On September 27, a joint meeting for all Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) focus groups was held at City Hall. Focus group members broke out into smaller groups to to discuss several draft zoning maps. These draft maps are based on Mandatory Housing Affordability principles. You can view the maps here.
For more information about HALA and HALA focus groups, visit: http://www.seattle.gov/hala/focus-groups. HALA focus groups will go back to their individual meetings next month.
Dear friend,
In the summer of 2015, Mayor Ed Murray proposed a new office to improve coordination of city planning and capital investments in rapidly growing Seattle: The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD). The vision was to improve the integration of strategic planning functions across city departments, while also coordinating public investments in transportation, parks, housing and other critical infrastructure.
“When we develop new housing in a neighborhood, we must ensure we also have adequate open space, transportation and access to jobs, social services and other amenities,” said Mayor Murray when he proposed the office. “How we grow and how we invest will go hand in hand.”
The Seattle City Council responded to the Mayor’s call and provided for the new office to be established at the start of the new year. OPCD opened its doors in January 2016. I was proud to join the office in June.
In its first year, OPCD has already had significant impact on the future of several Seattle neighborhoods. Beginning in Lake City, OPCD worked with agencies across the City to integrate planning efforts in response to community needs. OPCD and the community created new development standards for buildings that create a more walkable streetscape and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood. Seattle Parks participated with a vision for new and expanding parks. New affordable housing investments are coming in coordination with the Office of Housing. Seattle Preschool Program classrooms, new sidewalks to support Safe Routes to School and other investments will support a stronger neighborhood.
OPCD’s efforts continued in the U District. With the Sound Transit’s new light rail station opening in 2021, Seattle is planning for future housing and jobs with excellent access to the transit station. After a five-year community engagement process, the City has announced a plan that responds to community priorities for rigorous design standards requiring new public spaces, attractive buildings, and active street fronts.
Going forward, all of OPCD’s work will be governed by Seattle 2035, the City’s comprehensive plan that is being updated this year. For the first time, race and social equity is identified as a foundational core values upon which the plan is built. Over the next 20 years, the plan will be the blueprint for how Seattle responds to and manages growth in neighborhoods, prioritizes infrastructure investments, and funds parks and other amenities that improve how neighborhoods function.
In 2017, OPCD will continue to play a leading role in implementing the Mayor’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) agenda. As the city plans for more residents and jobs, OPCD will develop new community and citywide plans, with a special focus on a coordinated approach to density and investment in Seattle’s urban centers and urban villages. More homes and new housing types will respond to continued demand for more housing from residents across the income spectrum.
Additionally, OPCD will begin or expand more comprehensive community planning efforts in several neighborhoods experiencing significant change: Chinatown-International District, Little Saigon, Southeast Seattle, the Duwamish Valley and elsewhere. To better distribute economic opportunity and job growth throughout Seattle, OPCD will expand the implementation of its Equitable Development Initiative (EDI). Providing staff and financial resources toward the EDI is a major focus of OPCD’s budget request this year.
As part of OPCD’s coordinating role, I co-chair the Mayor’s Capital Cabinet with City Budget Director Ben Noble. The focus is on coordination on capital projects to address livability challenges, improve neighborhood quality and respond to long-standing equity issues. The Capital Cabinet will focus on planning on infrastructure improvements, leaving the implementation of individual project to city departments with the appropriate expertise. All city agencies with major infrastructure investment programs will participate. The first community to benefit from a pilot project of this approach will be the neighborhoods bordering the Duwamish River – places impacted by proximity to industrial land uses, legacy pollutants and risks posed by climate change and rising sea levels.
I look forward to working with you in the coming year. Together we will chart a bright and equitable future for the people of Seattle.
Regards,
Samuel Assefa, Director
Office of Planning and Community Development
“Uncle Bob” Santos, a longtime Seattle activist who advocated for civil rights and preservation of the Chinatown/International District, passed away on August 27. Dubbed the unofficial Mayor of the Chinatown/International District, Uncle Bob was the executive director of the International District Improvement Association (Inter*Im) from 1972-1989 and regional director of the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development from 1994-2001.
Uncle Bob leaves behind a vast legacy of activism and leadership that has influenced and inspired many generations. Read and watch an oral history told by Uncle Bob here, courtesy of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. The Seattle Times reports on his passing here.
RIP Uncle Bob!
At the beginning of this year, the Department of Planning and Development split into two departments, us and Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. Watch this new Seattle Channel video on how we’ve been doing since then and how we’re approaching city planning in a new way.
Our story begins at the 16 minute mark.
You are invited to an open house and public hearing to discuss potential environmental impacts of rezoning, and how it will shape your neighborhood’s future.
Meeting Details
Thursday, August 4
Seattle Center Armory, Lofts 3 & 4
5:00-6:00 p.m. – Open House
6:00-8:00 p.m. – Public Hearing
The Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development and Seattle Center are hosting an open house and public hearing on the Uptown Rezone Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS).
