Daily Plan It Office of Planning & Community Development

The Daily Plan It Blog

A OPCD Blog

Seattle’s Plan to Build Back Better During COVID-19 Recovery

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Updates to the Comprehensive Plan will promote transit access, job creation, walkable neighborhoods, and address impacts of systemic racism.

Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) recently outlined priorities for potential future changes to the City’s foundational city plan, the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan, that will be studied in the coming year.

In testimony before the City Council yesterday, OPCD outlined Mayor Jenny A. Durkan’s vision for planning a reimagined and more equitable City which addresses the systemic issues brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, economic collapse and civil rights reckoning. Mayor Durkan proposed new station-area planning around the future 130th St. Sound Transit light rail station, strengthening the City’s industrial maritime jobs, committing to a racially equitable recovery from the global pandemic, and exploring the concept of “15-minute neighborhoods” which could include additional affordable housing near Parks facilities.

In addition to the presentation before the Seattle City Council’s Land Use and Neighborhoods committee, OPCD sent a memo that outlines the Administration’s ongoing work on transit-oriented housing, walkable amenities for every neighborhood, and equitable access to job opportunities in the maritime industrial economy.  

At 130th St. NE and 145th St. NE, Sound Transit is building new light rail stations as part of Lynnwood Link Extension. The City of Seattle has begun a 130th and 145th Station Area Planning project in partnership with community. Education and outreach continue this year as the community continues to craft its vision for more transit-oriented housing and other amenities near the stations. The City is considering early action in 2021 to allow for more housing in the block immediately adjacent to the new 130th St station.

In 2019, Mayor Durkan convened industrial-maritime stakeholders and neighborhood voices to discuss the future of these critical industries in Seattle, with specific focus on increasing family-wage jobs in the maritime and manufacturing sectors. The aim is to strengthen protections for existing maritime-industrial businesses, integrate Sound Transit’s new light rail stations in industrial areas, plan for major projects at the former National Guard Armory and other strategic sites, and encourage new economic opportunities and improved environmental health in industrial areas near residential neighborhoods. The aim is to release policy proposals in 2021.

The global pandemic is disproportionally impacting BIPOC communities, and the City is committed to a response to COVID-19 that addresses systemic racism and supports a more racially equitable future. While racial equity is already a core value in Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan, the City continues to work with BIPOC communities to expand current efforts to support community ownership and wealth building, affordable housing, and OPCD’s Equitable Development Initiative partnerships with community-led organizations combatting displacement and increasing access to opportunity.

The response to COVID-19 has also highlighted the importance of the city’s neighborhoods as places to live, work, and meet our daily needs. During the pandemic, the City has created new uses neighborhood curb space, streets and plazas. Seattle is a member of the C40 Cities and has published a Climate Action Plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build a climate-neutral city by 2050. Described as a key action for the health and well-being of our cities by the C40 Mayors’ Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery that was supported by Mayor Durkan, “15-minute cities” mean every neighborhood includes affordable housing choices, shopping and services, health care, parks, office space, and educational and cultural institutions within an easy walk or bike ride. OPCD will be exploring the concept of a “15-minute city” as a potential framework for the next major Comprehensive Plan update due in 2024.

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Half of Seattle’s new homes built within steps of Downtown jobs, transit

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Seattle added homes at rapid pace in 2017, with more than 88 percent of the city’s 8,753 net new homes built in Seattle’s urban centers and urban villages within walking distance of jobs, transit services, neighborhood businesses, and other amenities. Downtown is seeing the fastest housing growth, with half of all new Seattle homes built in or near the Downtown core.

Since the City began tracking annual housing production in 1980, no year has seen more construction of new homes than 2017. The City of Seattle’s most recent permitting and construction data were published in the year-end Urban Center / Village Growth Report.

Seattle’s urban villages are identified in the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan as the places to guide future population growth, a policy established in 1994. The Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) notes that recent housing growth is even more focused in Seattle’s densest urban centers. Only 12 percent of homes were built in areas outside of the city’s urban villages last year, with fewer homes built in these areas in 2017 (1,030) than the year prior (1,119).

