligns with the fact that the issues and elements of the Comprehensive Plan are topics of everyday conversation for people that live in or around Seattle. One of the goals of this platform is to encourage, listen to, and join that ongoing discussion, and to help weave these conversations into a larger story about our collective vision for Seattle.
Sign up on the Engagement Hub today to join that conversation, and to share this resource with friends, family, neighbors, and larger community.
Visit the One Seattle Plan Engagement Hub Now!
The purchase of the theater and its permanent preservation is a first-of-its-kind.
Black-Owned community cultural center and career-connected learning institution building arts leadership and production skills in the next generation of south Seattle youth.
Following a year of negotiation and fundraising, the Cultural Space Agency and Rainier Avenue Radio are proud to announce their partnership, and their purchase of the historic Columbia City Theater. With support from the Strategic Investment Fund, as well as direct philanthropy from local supporters, the two organizations have acquired the Theater for $3.2 million and plan to reopen a fully renovated facility in 2023. Through the creation of the New Columbia City Theater Trust, cultural community members and neighbors will have the opportunity to be direct owners of, and investors in, the property.
Tony Benton, founder and station manager of Rainier Avenue Radio and a long-time Seattle radio presence and community organizer, and Matthew Richter, co-founder and interim executive director of the Cultural Space Agency, are both thrilled to be partnering in the creation of the New Columbia City Theater partnership.
This is the first time the Columbia City Theater, in its 100-year history, will be owned by the community it is designed to serve. This purchase is one of the first cultural space acquisitions funded by the City of Seattle’s Strategic Investment Fund. It is also among the first of many cultural space acquisitions that the Cultural Space Agency is partnering on this year.
[Read more…]Sound Transit recently published a Station Planning Progress Report showcasing preliminary station design concepts for the ST3 West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions project. Sound Transit consulted partner agencies including the City of Seattle, King County Metro, and the Port of Seattle to advance their approach to station design for Seattle’s largest-ever light rail investment, scheduled to open in 2032 (West Seattle) and 2037 (Ballard). The planning report supplements the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions project.
While the DEIS studies the potential benefits and impacts of each alternative, this progress report captures Sound Transit’s latest thinking about how people who walk, roll, bike, and ride transit will access the stations and how the stations might fit into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Read the Station Planning Progress Reports here:
For more information on the City’s involvement in the West Seattle and Ballard Link Extensions project, please visit our Light Rail Expansions page.
The City of Seattle has selected six community-based organizations to help design and carry out public engagement strategies for the update of Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan. Each of the organizations submitted engagement proposals that center the voices of people of color as the City updates its vision for how we will grow and invest in our communities.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s One Seattle vision will provide a framework for the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) as it works with residents to update our Comprehensive Plan. The planning process will continue through 2024, when the City Council is scheduled adopt the final plan, as required by the state’s Growth Management Act.
“The Comprehensive Plan update is our City’s opportunity to envision the future we want to see in Seattle and to design the blueprint that makes that vision possible,” said Mayor Harrell. “Core to our mission – ensuring Seattle is a special place with enhanced affordability, climate resilience, and equity – is the need to center community. This thoughtful and targeted approach ensures that underrepresented communities don’t just have a seat at the table, but are actively shaping the conversation and helping drive forward our Comprehensive Plan update.”
Each of these six organizations will receive a $30,000 contract to help co-create OPCD’s community engagement efforts for the Comprehensive Plan update:
“The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict is honored to partner with OPCD to support all who live, work, and play in Seattle to have a voice in how our city grows,” Donna Moodie, Capitol Hill EcoDistrict. “We have faith in the creativity and compassion of our neighbors and look forward to helping OPCD create a shared vision for Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan.”
“Engagement with communities across the City will shape each phase of the plan’s development,” said OPCD Director Rico Quirindongo. “Consistent with OPCD’s Equitable Community Engagement Ethos, we will prioritize giving voice and power to communities, especially BIPOC communities, that have been historically marginalized, while also engaging all residents of Seattle in shaping the City’s future.”
The City is investing in a range of opportunities for all residents to participate in the Comprehensive Plan update. All residents will be encouraged to participate in a hybrid model of in-person events and online tools. The public will be invited to learn and provide input through community meetings, neighobhood walks, narrated presentations, surveys, and online open houses to help shape the plan.
OPCD’s initial online survey on the Comprehensive Plan update is available now as we launch this next phase of community engagement.
The Department of Neighborhood’s community liaisons will help develop and implement additional engagement opportunities in the months ahead. The community liaisons have deep connections with those who have been historically underrepresented in past planning processes. The City will incorporate translation and interpretation services to reduce barriers and increase participation.
Last updated in 2016, the Seattle Comprehensive Plan will guide where and how the City grows to add housing and jobs over the next 20 years. The plan will address many elements: land use, transportation, housing, economic development, environment and climate change, parks and open space, arts and culture, quality of life, and more.
Since 1994, the City’s goal has been to focus most new housing construction, jobs, and community investments within designated urban centers and urban villages. Updating the Comprehensive Plan will involve evaluating the current strategy as well as exploring new ideas for how Seattle can grow to be more equitable, affordable, and climate resilient. Last summer, OPCD presented to the City Council a racial equity analysis of the existing growth strategy.
The City continues to invest in strategies that reduce residential, economic, and cultural displacement pressures as costs for housing and commercial spaces continue to rise. The City has pursued a range of efforts, including investing in rent- and income-restricted homes, grants to support permanent homes for BIPOC-led service providers, small-business supports, and grants to arts, cultural, and community organizations. During the planning process, OPCD will seek community input on which strategies are most effective, as well as ideas for new policies, programs, and investments that can help reduce displacement pressures.
OPCD is also coordinating with the Seattle Department of Transportation as it crafts the Seattle Transportation Plan that will establish a renewed vision for the future of our streets and public spaces. SDOT is working with community to reimagine how we move through and enjoy Seattle’s streets. The plan is also our collective commitment – as a City – to a racially-equitable and socially-just transportation system that meets the needs of everyone, connecting us all safely and efficiently to the places that matter most.