The DEIS process studies all of the potential impacts of zoning (including height change in the neighborhood). This information will be used to develop a rezone recommendation that we will seek input on this fall. At this meeting you’ll have the opportunity to:
View the DEIS, our Uptown Urban Design Framework, and the Uptown/Seattle Center Parking study online: http://bit.ly/opcd-uptown.
For more information, contact:
Jim Holmes
(206) 684-8372
jim.holmes@seattle.gov
On July 25 Seattle City Council adopted legislation to amend the Land Use Code to rezones sites in the Bitter Lake Village Hub Urban Village and to amend development standards. The zoning proposals are based on an inclusive planning process that led to the Broadview – Bitter Lake – Haller Lake Neighborhood Plan update and the Bitter Lake Urban Design Framework (UDF) that document the community’s development vision for the Bitter Lake Village Center. The UDF defines the land use regulations, streetscape design, and open space recommendations that will guide future development while ensuring Bitter Lake Village becomes a lively center for the community. In particular, it will encourage the development of a walkable business district along Linden Ave. N between N 130th and N 135th streets. The legislation will:
The Mayor is expected to sign the legislation in early August.
Questions?
David W. Goldberg
(206) 684-8414
davidw.goldberg@seattle.gov
After more than two years of gathering public input on the future of Uptown, the Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) today issued three options to guide expected growth in the Uptown Urban Center. The options important to the community include new design guidelines to improve walkability and connections to Seattle Center amenities, a vibrant streetscape with active retail businesses, diverse housing types and more affordable housing, and new employment opportunities in large and small businesses.
“Thanks to all the neighbors who have been so actively engaged in designing a bright future for Uptown,” said Sam Assefa, director of the Office of Planning and Community Development. “We look forward to more input, including new and diverse voices, as we finalize our recommendation on how to implement the community’s vision.”
Since 2014, the City of Seattle has worked with the neighborhood to develop the Uptown Urban Design Framework to guide future development in the Uptown Urban Center. New Uptown-specific design standards are intended to protect important view corridors, and establish building characteristics and streetscapes that enhance the livability of the neighborhood as it grows.
Key recommendations include a study of a range of building height and zoning changes in the neighborhood, which would include required contributions to housing affordability currently being considered by the Seattle City Council and implementation of the community recommendations in the Urban Design Framework. No changes are proposed outside of the Uptown Urban Center or in single-family zones nearby.
The three alternatives considered in the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released today evaluate a range of building heights that were developed in collaboration with the community:
The preferred alternative will be developed based on community comments and input on these three options.
OPCD and Seattle Center are hosting an open house and public hearing from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the Seattle Center Armory, Lofts 3 and 4. The public will have an opportunity to learn more about the alternatives, ask questions and provide public comment.
At the open house, neighbors can also learn about the upcoming Seattle Center and Uptown Strategic Parking Study, the emerging Uptown Arts & Cultural District, citywide housing affordability policies, and proposed transit improvements.
Written public comment can also be submitted until Sept. 1 by writing to jim.holmes@seattle.gov.
The final EIS of the preferred alternative is expected to be completed in November. Additional public comments will be gathered at that time before any proposed zoning changes are sent to the Seattle City Council.
A team from Global Green USA completed its site visit to Chinatown/International District, including Little Saigon, May 9-11. The site visit is part of their Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment for the Chinatown/International District based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Neighborhood Development (LEED – ND) standards. The assessment will help the community develop a holistic approach to sustaining the Chinatown/International District/Little Saigon neighborhood’s cultural, economic, social, and historical qualities.
The Global Green team toured the neighborhood, interviewed community stakeholders and City staff, and then applied the LEED – ND tool over the two and a half days site visit. Global Green USA will provide a report summarizing their findings and recommendations by August 2016.
The assessment was awarded in 2015 to the Office of Arts and Culture in partnership with OPCD and the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation & Development Authority.
Several city departments took a tour of Little Brook Creek in Lake City on May 26 to learn more about the environmental impacts to the creek. Led by Jonathan Frodge of SPU, the group was able to see the creek up close on both public and private properties, learning about the benefits of having the creek in the neighborhood, and how to support the preservation of it. A follow up meeting will be held with Parks to have a similar tour as part of the 2016 Thornton Creek Alliance Youth Program.
Staff from Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods and Office of Planning and Community Development, and Chris Leverson, executive director of Lake City Future First (LCFF), will be hosting office hours at the Lake City library on:
We will be there to answer questions about the projects and plans underway as part of the Shared Vision for Lake City that Mayor Murray announced in February. The City is investing in new sidewalks and intersections, parks and open space, and human services and community safety. The office hours are a time for people to stop by and learn more about what’s underway, and let us know what other projects should be considered.
The office hours are part of ongoing outreach and engagement with the Lake City community that includes the LCFF Community Conversations. The next conversation will take place on April 6 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Lake City Community Center. The focus will be on Seattle Public Schools to gather information in advance of the Mayor’s Education Summit on Saturday, April 30, at the Garfield Community Center.
