The Hearing Examiner’s Office has been adjudicating nine separate challenges by neighborhood organizations to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the city’s city-wide MHA upzones. After a hearing on May 31 to discuss several motions for summary judgment, last Friday the Hearing Examiner issued rulings — and it largely went in favor of the city. The appeals are far from resolved, and won’t be until early fall, but several issues were taken off the table as potential flaws in the FEIS.
Category Archives: neighborhoods
Fort Lawton Final EIS released today
Today the City of Seattle published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for its proposed redevelopment of the Fort Lawton property in Magnolia.
City delivers safe consumption site feasibility study
The city has published a feasibility study on establishing a “safe consumption” site in Seattle, and for the first time we have a sense for how much it might cost.
Continue reading City delivers safe consumption site feasibility study
Interview: Harris-Talley on Community-based Organizations
Last Friday I interviewed new Council member Kirsten Harris-Talley on a topic that is coming up with increasing frequency in City Hall: community-based organizations (aka CBOs), who they are, their role in our community, and their relationship with city government.
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Other legislation that became law today… quietly
With little fanfare — and in some cases less attention than they deserved — four other notable bills (besides the Uptown MHA upzone) were passed into law by the City Council today.
Continue reading Other legislation that became law today… quietly
The Council is holding a public hearing tonight. This one matters.
The Council’s Planning, Land Use and Zoning Committee is holding a public hearing tonight on two issues: the proposed MHA rezone of the Uptown urban center, and some potential changes to the way that design reviews are done.
Many of the Council’s public hearings are perfunctory: the Council members already have a good idea how they plan to vote, and the most that commenters can hope for are to get some minor tweaks to the legislation. But as of last Friday when the PLUZ committee met to discuss the two topics, there are some big open issues that the Council is scratching its collective head over.
Continue reading The Council is holding a public hearing tonight. This one matters.
Understanding the MHA Draft Environmental Impact Statement
On June 8th, the city published a Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS) for the “city-wide” implementation of the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program. It’s 462 pages of dense material. Here’s your cheat sheet.
Continue reading Understanding the MHA Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Council looks to get tough on vacant buildings
This morning, the Council heard a proposal to tighten the rules and streamline others in order to prevent vacant buildings from becoming neighborhood nuisances — or worse, fire hazards.
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Fort Lawton
In February of 1898, seven hundred acres on Magnolia Bluff were given to the federal government. Today, almost all of that land is back in local hands. Almost — the last bit has been the source of plans, lawsuits and headaches for ten years.
New AirBnB study questions underpinnings of another “gig economy” company
Last week a new report came out on AirBnB’s “home sharing” business, and it questions the view that the company is about sharing that extra room in your house.
Continue reading New AirBnB study questions underpinnings of another “gig economy” company