“Seattle’s urban village strategy guides more housing choices to areas served by good transit, community services, and shops with easy access from home,” said OPCD Director Sam Assefa. “We will continue to make investments in parks, transit, and other critical infrastructure to support the livability of our fastest-growing neighborhoods. And we will continue to implement Mandatory Housing Affordability and other solutions that support affordable housing, so that people who work in Seattle can live in Seattle, regardless of income.”

The Seattle neighborhoods with the most new homes in 2017 were:

  • Belltown (1,191 new homes constructed)
  • South Lake Union (1,045)
  • Denny Triangle (767)
  • Commercial Core (607)

Looking ahead to future development, buildings containing 21,434 homes have received permits, but have not yet been completed. More than 81 percent of these future homes will be in urban villages close to transit and neighborhood commercial areas. The areas with the most homes in the pipeline are:

  • South Lake Union (3,068 units permitted)
  • Denny Triangle (1,227)
  • First Hill (1,180)

In 1994, the City Council approved Seattle’s first Comprehensive Plan prepared under the state Growth Management Act, including the urban village strategy which guides growth to neighborhoods with more transit options. That strategy has been effective in locating more than 78 percent of new housing in urban villages and urban centers over the past two decades.

Seattle’s new Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program will require that all new multifamily residential and commercial development contribute to affordable housing, either by including income-restricted affordable homes or making a payment to the City’s fund to support affordable housing. To put MHA into effect, the City makes zoning changes that add development capacity and increase housing choices. MHA has already been implemented in Downtown, South Lake Union, the University District, Chinatown-International District, Uptown, and along 23rd Ave in the Central Area, ensuring that future permitted projects contribute to affordable housing. The City Council is currently considering zoning changes necessary to implement MHA in all other urban villages and multifamily residential and commercial zones in Seattle.

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VIDEO: October 17 Comprehensive Plan Amendments / ADU EIS Scoping Open House

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In case you missed our Comprehensive Plan Amendments/ADU EIS Scoping open house last week, watch our presentation on the Seattle Channel:

http://www.seattlechannel.org/publicAffairs/?videoid=x84190

Topics discussed:

  • Comprehensive Plan Amendments – The City of Seattle is working to ensure that the language in existing Neighborhood Plans is consistent with the 2016 Comprehensive Plan and Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA), a proposed policy that would require developers to contribute to affordable housing. You will have a chance to review Neighborhood Plan language and help choose new language that is consistent with the City’s updated vision and plan. Neighborhoods involved: Morgan Junction, North Rainier / Mt. Baker, West Seattle Junction, Westwood / Highland Park.
  • Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) – The City of Seattle is asking for ideas on what Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will study the effects of removing barriers to creating accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and backyard cottages. An ADU is a secondary unit inside, attached to, or in the backyard of your home. We want to help you understand the purpose and process of the EIS and find out what is important to you.
    Neighborhoods involved: CITYWIDE.
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Help Guide Our 2018 Comprehensive Plan Amendments

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We are making amendments to our Comprehensive Plan and we need your help! In October 2016, the Seattle City Council approved a major update to this plan which highlighted our vision for greater diversity of housing choices in urban villages and centers (our areas of growth). These changes are helping to tackle our growing housing affordability challenge.

To guide the process, our “Meeting in a Box” includes new policy options, including an option to create your own policy. Working with your neighbors and sharing insights is highly encouraged. Send us your best recommended policy options by December 8 for us to incorporate your ideas into the recommended language that will go to Seattle City Council next year.

If you live, play or work in the effected neighborhoods, please share your thoughts on the proposed language. Here’s how:

 

For more information, email us or visit the Comprehensive Plan website.

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Mayor Murray to Sign the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan

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Tomorrow, Mayor Ed Murray will sign Seattle 2035, the comprehensive plan to guide City development, investments, and policies over the next 20 years. The plan focuses on equitable growth and aims to enhance the quality of life for all residents as Seattle adds hundreds of thousands of jobs and residents over the next two decades. The plan was unveiled in April of this year and unanimously passed City Council earlier this month.

Mayor Murray will also sign a separate executive order directing the City to invest in equitable development in Seattle’s downtown core.

Friday, October 28, 1:30 PM
City Hall, Norman B. Rice Room (7th Floor)
600 4th Ave., Seattle, WA 98104

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